Just thought I would share this with you guys, and it eventually gets to the topic of an experience with my Diesel. I was in NH Friday and Saturday last week attending a kick off meeting for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics competition, and a reception for adult team members at Dean Kamen's home outside Manchester.

FIRST is a non-profit organization founded by Dean Kamen and some buddies/cohorts to try to get kids in highschool more interested in becoming engineers and scientists by introducing them to adults in the profession and having them work together on a project. In this case they make up a game to be played with robots that are designed and built in 6 weeks or so by teams across the country (about 1,000 active team) and some from outside the US, according to rules and using a box of parts that are released at this kick-off meeting. I have been doing this with my kids off and on for the last 6 years, depending on whether or not they (my kids) were interested.

I had my 5*F below zero starting challenge on Saturday morning, which turned out to be no big deal. The car was a little stiff and made a few chassis noises over bumps that were new, but like I posted elsewhere, this car (1998 E300D TurboDiesel) has a starting sequence much like turning the lights on. After the glow plug light quenches, I give it another few seconds, then twist the key and let go. The engine does a quantuum state change from resting to running, with no time in between.

In the mid afternoon we departed and I was driving West or South, hard to tell, on I-290 entering the area of Worcester, Massachusetts. As I crested a hill and headed down a long slope and under some high overpasses, approaching exit 18 at around 2:15 or 2:30, I heard a POP!, only very loud, like someone shot a rifle in the back seat just behind my head. The next thing I notice is, after a fraction of a second delay, there is suddenly a lot of wind noise.

I was in the left lane, driving at 70 mph to 75 mph in congested but moving traffic, passing a tractor trailor. I immediately checked to make sure there was no problem with the control of the car, then checked the windows. No open windows. So I opened the interior cover for the glass sunroof and, lo and behold, my sunroof was shattered and had a 10 inch or more diameter hole in it. My passenger asked if I wanted to stop and my response was "why? It is 10*F and getting colder outside and now I want to make sure we get home without freezing. I have nothing in the car to repair this with, so we are going home!" We called the State Police and reported the event and kept going.

Well, nature called and we stopped at Burger King on I-395 just before leaving Massachusetts. When I got a chance to inspect the damage, it was clear a rock or piece of concrete had hit about 2" in from the right and front side edges, near the front passenger side corner. Apparently the glass bowed inward from the impact, possibly cracking or beginning to crack, and then, on the rebound it shot the center section out and "ventilated" the interior of the car. There is a series of gouges from the larger pieces that apparently broke up and bounced back onto the trunk. No apparent dents, just gouges into the paint. By the way, no glass made it into the passenger compartment.

We got home at dusk and I put a tarp over the front half of the car's roof. Don't have a garage anymore, so now I wait for the inusrance agency to send an adjuster out. I told them I was brinign it to the dealership as I want the headliner removed to have the glass taken out of the mechanism and the drains. I also want the mechanism inspected. I am still waiting for the "insurance adjuster" to come and "adjust" my damages.

Anyway, the bad luck is that it happened at all and the good luck is it hit the roof panel. Had it hit the windshield at 75 mph I think it would have come through and likely killed my passenger, a retired NRC engineer who is a really class guy. He started this FIRST stuff 6 years ago too, but his youngest son graduated that year with my daughter, and he still does it.

Well, I say I was lucky. May cost me $500 in deductible costs, but it was definitely better than it could have been. Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)