Rolls Royce: - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Doktor Bert · #1 10-06-2012, 11:18 AM

I find myself doing more and more work on the new Rolls Royces, Astons, Jaguars and Bentleys.

The new Rolls is 100% BMW underneath and every single component under the car is marked with BMW labels.

The Astons and Bentleys use electronics labeled 'Volvo' on everything from crash sensors to engine electronics.

Many of the factory replacement parts, in factory packaging, that I get for these cars say "Made in Mexico (or Japan, Indonesia, etc.) to BMW (Jag, Rolls, Bentley, etc.) specifications.

Funny, only the Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati parts actually come from their country or origin.

I showed one wealthy customer all the BMW parts under his Rolls and he was furious....

Jeremy5848 · #2 10-06-2012, 12:15 PM

Sounds like our cousins have finally given up on Lucas electrics.

Doktor Bert · #3 10-06-2012, 12:21 PM

Reminds me of when GM was sued in the 1980's for putting Chevy engines in Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles.

No doubt this is a better form of construction, over the older cars, but I would prefer to have a 750 from an honesty standpoint.

rstl99 · #4 10-06-2012, 07:45 PM

Isn't globalization wonderful?

I wonder, on the venerable old W123 Benz's, how many parts came from outside Germany, or from outside Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plants for that matter (thinking of Becker radios, VDO gauges, and tires obviously)? Phrased differently, when did M-B start outsourcing some of the components of its cars, to satisfy the almighty accountants?...

engatwork · #5 10-06-2012, 07:47 PM

I don't know the answer to the question but I'm sure Bosch and MB go back a ways.

That is funny about the customer not liking the BMW parts attached to his car.

rstl99 · #6 10-06-2012, 07:55 PM

If I had a lot more disposable money, and garage space, I'd probably have an old Rolls in there. As impractical as they may be to own, I always had appreciation and respect for the craftsmanship that went into their manufacture. Similar for the Morgan sports car, all hand-made in the same shop where it all started probably close to 100 years ago.
When I think of bygone ways and days like that, it makes me understand that we really ARE in a brave new century, with no going back...

Edward Wyatt · #7 10-06-2012, 09:09 PM

Imagine the consternation when people find out that most Harley(r) chrome and other official goodies and whatnot is made in China, so are almost all of the $$$$$$ leather jackets sold at dealers.

The newer Mustangs have manual trans. made in China, not without issues by the way.

I won't use Bosch plugs in anything, since they stopped coming from Germany. NGK plugs do well in just about anything, from Alfa's to Mercedes and they are still made in Japan.

Lots of stuff on the Snap-On truck is made in China, even Blue Point tools now. Matco isn't far behind either.

Btw, imho, a Rolls/Bentley should use the tried and true 6.75/ltr engine, paying Rolls money for a BMW engine is not much different than Cadillac using Chevy or Olds engines. Though, in retrospect, the Olds gasser was much better than the Caddy HT4100 or the early Northstar.

Just saying....

JHZR2 · #8 10-06-2012, 10:03 PM

All this kind of stuff, from the rolls royce to the made in china screwdriver is our own doing.

And when we vote with our wallet all the way out of our jobs, and we revert to a third world society, we have nobody but ourselves to blame.

tjts1 · #9 10-06-2012, 10:29 PM

On the plus side, this will make owning one of these cars second hand a lot easier.

charmalu · #10 10-06-2012, 10:52 PM

Didn`t Rolls or Bently get bought out by BMW?

I think Ford bought Jag or a good part of it.

Third World? I was in a Costco in San Jose today buying some tarps. the Third World is already here.

Charlie

tyl604 · #11 10-07-2012, 09:58 PM

Bosch plugs are not made in Germany? Can it be???

compress ignite · #12 10-07-2012, 11:03 PM

"All this kind of stuff, from the rolls royce to the made in china screwdriver is our own doing.

And when we vote with our wallet all the way out of our jobs, and we revert to a third world society, we have nobody but ourselves to blame."

AND our crooked "Elected Officials"

Codifex Maximus · #13 10-09-2012, 02:36 AM

Well, all we've got to do is change the way we vote with our dollars. I'd rather pay more for quality.

The way these old tried and true brands fall by the wayside and start making their parts in the third world, you can't rely on just name anymore. You have to do your homework.

lt1fire · #14 10-09-2012, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charmalu

Didn`t Rolls or Bently get bought out by BMW?

I think Ford bought Jag or a good part of it.

Third World? I was in a Costco in San Jose today buying some tarps. the Third World is already here.

Charlie

What happened to British car manufacturing was a shame..... the Unions effectively destroyed the industry ..... much like the unions over here have tried to do.
So much so that Britain had to nationalize many of their motor companies and that's when quality declined.

Ford saved Jaguar from that when they bought them in 1990 but the damage was already done with their quality and sales never recovered. (which is sad because Jaguar routinely beat out lexus for initial quality and reliability in the JD rankings)
Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover (another sad story) in 2007 to Tata motors (indian company) we will see how quality holds up when more and more of them are produced in India.

Vauxhall was bought by GM and pretty much merged with opel to create carbon copies of the cars for England and Germany respectively.

Bentley was bought by VW in 1998 and could be a wash.... craftsman ship on the car is no where near where it used to be and electrics on vw's are nothing to write home about either.

Rolls Royce was owned by VW with Bentley for a short time but has since been acquired by BMW.

MG, Rover and Austin were bought by a Chinese company in 2005... basically for any technology and patents they could harvest and then closed. Very sad end to the ones that brought and popularized the two seater roadster to the world.

Aston Martin was bought by Ford in the 90s and made it pump out the best GT cars the world has ever seen. Controlling interest was sold to an investment group in 2007 when Ford was trying to avoid any government aid.

I would buy a old RR any day of the week if I had the cash.

strelnik · #15 10-09-2012, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doktor Bert

Reminds me of when GM was sued in the 1980's for putting Chevy engines in Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles.

No doubt this is a better form of construction, over the older cars, but I would prefer to have a 750 from an honesty standpoint.

Well, then go point your finger at the guys in Daimler Benz because when the 300d " Adenauer" came out, it used a GM Hydramatic automatic transmission from 1959-1962. Granted, it was a heavy-duty version for trucks, with extra clutch packs, but it was made in Pontiac, Michigan, which, as I recall, is NOT a suburb of Stuttgart.

Also, when the ATs were imported to Stutgart, they were taken apart and "tweaked" to make certain they worked properly.

The Germans had no AT at the time and the treaties after the war forbade them to make V-8 engines or car engines with gearter displacement than 3.0 litres. That's why there were so many 300 cars in the late 50s and so much work on the W189 engine!

However that's a little different from what the Finance weenies and the bonus-hungry salopards of the current car companies' management are doing. DB had no choice but to obey the Allies until 1965, then they had total free reign over their own destiny...