I guess i was about 7 when my father bought his first MB. he's had 5 in total. 230 6-cylinder from 1968, 250CE from 1972, a 280CE (W123) from 1977 (i think), 300CE (W124) from 1988 - that was the one i totalled. and now he drives a 420SE from 1996-7. I've grown up with MBs and i must say i don't think of them as prestige cars, don't get me wrong, they are but my father didn't have any problems with his MBs, so i followed in his footsteps. my car 300CE-24 from 1991 still turns heads. for me the star means quality. i grew up in Germany and like Johnson Chan said, they used them as taxis there too. BMW didn't get a look in. If you ordered a W123 200D in Germany from new, there was a 2 year waiting list!! My friends have bought cars that have been 3 years old and had problems with them. over the years, i've spent less on cars than they have and mine still looks better. that is what the star on my bonnet (hood) means to me -quality, nothing more and nothing less.