I have heard MANY stories like yours. The overriding theme in all of them was the superior crashworthiness of the premium brand German cars. I feel much better knowing my family rides in either a Benz or our big BMW. Our driving skills often have little to do with accidents. Just like your case, timing is everything.

My favorite one happened at a Porsche club event. One participant spun leaving the track backwards at over 120 mph. The car flipped end for end several times, rolled repeatedly, struck a barrier wall and came to rest upside down on the grass. This was in a 968 (variant of the 944 series). The car had no roll cage, it was stock except for upgraded seatbelts. The driver walked away from this one as well. I was able to examine the car afetr the wreck. The passenger compartment was tottally intact, the rest of the car was scrap. Even a small, properly desinged, automobile can take tremendous abuse.

Why the switch back to a V6 after the V8? I drove an ML500 and felt the V8 made the truck feel much more substantial. Of course I'm a sucker for power I assume you traded the 99 for the 00 in your signature.

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1995 G320
1984 280GE
1971 Unimog 416

Brent,

Actually that wasn’t by me me but someone else whose comments I snagged from the aformentioned site. I thought it a good enough to share. I traded my former ’91 300TE 4-matic for the ML, just as I (kind of) traded my former 928 for my 400E.

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

http://www.autoweb.com.au/start_/showall_/id_MER/doc_mer0202191/article.html

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

Howdy Tracy,
With those good words about running in the bush on dirt roads and sand you will have to come down here to El Mirage and find out first hand The conditions are almost identicle just in a smaller area. We can throw in rocks and mountians too.

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Frank X. Morris
17 Kia Niro
08 Jeep Wrangler 4 door unlimited

A couple quote's about safety and Mercedes, first thanks everyone for the improvement in this forum, making my job alot easier.

Yesterday's Mercedes standard is today's law.
Mercedes-Benz has repeatedly given decisive new impetus to improving passive safety. One example is the offset crash test, first with a rigid barrier from 1979 and then with a deformable barrier from 1992. This realistic test procedure developed by Mercedes-Benz in the early 90s was used as the basis for the European crash test.

But not always top of the class.
A manufacturer that goes to so much trouble should really come out on top in every test. But the Mercedes-Benz safety philosophy is not aimed primarily at test results, but at providing vehicle occupants with as much protection as possible in real-life accident situations. The result is that Mercedes-Benz vehicles do not always finish first in individual tests-especially those that have no real world merit.

Gilly

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Click here to see the items I have up for auction at EBay

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Howdy Dan,
Yes it is nice being a friendly little group!ˇ But it would be nicer being a friendly BIG group By the way is easier to repair cars or to repair forums

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Frank X. Morris
17 Kia Niro
08 Jeep Wrangler 4 door unlimited

Bumping this to the top

Kuan