Why or why not Mercedes-Benz?

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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
You need to test drive a good Mercedes convertible though, like an SL, or SLS. They SLK isn't really an expensive car so they can only do so much and still sell them at a price point. An SLK55 AMG might be Ok.

Stomp your foot on a V12 SL, or an SLS AMG and I guarantee the MX5 will be forgotten about.

Getting a little smug, aren't we? andrew did mention he had a modest budget.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
You need to test drive a good Mercedes convertible though, like an SL, or SLS. They SLK isn't really an expensive car so they can only do so much and still sell them at a price point. An SLK55 AMG might be Ok.

Stomp your foot on a V12 SL, or an SLS AMG and I guarantee the MX5 will be forgotten about.

Getting a little smug, aren't we? andrew did mention he had a modest budget.

Not to slight hattaresguy in any way....but I was taken a bit back by the comment...."An SLK55 AMG MIGHT be ok" Lol...that's a $75,000 PLUS car. Sure, 415hp in a little two seater would be nice....but I see no point in test driving one unless I want to feel like I'm low income.
 
Originally Posted By: andrewg

Not to slight hattaresguy in any way....but I was taken a bit back by the comment...."An SLK55 AMG MIGHT be ok" Lol...that's a $75,000 PLUS car. Sure, 415hp in a little two seater would be nice....but I see no point in test driving one unless I want to feel like I'm low income.


I tried to nudge you earlier.

Take a look at an R129. That's the last SL before they cheapened them down. Forget the V12 (it's a PITA to keep). The V8 is just as fast. Find a '98 with an M119, and you've got it made (we 'settled' for the later M113, still a great engine).

You can get a car that sold new for over $90k, in great shape, for under or around $20k in most instances. As Mercedes' go, the 129 is fairly reliable, unlike the later ones.

Take your time, and you'll find a cream puff. Many R129 owners drove them sparingly and gingerly and they collect dust in garages most of the time.

I firmly believe this: once you drive a 129, you won't want an SLK or a Miata. It's the same budget. It still grabs attention at stop lights, if that is your thing.

Hatteresguy will appreciate this: before we got our 2000, we were a hair's breadth from buying a perfect Silver Arrow with only 23k on it. The guy was stuck at $25k, which was too high for market, so we moved on. I'm sure it might still be for sale.
 
You can buy a slightly used SL600 and quite a few AMG cars in your budget. They are not bad at all to keep. I don't know why people are so afraid of the V12 cars. The M120 V12 is a great motor, and its really not horrible to work on.

They are pricey to keep if you sub everything out to the dealer, but so is just about any other car.

$40k buys a [censored] load of MB on the used market and they really are not that bad to keep. I never said you needed to spend $150k to get a good Mercedes, you can buy a really good one for $5k or less if you know what your looking for and like the older cars.

With $40k you can buy a killer SL500 for the weekend, and a pristine E320CDI for a weekday driver. Or the best E500/500E in the world which is a good investment these days because they are going to be $100k+ cars in a few years, prices are trending up on those. This is why a SLK55 might be OK, until a $30K E55 AMG blows its doors off.
 
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Originally Posted By: Volvohead

Hatteresguy will appreciate this: before we got our 2000, we were a hair's breadth from buying a perfect Silver Arrow with only 23k on it. The guy was stuck at $25k, which was too high for market, so we moved on. I'm sure it might still be for sale.


That's to much, a couple years ago I saw a really awesome Silver Arrow with a bit more mileage, but nothing crazy sell for $17k. I almost bought it.
 
Can you guys talk in layperson's language? R129 or M119 is over my head. What is a Silver Arrow? Is that a Rolls Royce?
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Can you guys talk in layperson's language? R129 or M119 is over my head. What is a Silver Arrow? Is that a Rolls Royce?


A Silver Arrow R129 is this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MB_SL_500_SILVER_ARROW.JPG

The M119 is the earlier twin-cam 32-valve V8 engine, which some consider among MB's very best ever.

The M113 is a later, single-cam 24-valve V8 which has proven to be practically the equal of the M119.

You don't need to be snide about it. Rolls Royce? Google is your friend.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
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...


This was a big shock for me when I started to switch over to GM. After a few years the GM dealer doesn't want to sell you parts and a little plastic part costs a fortune.

With MB you can buy any part for any car they have ever made, and they don't jack up the prices like GM does.

I was used to being able to walk into a dealer and get an oddball trim part in a day or two for a few bucks for a 30 year old car, can't do that with GM.


This is starting to not be the case anymore... We are keeping a pretty large list of parts for w123/w126 cars that are unobtanium. Sure lots of obscure parts are available, thogugh often quite pricey - reat window regulators for my cd are $500 eeach, and the upper weatherstrip is $500 per side... But at least you can get a lot.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Arrows

No sniping was intended; sorry if it came across that way.

On google there were enough hits both on "rr silver arrow" and "mb silver arrow" which led to my question.

Now I did find this http://www.supercars.net/cars/1259.html which makes sense.


The first car I think of when I read "Silver Arrow" is this...
1933PierceSilverArrow.jpg

Pierce Silver Arrow

I had to Google it too.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Arrows

No sniping was intended; sorry if it came across that way.

On google there were enough hits both on "rr silver arrow" and "mb silver arrow" which led to my question.

Now I did find this http://www.supercars.net/cars/1259.html which makes sense.


No problem. They're both pretty decent rides.

After a while, we sometimes get so used to our acronyms and lingo that we forget others may not be as nutty as us.
 
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Can you guys talk in layperson's language? R129 or M119 is over my head. What is a Silver Arrow? Is that a Rolls Royce?


A Silver Arrow R129 is this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MB_SL_500_SILVER_ARROW.JPG

The M119 is the earlier twin-cam 32-valve V8 engine, which some consider among MB's very best ever.

The M113 is a later, single-cam 24-valve V8 which has proven to be practically the equal of the M119.

You don't need to be snide about it. Rolls Royce? Google is your friend.



The M119 was my favorite V8 until the M156 came out. The M156 just sounds so filthy when you get on it.

OTOH both the M119 and M113 are durable, I know a mechanic who has a 600k mile M119 come in now and again and its still going along. I'm pretty sure you can't wear one out, and tuned the bottom ends are good to 1k hp.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Can you guys talk in layperson's language? R129 or M119 is over my head. What is a Silver Arrow? Is that a Rolls Royce?


Silver arrow is in reference to Mercedes race cars of old, they were always silver. Like blue and white are Ford racing colors, silver is Mercedes.

Silver Ghost is RR, RR has never been accused of being fast like an arrow...mostly they go slow and leak lots of oil...
 
And the controversial story of the Silver Arrow?

It has been claimed the product of a mistake. Apparently, MB was a little heavy on the weight for a race event, and removed the car's paint to comply. Hence the silver color of the bare unpainted metal. So the story goes . . .
 
Never heard of that, removing paint wouldn't save much weight.

Most pre war German racing cars were silver, it wasn't just Mercedes.

Its like British racing green, Ferrari Red, and Ford racing white and blue.
 
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I remember top gear said that the paint from an old mercedes coupe they were driving weighed 40 lbs.
 
Originally Posted By: mcrn
I remember top gear said that the paint from an old mercedes coupe they were driving weighed 40 lbs.


That show champions anything British. They raced a Jaguar XK8 against a Corvette and they were having to fake praise for the Corvette. That show is.. very biased. Watchable and I do like it and the things they do with the cars, but the segments worth watching are the track parts.

I would be very skeptical as to what they say about anything non-British. They even tried to say the McLaren F1 had flaws.........
 
Clarkson is a big Mercedes fan and owns a few.

Right now he has one of the best, a CLK Black.

The paint reference was British humor, referring to how overbuilt the cars were.
 
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Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
Originally Posted By: mcrn
I remember top gear said that the paint from an old mercedes coupe they were driving weighed 40 lbs.


That show champions anything British. They raced a Jaguar XK8 against a Corvette and they were having to fake praise for the Corvette. That show is.. very biased. Watchable and I do like it and the things they do with the cars, but the segments worth watching are the track parts.

I would be very skeptical as to what they say about anything non-British. They even tried to say the McLaren F1 had flaws.........

The McLaren F1 DID have flaws. You're not seriously proposing it's possible for any car to be perfect, are you?
wink.gif


But more importantly, you'll go crazy if you try to think of Top Gear as a source of information, even a biased one. Top Gear is about entertainment, pure and simple. They mix facts with irony and exaggeration so seamlessly that you'll never tell the difference unless you're well informed prior to watching it and have a finely tuned sense for British irony. Most of the time, it's best just to ignore the "facts" they present, enjoy the show for its overall effect, and look stuff up later if you're interested.
 
Originally Posted By: mcrn
I remember top gear said that the paint from an old mercedes coupe they were driving weighed 40 lbs.


That's funny, sort of.

What would be funnier is if they said it required an $85 Hazet rag to wash it.
 
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