C230 rates "Poor" on DateLine. Anyone see this?

[DEPRIEST]

Hey all,
I figured I'd see a huge thread about this already, but so far, none. Did anyone see DateLine on NBC monday the 30th of Jan? They did their usual bit with a bunch of different stories. One of them was about new auto's and how their bumpers held out in a 5 MPH collision. I think they tested 6 cars, but I can't remember. I remember the Mercedes Benz C230 was one of them and in their test, it preformed "Poorly". They ran the rear of the car into a post at 5 MPH. After the collision, the trunk wouldn't close. The other car that preformed "poorly" was a Lexus LS 430. The one that received the best rateing was a 2001 Hyundai Elantra. Did anyone see this? I hate to report that a MB rated poorly. MB argued that their cars are designed to protect the occupants and that cosmetics are of lesser concern. It just bothered me a bit that a 5 MPH collision would cost over $1100.00 US to repair.
Comments?

Here's the link:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/522137.asp#BODY

[Edited by DEPRIEST on 02-01-2001 at 06:45 PM]

[300EVIL]

hyundai,,,, please.... you can't believe everything you see on the news.

[yal]

Saw the show. The institute for highway safety really murdered the C class on that one. Yikes! what damage!
The messed up thing was that the cheapest car of the bunch the Hyundia Elantra beats all the other cars by like a mile. Not a scratch. Very disturbing to say the least.

It may be unbelievable because it on TV but when the test is conducted and edited one after the other in that way it makes a very visual impact.

[brianw]

Yes, as the gentleman indicated in that piece so eloquently, MB really has no excuse for a bumper performing so poorly on a 5 mph bumper test, especially in the light of juxtaposing it with a Hyundai. If the primary function is to preserve occupant safety, why not begin with the bumpers.

Next we'll see Hyundai bumper upgrades for our MB's. Maybe RENNtech will carry them. Sorry...poor attempt at humor.

Brian W.

[engatwork]

in a wreck in the MB at 35 mph instead of the Hyunda. From what I have read they all perform pretty much the same once you get involved in a wreck above around 60 mph.
Jim
'95 E320
'97 CRV

[DEPRIEST]

Oh, don't get me wrong... I'll take my chances in a MB over a Hyundai anyday in a high speed accident. That's not the issue. I just didn't like the way the MB preformed in a minor scuff. 5 MPH hit and the trunk won't close! Since most accidents are just minor scuffs, I'd like an expensive luxury automobile to fair a bit better than a econo-box.

[JCE]

Brian:
Is the Federal standard for bumbers 2.5 or 5 mph, anyone know? I am as amazed as you are about the poor bumper performance, but the bumper has relatively little to do with occupant safety after about 20mph - I understand that it is there mostly to preserve the body work at lower speeds. I believe that the body engineering (crumple zones, spare storage, gas tank location, structural rigidity of the passenger safety cage, etc.) have more to do with occupant safety.
An example would be the egg drop contest that many junior high students perform in their science classes. Some students construct containers that survive a drop from a 6 story building unscathed, but the contents are raw omlette. Other containers are completely totalled, but the egg is unscathed.
For MB to put a rear bumper on a car that sustains $1100 damage after a 5mph collision is unconscionable (unless it is part of an engineered crumple system, in which case they should be a little upfront about it). However, I would like to see the comparison of crash dummy test results for a 40 mph rear end collision on the 2 cars before I made a safety choice. Sorry I missed the show.

[DEPRIEST]

Here's what MB had to say to DateLine regarding it's preformance. Oh, and by the way... it was a C-320, not a C-230. Sorry, I transposed the numbers...

MERCEDES-BENZ
As a followup to our discussion, please be aware that
occupant safety is our first priority in designing all
Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles. For that reason, the
C-Class performed outstandingly well in a recent IIHS
offset crash test at 40 miles per hour and, as a result, they
are likely to designate the care a “Best Pick.” However,
occupant safety would be compromised by reducing the
repair cost of the C-Class bumper.

[420SEL]

That's what I thought. I think my 420SELs bumpers would be pretty expensive to replace in a minor crash. Those things are like 2 grand each, but for passenger safety I have no doubts. As for the bumper that's what insurance and low deductibles are for. Those cheap cars are cheap for a reason. They all want to win one prize to get their names mentioned in a positive way in the auto press. Making really cheap to replace bumpers is top on the list for a small prize that gets blown out of proportion in the press. Too bad none of them try to improve their performance where it really counts.

[brianw]

JCE, very well put, and I really doubt many cars would stand up as well after some real life "safety" collision tests as a MB. And I don't think anyone here would rather be in any other car in a higher speed collision than a MB, after all, isn't that why we buy them? Not sure what the federal standards are for bumpers.

But yes, seeing your favorite manufactures car being edited into a expose like that feels a little unsettling, again immediately after a Hyundai! I still do not understand why a 5 mph "crash" should cause $1100, but it wouldn't mater if I were ever in need of the ultimate safety feature of the car in a collision.

I will still not own anything other than a MB,
Brian W.

Spend your (collective) money on a W124--godDAMN I love my E420--and love it more everyday. If I go through a red light with this thing (which I hope not to do), I will cut any other car IN HALF!!!

[Ali Al-Chalabi]

As I understand, the federal standards for bumpers are now 2.5 mph, but don't quote me on that one.
In a minor scuff, the MB may suffer monetary damage, but that is a small price to pay for the piece of mind that you stand a much better chance of surviving an actual serious crash than most other cars. The bumper is replaceable, human life is not.
One thing must be kept in mind when comparing the MB with the other car, that is the word Hyundai. Why don't they try comparing the cars in any other aspect whatsoever.
One thing that comes to mind is when I saw a new-special on Why Planes Crash. The facts in this story were so distorted and misleading that they can make the viewer believe anything they want to regardless of what the truth is. In this show, they stopped just short of blatently lying to the public in order to win viewers over. The object of these news shows is to get people to watch them, not to accurately represent the facts. Just goes to show you that you CANNOT believe everything you see on the news.
When it comes to a Hyundai, I would take my Klein road bike over a Hyundai anyday. It is probably faster and safer than the Hyundai anyway. If I knew I was going to drive a Hyundai, I wouldn't even bother to get a driver's license.

-Ali Al-Chalabi

Last year Lexus got the bad rap. The year before that it was the Cadillac Catera. Of course the bumper cost big bucks, the rear bumper on my tundra cost 900 bucks (retail). What would the damage be to a Ferrari or something like that. Performance cars have performance parts and we have to perform to pay for them... that's the bottom line.
Oh yea I agree with Ali on driving a Hyandi I would never be seen in one of those things.

[joegolden]

I saw the show and I agree with the disapointing performance of the c320. I also agree that I would rather be in that car or the LS430 in a highspeed crash!

Last year they did the same test with other cars including a 2000 Volvo s80. The Volvo's airbags deflated in the head-on 5mph bump! No bumper or sheetmetal damage! Volvo and the institute both claimed that was an unusual and isolated incident, but unerving to us Volvo owners. If that would have been a real-life incident there would probably be a lawsuit!

Last year my wife ran into the back of our parked Wagoneer with her s70 and it smashed the headlight and grill. The airbags stayed in their home, thank God. She started screaming about the 4 cars in our driveway at that point!

Oh! I almost forgot I recieved a letter in the mail about a recall on 98' s70's with airbags that may inflate suddenly. Hmmmm.

Joe Golden

98' s70 27k
98' Explorer Limited 44k
83' Grand Wagoneer 214k
84' 300d 198k

[Southern]

My wife had this program on when I was on the computer so I was not 100% watching the program. I believe that the 5 mph crash was against a post positioned in the middle of the rear bumper. I the real world I would think that a more realistic 5 mph crash would involve a front bumper from one car against a rear bumper from a second car in which case the force of the 5 mph would be distributed against the entire rear bumper instead of an area of about 4 inches. I bet that the results would be entirely different if they tested for this senerio.

In any case I lost all respect for these types of distorted, misleading, crap programs when GM caught one of them intensionally setting a charge off on a GM pickup to illustrate on how "unsafe" they were on a side impact. During the actual side impact the pickup didn't explode so they set a charge off to mislead the public that the pickup actually exploded.

My only regret is that GM let them off to easy - they should have took them for all they were worth and then some.