Ooh, I forgot, the key! My car key is like 8 inches thick (perhaps not that thick), it just feel so solid! Acura keys are just typical, toothpick car keys. Of course a simple car key, in itself means nothing, but it's just one (of hundreds) of ways that MB makes better quality products.

I do think that Mercedes makes the best engineered cars in the world. I jsut hope that they continue back with a higher level of quality. I love M-B's and all German cars.
Oh and Germans have always been known to be the best engineers, look in WW2 , they had Ballistic missles. Wherner von Braun developed the Satrun V rocket which allowed us to go to the moon.

__________________
"Damn the torpedos, four bells full speed ahead"
-Admiral Farragut




-1987 300E Smoke Silver
-1997 S320 Black on Black
-Soon To be E55 AMG
-27 foot Grady White Offshore Sportfish.

When confort driving turns into Rush; I only have nice things to say about my 400SEL. Of course repairs if it gets sick, are Very $$$ costly. But if you like to demand performance and you know little bit how to get it from this machine,you can be as close as possible to dreaming with your eyes open. Give me a long run trip one to couple hundred miles driving the East coast that mean fun for a long while and I can almost be sure to be there at the end, before anyone in one piece./ The car looks like you going to a wake I Know, "S" class do look like that, even when passes you by. It can look different if is all dress up,like 17" wheels, lights, windows etc. that changes a little./
Now if someone have intentions to eat this machine alive on the road just because of it,that person may have a change of hearts after few seconds of trying: of course you must find a driver with my idea of having fun while driving. There would be a very attractive competition for almost as long as that person want. That is my repeated experience and I love it. If you drive between Virginia and New York I may see you there. You will see me using my left blinker for few seconds I will flash you twice and check you out with a smile of course thru my rear view "specs" he-he-. Anything for fun. Nothing out of the ordinary just me and my MB/
Love it. Sunday driver not will set on my mind yet.

See U guys there,

Rich.

I visited a lexus dealer awhile back just to check out thier cars. Well after i was done looking around and talking with the salesman, he walked me back to my car which was a 85 300d turbo diesel. Then he says to me " you know these mercedes cars will just run forver." Anyway I don't think we should really be hard on other imported cars we are kinda in the same religion. Remember its the domestic car people that hates us the most.

It makes me grin to see that the main car everbody is comparing the MB to the Lexus and none of the others. I love them both. They are great company to have around.

I stopped by a Lexus dealship the other day. Actually looked at a 740I on the lot. The salesman lured me into the showroom and then did a test drive on the newest biggest model.
I felt I was driving a simulator of a car.
Quiet, damping like a big body S series Mb. Lots of gadgets, nice interior, but....
Just didn't feel like it was worth $75 Gs. Also thought that if I had to do an accident avoidance maneuver I would not know what the car was doing.
Very strange.
Ugly cars though, all of them except the cuter new small starter cars.
JH

you must not have done many repairs to a 140!!!....I can assure you that any Lexus or Toyota will cost less to repair for the same repair job that is done to a 140........I am thinking of a $5,000 AC evap,blower resistor and pushbutton unit replacement that I had a couple of years ago........or the instrument cluster replacement,or the closing assist pump......etc..etc...etc

if the Lexus gets more expensive after 100K it has a lot of catching up to do


Warren
1992 300SD(140)
Columbus Ohio

I may be comparing apples and oranges, but... let me see..

Mercedes-Benz, I've tried..
230E (W124) -> Highly underpowered, but it's a very tight car. The body movement is athletic for a car its size, especially under braking. Not to mention that I love the simplistic interior and exterior.. just very timeless...

E320 (W210) -> it's so much faster than the 230E... i was driving around and I wondered why it took more braking effort to stop, i then realized that I was going really fast...great car. dont know much bout handling didnt really get to drive it much.

Lexus ES300 -> I do think that it's smoother than the 230E by far... as in.. night and day.. and much faster too.. but it doesn't have that 'touch' I guess... the body doesn't move very nicely.. under braking it just dives..

2001 Ford Taurus SES -> It's fast! It drives and feels like the ES300... very similar. Especially its soft suspension.

I don't know why but I think I will settle for a Benz or a Bimmer... I have never tried a BMW but they sure look good and feels solid.

Here's a catch..
the W124 is 10 yrs old... the ES300 was 3 yrs old then (98 model) they both have the same mile(km)-age (30000km). But, the MB definitely cost more to maintain with more things going wrong (just minor things... but if you add em up..). I guess it was a mistake to so rarely use the car.... now that it gets used regularly, it seems to just keep running and running...

My first time in a Benz I mean. I was chauffered last Feb from the airport in Quebec city to a small ski resort about 2 hrs away. I was expecting to be picked up in a passenger van, but was picked up in a '97 S500 instead. It was just me and the driver. All we talked about the whole way was the car. This guy knew the car inside and out. Rather than just being driven, it was a real treat. I was so impressed that I vowed that the next car I'd get would be a Benz. I bought a used '97 C230 last Summer and I still get a kick out of it every time I see it parked in my drive way let alone when driving it.

To be honest, I love my W140 and the only thing convincing me to buy a new car is really the cost of repairing the thing. . . I've already had the evap core done, steering system replaced and they haven't been cheap at all

However, there really hasn't been anything out there that is quieter. I've driven the Lexus and it is not as quiet. The W220 is close but the ergonomics (COMAND) are horrid. But yesterday I had the chance to test drive the new BMW 745i and I must say that they may have a home run with this car. It looks much better in person and it drives wonderfully. This car is extremely q u i e t. . .

My only complaint about the car is its radical change in ergonomics. I can tell you that if you had to have your car valet parked, you'd probably have to give the guy the owner's manual b/c they'd have a helluva time trying to put it into gear!! The iDrive is interesting to use but it can really distract the driver. Anyone who says "but you're not supposed to use it when driving" isn't being realistic. Overall, I hope that the 2003 freshening of the W220 is good enough to compete with the new 7. Otherwise I may be forced to defect to BMW

The ML320 series may have seriously impaired Mercedes quaity reputation. They may have rushed it to market to catch the SUV craze. My 1999 ML320 had a ring job at 33K, new drver's window motor, repaired short in Skyview Roof motor, then replaced the motor for SkyRoof. My 1998 C230 was ok, a bit light weighted. Now the 1987 300E i had, that was some car, powerful, handled like a dream. AT 85K on the odometer, it still felt new. The 1984 300D, solid as a rock. It appear to me, quailty build has declined over the years.

Just my $0.02
Edge

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

I thought it was Oldsmobile in the early 70s. Or did they only do testing?

Sixto
91 300SE
81 300SD

Airbags were designed by GM in 1950 and first introduced them in a number of '74 Buicks, Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles (namely the Toronado), but they were expensive and very few were sold.