My brother is an avid MB owner - currently a 240D and a non Kompressor 4 cyl C class about 2-3 yrs old. Before that he had a Saab turbo. He says he loved the handling and performance, but despite being anal retentive on the maintenance and Mobile 1 at 2500 intervals, was nickled and dimed to death on little things, and occasionally eaten alive on big repairs. He sold it and bought the C class. Also, he said there were relatively few repair shops for Saabs that he trusted, and the only nearby dealer was a bandit. Finally, when touring and away from large cities, you might as well drive a Rolls, Ferrari, or Bugatti - no parts or knowledgeble techs in the wilderness.

He and I agree with you on the new MBs - technical wonders with lots more plastic, rattles and paint blemishes on the two I rode in at the local dealership. I would hate to try to keep up repairs on all the wunderstuffen when they are 10 years old. I sure hope they have gone with modular plug in replacement electronic packages. (I read that the new Porsche Carrera has 43 computers, and that the main computer has more MIPS processing power than the original Cray super-computer!!!) My next car is probably going to be a w124 92-95 400E - E420. That should last me until the feds dictate we use 50 mph regulated 1200 lb fuel cell/hybrids for our 3 days a week of alloted driving priviliges (100,000,000 births world wide last year!). Regards,
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JCE
87 300E, 65k miles
Smoke Silver

[This message has been edited by JCE (edited 07-01-2000).]