I just got a home video from my friend who took a European delivery Porsche Carrera back in Sept. 1994.

They were able to take some footage of the factory. In the tape was some footage of a slew of E500s and the Audi RS2, and a ton of Porsches of course.

The E500s they caught on film were the E500 Limiteds. Polished Evo IIs with the 94/95 hood, lights are rear plate frame.

The pics below are taken from the TV screen as I have yet to figure out how to transfer the camera footage (Video 8) into my computer (mpeg).

Here's a pic of the first E500 they saw as they arrived (via bus...as they were going home in their new Porsches):



Here are a couple of pics of the track where they were given a ride by professional Porsche drivers:





Here's a pic of the Audi RS2 (the next few pictures were taken as they were driving around the factory in their brand spanking new Porsche):



More pics of the E500:





The last picture shows the E500 and the Audi RS2. Where else can you find them but in the Porsche factory?

Hope this clears the issue up for good.

I'll try to post more pics...and the video too if I ever figure out how to do it.



More pics available here.

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

Hi Ricky- another piece to the puzzle falls in place

...purely in the devil's advocate role,....and to truly close the case, video of the AMG factory will need to surface as well (just because this was happening in the Porsche factory does not mean by default something similar was not happening at AMG- - 'one' or 'the other' logic)

nice pics and thanks!
-fad

Huh???

Why would MB have the *same* cars built by different companies???

To nit pick the suggested 'evidence' the lack of E500s at the AMG factory would not 'prove' they weren't made there., etc., etc., etc.

What you'd probably see at the AMG factory though are AMG conversions of W124s. Didn't they make 6.0 liter one offs?

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

Ricky- eaaaasyyyy!

"Why would MB have the same car built by two different companies?".....I humbly submit that I'm not MB and not qualified to answer that question....so personal speculation means squat- in the whole scheme of things (maybe LTDs were built at Porsche and regular E500s were built at AMG?.....and, this is merely another option based upon mere possibilities)

the suggested evidence is clearly not 'nit picked'- that can be attempted no problemo- ie sterile evidence q's--and there's no desire to do so....

the 'suggested evidence' is recognized as 'suggested evidence' ...and as put forth is clearly not "conclusive evidence" (very different animals)

however, lets be professionals here..in building a bullet-proof/ end-all/ hands down case- complete research on all fronts 'supported with' and 'married to' irrefutable hard evidence or conclusive evidence is what nails the case shut, everything else plays a harmonious (/non harmonious) part and/or falls by the way side by allowing the shadow of a doubt to exist

so..., more speculative thinking, default based reasoning, and 3rd party here- say are exactly that....plays a role to the case, but doesn't make it bullet-proof for the jury (thinking outside the box vs. thinking inside the box)

I'm not biased either way on this matter and appreciate the information and value of the pics...just doing the devil's advocate role....and considering what is still unknown (it keeps me positively grounded in reality)

-fad

Hey, I put in the requisite smilies! Three even!

No offense taken. And no emotions about it either way either. All I was trying to point out is that it doesn't make sense to get AMG (or any other company) involved in the last year of a 5 year production run due to the cost of the tooling, time to get up to speed, etc. Also, the E500 Limiteds were the last 500 produced, so they weren't assembled at the same time.

Another thing to consider is that IF we *accept* the assertion that the first of the 500Es were built at the Porsche factory, and the last of the (by then) E500s were also built at the Porsche factory (i.e. the Limiteds), THEN save the (unlikely) possibilities that (1) there were parallel runs at AMG (or elsewhere) and/or (2) the production was shifted to AMG midstream then returned to the Porsche factory, then it would be logical to conclude that all of the E500/500Es sold to the public by MB were built at the Porsche factory.

True, it is not irrefutable evidence. No amount of pictures or speculation will ever be. I wasn't meaning to defend my original post, only wanted to state that videos or pictures of the AMG factory cannot prove that they weren't built there as well. The only irrefutable source for the answer would be MB itself, and/or statements from Porsche claiming that they were the only ones involved, and/or a statement from AMG that they were never involved.

Cheers!

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

Ricky- cool- we're on the same page and that's some rare footage to add to your 500e treasure bin!

-fad

I have no clue why i'm writing this as I have limited knowledge of what an e500/500e is.

From what I've read in this forum:

Maybe they had to contract out because of increase demand?

Or

Maybe the suspension or something was tuned by Porsche. Doesn't seem uncommon as Lotus tunes some American cars.

Very interesting though.

__________________
1997 Silver AMG C36
OEM Advantegarde Grille
OEM Clear Corners
W210 Blinking mirrors
Eibach/Bilstein Combo
Zender Rear Lip Spoiler

Those E500's and Porsche's look really nice, but the RS2, well, not as nice. I was under the impression that all 500E/E500's were made by Porsche. Where did all these (rumors about the 500E being built by AMG) come from? Why doesn't somebody just e-mail MB and ask them?

The ever-elusive E500 /////AMG


I did, and probably there are a number here who have. They simply don't reply.

Maybe they saw these threads and are getting a kick out of the debate...

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

....the majority of the MB/AMG/Porsche patriots of old have returned to the earth and heavens and maybe the secret solely lays mum in an old world country resthome (or two)

Ricky- we should hire a Mission Impossible team to do some espionage into the MB/Porsche/AMG top secret archive and to get to the bottom of this!

or...we may have to smoke out a defector and put the pliers to his noggin for the truth...

tune in next time...same channel...same time....and see what happens next when Ricky interviews candidates for the espionage team!

-fad

Let's have someone volunteer their '94 and we'll dissect it (autopsy). If we find any "AMG" logos or secret messages scripted by the E500 builders inside panels, then we might have more evidence showing the contrary...???

Sorry mine is a '93 :p

You know what, fad, Scott Shell knows someone from AMG in Germany. That's where he gets his AMG parts from. Maybe an e-mail to that guy would set us all straight, given that MB refuses to reply to emails....

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

Maybe if I'm the richest man in the world, I can ask Porsche to convert a 300CE to a 500CE in Diamond Blue..

damn... 500CE Limited w/ the EVO II wheels, in diamond blue..
leave the 300CE badge..

damn, just can't get enough 500E!
I just love these cars!! Especially the early ones w/ the orange turn signals and 16" wheels

The 500E/E500 was built on the same line as the old 959 supercar...not ever at AMG...except maybe for the stupid rich who had to have their motors bigger and made special arrangements to have their cars brought back across the country after final completion at Sindelfingen, which is entirely possible given the number of filthy rich folks who bought the cars. I was at AMG in 1999 and saw and heard nothing of the sort on 500Es ever being built there and they have been at the same block since the late sixties. E-mails to MBUSA will get you no-where...just call them up...better yet...call Sindelfingen directly if you must know. You'll also probably get answers more readily if you sprechen sie kliener Deutsch. It would be great to have the factory dig out some photos of them on the line being built. Where's that boner icon?

Jim
1992 500E

Jim has it right.

The 500e/e500 was assembled in part at the porsche 959 plant. The reason is because of the extra width of the 500e over the other w124 cars. The car was too wide for the regular assembly line.

Taken From Dean Albrecht's Site:

History of the E500


The E500 was developed with the assistance of Porsche engineers in response to the success of AMG's "Hammer" V-8 conversion of the 300E. In fact, Mercedes sales literature refers to the 1994 E500 as "a velvet hammer". The E500 was truely a coach-built automobile and there are more than 4,500 parts that are different from the 300E upon which it is based.


Porsche carried out the engineering, chassis design, crash testing, and tuning. Assembly required many trips between the Mercedes factory in Sindelfingen and the Rossle-Bau production line at the Porsche works in Zuffenhausen. MB would truck the bodies to Porsche where they re-arched the floor, widened the driveshaft tunnel, and re-worked the firewall. The bodies returned to Mercedes for painting, then back to Porsche for engine, driveline, and interior kit assembly. Porsche gave the cars a thorough road test and then returned them to Mercedes for final inspection prior to delivery.


On average, it took 18 days to assemble an E500, compared with 5 days for other Mercedes automobiles and 1-2 days for a typical American or Japanese car. The overall weight of the sedan was 400 pounds less than that of the 500SL, which shared the M119 engine, and thus the performance was greatly improved. Braking was further enhanced for the 1994 model year with the installation of front rotors and calipers from the SL600.


There were no right hand drive models manufactured. Production commenced September of 1990 and ceased in January of1995, after more than 10,000 vehicles were built. In 1994 the model received a cosmetic re-design along with the entire W124 line and was re-numbered from the 500E to E500 in keeping with MB new corporate numbering policy. 1994 also saw the introduction of a slightly de-tuned M119 engine to comply with stricter emissions regulations. The 500E/E500 was available in Canada for the 1993 and 1994 model years and only 45 vehicles were imported.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon