The outstanding foreman at my nearest MB dealer advises me against trading up to the newer (2003 - 2009) 4matic wagons on several grounds, the most serious for me being that, as he says, you cannot hook up trailer lights to them. It happens that I think the 99 e320 wagon I have is a great tow-car for my shallow water trailer-sailboats, and I use it a lot for that. He says arrangements are made for trailer connections in Europe, but we can't do it here. The wiring network would detect improper load and shut down the circuits -- something like that. thought this might be useful information for others. Anybody figure out a workaround?