I understand your insistence on accepting only a car which meets your specification, meerec, but I understood that MB had simply removed from the options list some things which were available on the early build cars.
My EQA250 is an early build example and I bought it as an ex-demo with 3,000km on the clock - despite normally avoiding demonstrator cars - because it was almost exactly as I would have specified a new car, apart from the colour.
So far, 6 months later, I haven't regretted the purchase and I really enjoy features such as the electric seats, Burmester sound system, HUD, etc. For me, a car with several of the items missing from Sol's car isn't a Merc, although hopefully the fundamental build quality isn't compromised, faulty headlamp notwithstanding.
Speaking of replacement parts; early in the piece, frustratingly, I gouged a section of the plastic surround to the net on the back of the passenger seat. I discovered that the surround wasn't available as a separate item - rather, almost the entire seat back, including the net needs to be replaced. I braced myself for price and availability shock and was pleasantly surprised to find that the replacement part cost about AU$140 and was available ex-Singapore in about 2 weeks. The local dealer supplied the item on that basis.
