One of those "Little Things" of MB cars

[plink49]

Recently in New Mexico we have experienced some extreme and unusual weather including a LOT of hail. During one midnight storm there was a 30 minute non-stop barrage of nickle-size hail, and my '86 300E was sitting in the driveway getting beaten up. Inspecting it the next morning there was no damage whatsoever. My wife drove it to work that day and during the afternoon there was an even larger storm with hail the size of golf balls and larger! In the parking lot afterwards, virtually every car experienced at least some damage as attested by the insurance adjuster......except the trusty old '86 300E!!! I remember reading that the steel used in MB is a higher tensil strength than virtually all other cars...I now can attest to that fact. It's the things like this.....not gadgets...that seperate Benzs' from other marques!

[J.HIDALGO]

I know the paint is NOT the same quality.

[Impala]

The W124 is quite strong as shown here...

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/W124_Apillar.html

[G-Benz]

Originally Posted by J.HIDALGO

I know the paint is NOT the same quality.

MB went to water-based paint in the later years. It's durability is nothing like the earlier compounds.

My 93 gets pelted by highway debris daily, but holds quite well.

The 99 ML hood is quite chipped and it doesn't see nearly the exposure as the 93.