Thanks Dave,
It's the non-metallic black, so 040 I believe. I didn't check too closely for options; there's a spot for the ASR light in the speedometer but I didn't see a button to switch it off, so I'm not sure if it has it and it's just not defeatable on these cars or if it doesn't have it and Mercedes used the same speedometer for cars with and without it. I didn't really look that closely though; if my memory is correct and it does have it, the ASR light will illuminate with the key in position 2 and the engine off, along with all the other lights, right?
Don't think it has heated seats or the roller blind; doesn't have a phone or orthopedic seats, either (I'm half-convinced that nobody ever ordered that option. Ever. I haven't seen a car with it yet.). I'll have to check on the reading lights.
Out of curiosity, do the 93+ rotors and calipers bolt in or do you have to replace suspension components as well? (in which case it might make more sense to just throw SL brakes at it, eh?)
Also, he was looking @ wheels on tirerack, and I noticed while looking with him that there are quite a few more options for my 300D according to their site than there are for the 400E. This wouldn't be the first time they've been wrong... As far as I know, any wheel that will fit on the 300D will also fit the 400E, as long as it clears the bigger brakes. Right?
And yeah, the 6 is probably a better choice, from a performance standpoint. That'll come down to how much my parents trust him. He's not as irresponsible as most 16 year old boys are (not that I'll admit that anywhere that he can hear it, of course). But then, neither was I. And I still had my 560 more-or-less flat out a couple of times.
