What could you live without, or not, on your MB?
 

There has been much talk lately about MB's reliability, and the current problems that many new(er) car owners are having. The discussion has turned to gadgets and needless complexity.

So, what gadget(s) would you HAVE to keep, and which ones would you toss?

For me, if I were buying a new MB, it would have to have:

1. Heated seats. You Yanks might be able to live without them, but here, my a$$ would miss them terribly.

2. Sunroof. I love my sunroof, especially in the spring and fall. Not sure about your W202 cars south-of-the-border, but our versions had the sliding roof as optional. I had to have it.

3. Air conditioning. I HATE opening the windows. Also, most cars have too much tumble-home in the aerodynamics, and driving windows-down is awful.

4. Keyless entry. I never loved this feature until I had the munchkin. Now it's a requirement!

5. ABS brakes. I rarely use them, even in the winter, but when I do, they're great. Too bad most people don't use them, and release the pedal when it pulses. Better driver training, please.

6. Cruise control. I would get mitts of speeding tickets without it.

Things I would not want to have:

1. COMAND/Navigation/phone. I don't need any of this crap. I plot my route on a map before driving. I have a cell phone, but rarely use it while driving, and don't need it "integrated" into the car. I don't need a giant screen to display the radio station. I want a simple HVAC system and don't want menus to scroll through or anything like it.

2. ASR/ESP. It's still tires on ice, and when we had the C36 and the E300, I grew to dislike the traction control. It jumped in when I least expected it, and I always felt like someone else was in charge. I do like ABS, but not the other end. Yuck.

3. Distronic Cruise Control. I am looking out the windscreen (since I don't have the stupid COMAND) and can see the car in front of me.

4. Power windows. Since I rarely wind the window down, I could easily live with manual windows.

5. Keyless "Go." Well, it's neat. However, I would always be wondering if today was the day the car didn't like me anymore. "Nope, this is a nice spot, I think we'll stay here." It took MB more than a few years to get keyless entry right, why break something that we just got right?

6. Fully-electronic-transmissions. If "older" hydraulic trannies work better, let's go back. It's not like they were terrible driving cars, ya know.

7. Rain Sensor wipers. I CAN SEE the rain, since I am not COMAND equipped. To engage the wiper, I just ease my left index finger forward a teeny bit, and presto! it swipes the screen. How lazy are we?

Don't need:

- auto climate control - I can set it myself

- leather - not worth the money

- sunroof - I only open it to clean and lube the tracks

- wood - serves no purpose

- alloy wheels - MB wheel covers are the classiest ever

- gasoline engine - Diesel does the job

- covers in the engine bay - is MB ashamed that there's an engine in there?

Would like to see:

- if ACC is mandatory, make the settings adjust with driver seat memory

- let the 560SEL be the SWB and offer a 560SEL-L :)

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

I too would have said I did not need navigation devices until I spent a lot of time driving in the UK and France the last two years. Certainly in the UK, there is not a 90 degree intersection in the whole country. I first started driving there with a friend who was less than an astute navigator. We were lost more than found.
The next time I went over with my wife and I took a Garmin Streetpilot mapping GPS. Life was totally different. I think it was an inexpensive investment in marital harmony. We were never lost and it could tell us where the nearest fuel stop and grocery stores were. A definite must in Europe.

Must have

I think my 300TD amd 560SL have what I like.

Haves
Leather or MB tex material, I hate Valour.
A good AC sytem. Manual is ok, Less to break.
CD player with 6 Cd or more in the dash. What a pain when its in the trunk. Cds, not radio, We don't listen to it much.
A good place to store Cds, look at the Honda Accord
Electric windows. I do like them. Auto up and down
Electric seats but not mandatory.
GOOD cup holders, Not the Mercedes wantabees.
Good interior lighting.
Cruise control
A good horn button, not one that requires a laser guided hand to find.
A soft top, folding hardtop might be nice.
Good ratings form the IIHS institude on crash safety
No Xenon lights, More junk to maintain
Standard tires vs. sport size tires that are more expensive.
ABS

Don't haves.
electronics, displays, telephones, voices etc. More to break.
No ASR ESP FSS etc, etc.
Auto wipers.
plastic trim
Command system, I'm in command dammit
retractable rear window slide.
to many visits to the shop.
To many dollars to buy

Dave

Good Topic
 

Gotta have's:

1. Power Windows

2. Sunroof for the fall and nightime.

3. ABS

4. Decent Stereo

5. Excellent mirrors - 124 car was a failure in this department.

6. Good instrumentation.

7. Integrated hands free phone

"Don't wants":

Comand
ASR
Distronic
power seats
ACC
cruise control

John - I am curious about your comment regarding the tumblehome in today's cars. How does that affect turbulance or windflow? Ever driven a 116? Doors are about 1 foot thick and result in a body shape reminiscent of a Spanish Galleon.

Mike

Re: Good Topic
 

In newer cars with a noticable amount of tumblehome, I have found that driving with the windows down produces a huge amount of buffeting.

Could not live without the three pointed star on the hood. Could live without anything that was not available on my old 420SEL, althought the 32v engine in my E420 might be the exception to that.

Re: Re: Good Topic
 

Don't know if it's much different these days, but in the 300E I drive a lot with the front windown down and the same-side rear window half-down, and it reduces buffeting substantially, even at 70 mph.

-anthony

I'm with Anthony - rolling the back windows down a couple of inches (I do opposite side or both) gets rid of wind buffeting.

Is that what tumblehome is? I've never heard that term.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

I suppose I could have them leave off the rear sunshade, multicontour/pneumatic seats (the ones in my CE are better), auto-dimming rearview mirror and, oh, the cupholder ;)

things I appreciate in my car:
* ABS
* heated mirrors, which prove their worth when there is freezing rain.
* MBTex upholstery
* full instrumentation
* brake lamps that are separate from the rear lamps, which makes braking more discernible from the rear
* the plastic lower-body cladding

things I would like to see in my car
* driving lamps, like those in the 500E/E500 (mine is a W201)
* rear fog lamp (it has been neutered in my model year)
* cupholders

Things I can live without:
Air conditioning. Heat never seems to effect me as much as it used to. I know you americans love your aircon though :)

Oil bath air filter. Sure it's a good system but it makes the car hella noisy and i'd rather change out a paper airfilter than spend an hour emptying and refilling the oil bath.

I can live without starting in 2nd on take off. This feature really gives me the irrates, I live in a country where it almost never snows, yet I have this feature.

I could do with out cruise control never use it ,makes me very nervous and removed from driver feel.........could also do with out power antenna and two tone horn,also could sure do with out the ye old GM hidden windshield wipers on the 126's that catch leaves and other debris..........
William Rogers......

Stuff that I MUST HAVE:

Air Conditioning (I HATE HEAT!!!)
Cruise Control (bad hip; gets real difficult to push the throttle down for hours on end)
Diesel :D (see sig)
Single-disc CD player (to assist in keeping me awake on long trips)
Cloth seats (I hate vinyl/leather; the 300D is the sole exception to this, although I want to either replace the seats or get seat covers)

Stuff that I like, but don't absolutely need:

Power windows (beats leaning over to roll down the passenger's window from the driver's side)
Sunroof (never thought I'd care for it, until I got the 300D)
Heater (nice for cold nights, but I'd rather have workinc a/c than a working heater)
ACC (it honestly comes in handy, although I'm sure I'd be singing a different tune if mine were to break {knock on wood})
Adjustable seats (power preferred, although manual works as well)
Tilt steering wheel
Center console

Stuff that I don't care for:

Automatic transmission as standard equipment (my back's happy that my car's an auto, but I wish it had been available with a manual)
Most of the brand-new electronic systems (phone, navigation equipment, etc - I don't know what all they have these days)
Electronic-controlled engines (I know there's no choice these days in a new vehicle, but I like being able to do my own work)
Leather or vinyl seats (I find them very uncomfortable)
Gas engine (same reason that I like diesels)
"Sealed-For-Life"/maintenance-free anything (seems like an expensive repair down the road to me)

I'm sure that I can add to the list :)

Don't need the W163 heated seats in Texas! ;) Probably never ever switched on since I took possession of the ML.

My wife drives the R129 like a "grocery getter" so most of the active electronic driving systems just loaf.

As far as the W124 is concerned, it would be the stupid door-mounted subwoofer design!

Well, my 124 has all the features I really like and want in a car - sunroof, leather, power windows, AC, etc. the only feature that is missing that I really, really, want is...

...a working fuel gauge.

Bloody fuel gauges. I'm 0/3 on the Benzes that I have owned. I'm convinced they are all haunted past the 1/2 mark. ;)

I'm buying a New Mercedes !
 

Yeah right. Not in a million years. But if I *did* have that kind of wealth...

Must haves,
1)Air Conditioning (NOT CLIMATE CONTROL) I live in Phoenix. Heat is almost comptletely irellevant to me.
2)Leather Seats. Im really tired of having to ground myself on the door frames of cars so I dont get shocked whenever I exit.
3)Good radio and speakers with in-dash (six disk minimum) CD player.
4)Electric windows.
5)Cruise Control.
6)Automatic.
6)Wood. Lots of it. Like in the 126 or the M100 600 Grosser.
7)A propper MERCEDES grille with a substantial frame surrounding a vertical chrome stripe and three or more chrome strips with a three pointed star on top.
8)A return to classical Mercedes styling that results in a car that's instantly recognisable as a Mercedes Benz from a quater mile away rather than only out to about 10 and then only if you can see the star.

I can do without,
1)ASC, ABS, COMMAND, Navigation System,
2)Integrated Phone, Auto Wipers and lights.
3) Pretty much anything not on cars built before the end of the 126 series that does not significantly adveresly impact safety.
4)Heated seats.
5)Cloth or Velour seats. (see no2 under Must haves.)


- Peter.

I didn't realize that it's the leather upholstery that keeps me from getting zapped in the MBs.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Getting Zapped
 

Any car with fabric seats and I get zapped when I exit. I use a Mini maglite on my keychain to ground myself. I just touch the door frame after exiting before I close it. At night you can see a substantial blue spark jumping between the door and the Maglite.
So I HATE fabric seats and remember my 108 and 116's leather seats with fondness.

- Peter.

I forgot this...
 

One thing I really want back is the Oil Pressure Guage! Possibly more than anything else it's absence after the 126 marked a sea change in Mercedes thinking for me.

It indicates a shift in emphasis from longevity to short term cost cutting and it aint good.

- Peter.

Things I can do without...
*Any sort of LCD screen on the center console.
*Sunroof, the top of my head just gets sunburned.
*COMAND systems, electronic integration systems.
*Reclining rear seats, has anyone else noticed that the reclining rear seats on the 560SEL eliminates some of the rear headroom?
*Heated seats.
*Power seats with memory.
*Automatic climate control.
* The 560 SEL has a switch that allows you to honk the horn using only the higher frequency horn??? Never have I seen a more useless POS gadget. What were they thinking, no really I want to know how they intended this to be used.


Things I must have...
*Air conditioning.
*Electronic engine controls and fuel injection
*Automatic Transmision
*Cruise control

Have 300e, w124
 

Its silly to say this in a modern car, but I hate electric windows.

Why are the window controls on the center console? Anything on a center console is a goo collector.

That's my only gripe, really. I like the leather upholstery. The transmission (auto) is smooth as glass. I think the suspension is a great compromise between handling and comfort. Its funny, sometimes I wish it was tighter, more controlled (usually on quick trips in town) while other times I wish it were more luxurious, like when the Mrs and I are out for a pleasure cruise on a mild, sunny autumn day, windows down, sunroof open and allowing trees to morse-code us with speckled shade.

Oh yeah, cup holders. I want cup holders.

Ya know, I never thought I'd admit this...but I really appreciate the electric seats w/ memory in our 124. My wife is 5'5" and I'm 6'0", which makes for a lot of fiddling around when I drive her Passat. It's just one touch of a button to position things on the 300 TD-- I guess I'm lame.

I wish the fool thing didn't have that infernal ACC--give me a manual climate control system and I'll do just fine, thank you very much!!

Ditto on the center console switches representing a lack of forethought. Like the old Saab ignition. Perfect place for spilled coffee and crumbs to collect. Price for being different? Center console switches does seem to be the Euro' thing.

Nothing about my old Benz bothers me. I don't relate to nav systems and keyless ignitions. I've never had a car with A/C except my Exploder-which stopped working after 2 years. Too costly to fix. My Benz needs a charge and I don't care. Heat is necessary at times. I love wood on the inside of cars, I think if its done right it looks elegant, if done badly it looks like a crappy coffee table. I hate cruise control. I never leave it on long enough to make it worth while to turn on. You're either going to fast or too slow, there's traffic, whatever. Must have a CD player. I don't really care about "sound quality". If I can hear it and it sounds like what I want to hear I'm fine. Love the sunroof, especially in Spring/Fall. Like leather or MBTex.

Love the smell of my car. Also love the smell of pre-cat cars, but thats another thread. Very masculine. Whoever is driving it loves dark liquors, cigars, snuff and eschews white wines and front wheel drive. Just kidding. Sort of.

Love the oil pressure gauge, a must have especially on an older car. Love the gently lit dashboard-can't really tell where the light is coming from, it just gently washes over the gauges. Love the huge trunk. I actually like the automatic, too, but its hardly a performance car so I'm not losing anything save a few MPGs.

I only wish the MCS in the ML had more features. Some have been added since the car was made – DVD based NAV system. Other toys would be real time traffic advisory, digital surround sound system, ability to adapt most any phone to the MCS.

Oh, yeah, one thing I could live without are the wiggly outside mirrors. It appears that MB forgot how to make outside rear-view mirrors.....