Easter eggs or undocumented "features" you've found on your car.
 

In a departure from the usual tech support threads, I thought that I'd start one that almost everyone can contribute something.

What sorts of cool or interesting features have you found about your MB that you think needs pointed out because it's cool, neat, interesting, or just plain bizarre?

I filled up the other day at a quick flowing "Big Rig" pump. I didn't ease up on the nozzle in time and fuel gushed out the back.

I noticed that the overflowing diesel was draining from the recess where you open the gas cover with your finger. It was laying perfectly flat against the rear bumper and the low point also happened to be the same place you flipped it down with your finger.

Not only that, the fuel was draining between the body and my 5mph bumper....hitting the ground and nothing else on my car.

It seems as if MB were farsighted enough to realize that clutzes like me would come along so they made it easier to clean the messes we'd make.

Dave,
There was a thread a few years ago about what people had found in their cars. You may get a laugh to have a read of it some time.
I started one back a while ago about diesel myths, you may find that one a buz as well. :D

Searching now, thanks!

We're headed back to NSW this November. Can you recommend some places to source some parts for my W115?

It wouldn't be the first time I've been through customs hand carrying an oddball part. I once left New Zealand with a Safari snorkel for my FJ40.

Up the northern beaches of NSW (Byron Shire) there are a few shade tree wreckers with rows of MB's. They some times show up on ebay trying to sell stuff.
What are you after?

Am I mistaken or are you hijacking your own thread?

Hey,
He is like me, from the Southern hemisphere, we do some strange things down here. Like drive on the left side of the road.
Our weather is the reverse of yours & the wind spins the opposite way around highs & lows. :P:P

So, does water drain out of a sink the opposite of how it does in the northern hemisphere? I just checked and it drains counter clockwise. I checked two different sinks and the toilet, just to be sure. They all drain counterclockwise.

I have never understood how cars and roads evolved with two different and opposite conventions. Must be because you and the Brits are on islands. So, did horse drawn buggies use the left side of the road as well? If so, you would think that the colonists in America, who came from England, would have kept that convention.

Ok. I just did some research and found this regarding the direction of water draining out of a sink:

http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.asp

Now, back to the original question the OP asked.

No,No,No ! No Diversions
 

We Want "The Truth", about why the Japanese,Jamaicans,U.K.-ers,OZZIES,Etc.
"Drive Different"

'Has it got something to do with the Legions leaving Albion without Written
Traffic Directions?

Here in "Gawga"
 

You can ONLY be Cited for going the Wrong Way on a One Way Street,
If Your Water Skier (In Tow,Of the Trailer-less Boat You're Towing) hasn't
a PFD (Personal Flotation Device) on.

Even Then,it may take a State Court Judge,to determine Whom gets to write
y'all the Ticket...
The Georgia State Patrol
or
an Enforcement Agent of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Unless Someone Calls Homeland Security and The Coast Guard gets sucked
into the Insanity!

Its all about being born yesterday !! Just dangle the line in the river & you catch one. No such thing as a Coriolis force. All to do with frame of reference.

Always been on the left here, even with horse & buggy.

Its a laugh to watch people from The USA when they first arrive in ozz. They look the wrong way before crossing the road. All they see are the cars that have gone past. I guess the same thing happens in the USA for Aust/NZ/English.

The Japanese are in on this too? I just did some more research. It gets worse: http://www.i18nguy.com/driver-side.html

After doing some reading at this site, it makes sense that the driver, who more often than not would be the only one in the vehicle, would want to get in from the curb instead of walking around the vehicle.

And this is interesting: Australian historian M. G. Lay traced the first regulation of one-side-or-the-other to the Chinese bureaucracy of 1100 B.C. The Book of Rites stated: "The right side of the road is for men, the left side for women and the center for carriages."

What was the original question? Oh yeah, What is cool or interesting about my Benz? I particularly like the horn on my Benz. It resonates with meaning and purpose.

Richard

I had a dear friend who did exactly that in London. She spent months in the hospital mending quite an assortment of broken bones, she never saw the taxi that took her out.

Look BOTH ways before stepping off the curb, eh?

I've gotten so used to my car that I can't remember all the things I thought were nifty when I first bought it.

I like the sunshade above the rearview mirror.
I like that I can operate the turn signals, high beam, windshield wiper, and cruise control with the tips of my fingers while my hand is still firmly on the wheel.
I like that the only alert sound the car ever makes is when I leave the key in the ignition or leave the lights on.

The lock system. I love the way it silently buttons everything up from the drivers door

There are actually painted warnings to "Look Right" at crosswalks in the UK, complete with an arrow for the dyslexic. -->

I like how they engineered everything with (easy/logical) disassembly/reassembly in mind.

aside from the fuse box location on a W123 :cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrbEcqIVP4o

This was posted back in 2008 by Forced Induction. Shows how easy it is to remove and replace the fuse box lid. With one hand. Off and back on in 23 seconds.

Vacuum locks are from Shaitan:mad: Come to think of it, vacuum systems in general are less good than doing the same things electrically.

I really liked the clear fog lights on my '77. If I had had time I would have kept those (and the steering box) when I got rid of that car. I also like how you don't have to use a key to open the trunk every time.

I really appreciate the vacuum locking systems of my 123s particularly when I drive the Dodge PU and have to go back :mad:around to the driver side to unlock the passenger side door instead of everything unlocking when you open the driver door. A minor annoyance also like how the seat belt chaffs across my neck in the PU compared to the better engineered system on the MB, or how nice and quiet the windshield wipers are or how user friendly and officiant the manual heating and vent systems of the 123 are. IMO the Cummins engine compares OK to the 617/6 engines but theres not many other things about the Dodge or most other cars that I've driven, that out shine the 123s.

One of my favorite things about mine is the sunroof mechanism. Fold down the handle, twist 180 degrees, shove the roof back. It's the simplest, most bulletproof design for a sunroof I've ever seen.

It says something about the German character that they managed to make door locks complicated and unreliable, and sunroofs simple.

After 14 months of owning mine I realized it had the gas cap holder next to the filler. Before that I thought is was an over-engineered spring for the fuel door. :rolleyes:

these cars are designed SOOO well.
from the grease fittings in the door hinges, to the Hood hinge 90degree support, it's just amazing what is spelled out in the owner's manual...

You know how many times I hit my head before I figured that one out, on my first Mercedes? ;)

You and about a bizillon other folks here, oh and the 90 degree hood too:D,

[QUOTE=Orv;2772544]One of my favorite things about mine is the sunroof mechanism. Fold down the handle, twist 180 degrees, shove the roof back. It's the simplest, most bulletproof design for a sunroof I've ever seen.


I need a euro manual one for a cd

I stopped down at a friend's house to help him and his son with an 82 SD they had recently acquired. The two of them and a neighbor were all crouched under the hood trying to address a problem. I walked up to the car to help, said wait a minute, asked the neighbor on the other side of the engine bay to flip down that little piece of metal on the hood hinge, and I proceeded to lift the hood up to a 90 degree angle. Their jaws dropped and without saying another word, I became the resident expert.

Speaking of which...

Is it possible to lift the hood of a W115 to 90? It doesn't appear that way and the owner's manual mentions nothing of it.

My 81 had the that great feature of getting rid of tailgaters (which in the 81 are easy to get)... just step on the fuel and smoke them out in a nice dark cloud.... but I've fixed that...

Unfortunately for Great Britain, Winston Churchill had the same problem while visiting the US in the '30's. He was laid up for weeks in the States while military preparation was being debated. It probably didn't matter, since Great Britain had an isolationist attitude almost as strong as that in the US.

The W115 hood doesn't have the 90 degree feature, but there are some unique features:

-I particularly love the separate left & right heat controls, great if you can't agree with your passenger.

-Low-speed cruise control: Put car in 1st or 2nd gear, turn idle speed control all the way up, then take foot off accelerator. Perfect for cruising around the country club, cemetery, or in a parade. If your car has a sunroof, it makes it easier to stand & wave out the top.

Idle speed control on the dash is also great for parking with the engine running and activating the factory "high idle" feature that would be an expensive aftermarket modification should one own a Cummins, Detroit, or International powered pickup truck.

-Factory afterglow feature, pull the gorilla knob out slightly after starting.

And some other great general 70's-80's Mercedes features:
-The big knob to change the seat back angle slowly and accurately
-You can't lock the driver's door from the inside and then close it, so it's much harder to lock your keys in your car
-The rear windows go down all the way so your kids or dog can jump out more easily
-The holes built into the sides of the frame for the factory tire jack
-The extra "reserve" fuel tank
-Two words: Standing Lights.