I know that somewhere after 95, MB has been doing some cost cutting. Thanks to the japenese, MB has shortened thier product cycle from 9 years to 6.They also have been introducing more models and have lowered thier prices to be competitive. I also read somewhere that MB use to do 1 million mile endurance tests on thier test mules just to be sure they were bulletproof. Today that's been eliminated. The 123 and 126 just feel like a real mercedes with the solid thud when you shut the door and they feel like a tank. The quality and fit and finish were excellent. These are the traits that made mb famous in the 80's.The 124 felt solid too . Did MB fire these engineers or is it all due to the cost cutting.

considering when they were designed I would guess a few of them have passed on by now. The book I have shows pictures and some of them don't look like spring chikens back in the 70's. But that is a good question I wonder what ever happened to them.

those of us who work on them everyday, have been asking this for a while.

I believe it's a combination of: "new MBZ techniques" like,

building them as light as possible,
as cheap as possible,
forgetting all of what made their reputation in the first place,
competing with asian cars- by building comparable products,
no longer caring about building a durable product,
forgetting what put them on the map in the first place!


I'm just a guy with an opinion,,,,,,but I have seen my share of Benzes, being a thrid gen tech who's worked on them exclusively for 21 years.

One thing's for certain....

They sure don't build 'em like the used to !

__________________
Alain
independant MBZ tech since 1981
http://www.motorsportlegendsks.com/

I remember reading somewhere that the head of the W140 project was fired because of the --sky is the limit type of money spending--on the production of the car.

They sure don't build them like they used to. These 01+ C-Classes and 03+ E-Classes make me sick to know there is a star on the hood.