There are going to be post-manufacture customizations. No, I haven't turned into a mod freak, but there are three items of interest.

First, I very much detest the satellite antenna's location in the middle of the trunk lid. Despite the fact they've made it a bit smaller than previous model years and painted it the same as the body color, it still looks horrible in my opinion. Even of the sample shots I could find, it was clear this bothers others, too... only the folks with no satellite took pictures of their cars in full profile (from the side). This little feature has become known within enthusiast circles as the "Satellite Wart".

To combat this, I have gotten an agreement from my sales representative that he will work with the Vehicle Preparation Center (VPC) in Los Angeles so that they will not install the antenna when the car comes in. Oh, you thought the antenna was installed in the factory? I did, too, until I had a heart to heart with my sales guy.

The plan is to have a custom installation done once I take delivery of the car. The shop that I've chosen for the installation is Performance Sound and Security in Campbell, CA (408-369-9597). These are some pictures of work they recently did in an SL55.

An alternate SLK installation that I have seen pictured in the BenzWorld forum is this, where they installed the antenna underneath one of the hood vents. According to the owner, the satellite reception with the antenna here is excellent.. certainly no worse than when it is located in the middle of the trunk lid. You'll see it between the first a second fins.

At last the iPod has come to Mercedes-Benz! Availability of the kits is still emerging in the U.S., but there is already evidence that dealers are able to order and install it. Certainly by the time my car arrives, this will not be a problem. More details to come.

One sad note is that with this option I had hoped to delete the CD changer, as it takes up most of the small glovebox. Unfortunately, I was too late in the order process to do this. By the time I learned about it, my car was within 13 days of being built -- so I guess it was a case of good news/bad news. I may yet have the CD changer pulled, but since the car will arrive with it already I think I'll let myself live with it for a while and see how much I hate losing that space.

Oh my goodness, hallelujah!! To understand my delight at this, you must first understand how pissed I was that the only phone I could ever integrate into my CLK320 was an antiquated analog Motorola set. It took me seven years to decide that I would go with a Nokia 6820 and bluetooth headset -- on the theory that I would use it wireless in the car. I found the solution acceptable, and decided that I wouldn't buy another Mercedes until they got around to putting Bluetooth into their cars (as other makes were already beginning to do in the early 2000's).

As much as I have enjoyed being able to move to new technology in the car, I would still prefer not to have a fob on my ear whilst driving. I now have a Treo 650 and much lighter headset. I am looking forward to the potential of a PDA phone being integrated with the car, perhaps even so far as to share it's address book with the COMAND system (and dare I hope the navigation computer?).

Details on this are still sketchy, mostly because MBUSA haven't yet announced availability. But based upon a number of sources, including two at my local dealership who have already been to training on this feature, it sounds like this integration is based on a Bluetooth adapter that plugs into the multi-handset cradle of the Handsfree Integration Kit. As such, I added this kit to my order (when I learned I couldn't delete the CD Changer) and learned also that the option is installed at the VPC (not in the factory).

Some news came from a dealership rep who went to training and posted some notes based on what he saw there. Look for the section New Mercedes Phone Program. It isn't entirely clear how or if this might change the information I already have, but at least it's something more than we knew...

As with the iPod, there will be more details on this as things progress...