Originally Posted By: andrewg
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I've owned a couple of MBs - nothing newer than the '92 in my sig. I've driven several newer ones, including a few 2012 models (thank you Hertz!)
They are wonderfully engineered cars, better design, materials and execution than almost anything on the road. The cost of purchase is high, but it's a myth that the cost of parts is high, that really depends on the part. As an example, I bought a head gasket kit, which included seals, intake & exhaust manifold gaskets, and all of the several other gaskets needed for the job. I got it over the counter at the local MB dealer for about $100. That's not out of line with any other make.
But MB parts are where the company really shows how different it is: you can get parts for any MB ever made. Ever. Unlike every other car manufacturer out there, they will always have parts for your car.
So, if you're going to keep it forever (like some owners do), then MB is what you want...
So by saying this: "They are wonderfully engineered cars, better design, materials and execution than almost anything on the road". Can you elaborate further? What do you feel makes this statement valid. Not trying to be a pain here....but I am interested in a bit more detail and explanation. I've certainly heard what you are saying about MB....but being ignorant of the details can you tell me a bit more?
Quite a few differences:
1. Once you get used to German cars and sorry I'm not counting VW/Audi, they are a joy to work on. MB, BMW, and Porsche all have their own way of doing things but once you figure it out, its a breeze. I just helped my friend pull a starter on a W140 S600 which looked challenging until I figured out how the engineer who built it wanted you to take it out. He left just enough room for me to get a socket extension past the transmission bell housing. Its hard at first but once you get into that German mindset you can figure out most jobs, it always seems like some engineer moved something just a bit so you can swing a wrench.
Or pull a door panel off the wiring is brilliant, on my Silverado its hacked in and a rats nest, everything rubs, on a MB its a proper loom like you see in a good boat, like a Cabo. All the interior panels on my W126's were not plastic, but aluminum wrapped in vinyl. All the wood on the inside is an aluminum core veneer to save weight and increase safety in a crash.
These days they make some good stuff, but the older MB's are so far beyond what everyone else was doing at the time. A good example is look at some of the POS weld joints you see in American cars in the 60's and 70's, they are horrible. In a MB they are laser straight and perfect. You can tell the guys at the factory wanted everything right even if no one would ever see it.
Or on my friends G wagon which is still a hand built truck in Austria. Close the door and it sounds like closing a safe.
It adds up overtime; after 280k miles when I sold my last S class the engine still didn't burn a drop of oil, the transmission was original and shifted fine, and it didn't have one rattle inside, solid as the day it was made. It would still run at 100+ without much effort.
I appreciate them after all these years because even with all their annoying issues and they do have a few, they were and I think to a large extent still are so far beyond what a normal car has to offer in all areas. They are like aircraft if you keep up on them they will run forever, especially the older ones were designed to be rebuilt.
Or to put it another way my buddy has both MB's and Ferrari's. He drives the MB's because as he says the F cars are fragile attention whores who break every 5 minutes. But his tuned MB's are faster than most of the F cars, and they run to mileages that F cars can't without a rebuild...or two...
