Features & Pricing

The CLS550 starts at $71,300, which seems rather high considering its standard rear-wheel drive; it's $73,800 with all-wheel drive. The E550 with the same engine has standard all-wheel drive for a starting price of $59,790. Much of that price difference is soaked up in the added standard features you get in the CLS, namely navigation, a premium stereo, bi-xenon headlights with LED running lights, and a few others that are available in a package on the E-Class for an additional $6,900.

The CLS offers performance on par with BMW's 550i, which has better dynamics than an E-Class. And again, the nearly $10,000 price difference between the two is offset somewhat by the CLS' standard features.

You can add more to the CLS, of course — most notably full LED active headlights that come as part of a $4,390 package that includes a rearview camera, a power rear sunshade, and heated and cooled front seats. That's a package I doubt many CLS550 buyers will leave off. There are a few other stand-alone options, most notably a parking-assist feature that handles the steering for you during parallel parking — requiring the driver to handle braking — for $970 and a less-necessary night vision feature for $1,780.

Despite the impressive performance, I can't help but think there's still a "styling surcharge" attached to the CLS.

    See also:

    Setting the exterior mirrors
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    Important safety notes
    The rear view camera is an optical parking aid. It shows the area behind your vehicle in the COMAND display. WARNING Make sure that no persons or animals are in the maneuvering range. Otherwi ...

    Problems with your vehicle
    If you should experience a problem with your vehicle, particularly one that you believe may affect its safe operation, we urge you to contact an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center immediately to ...