2000 miles completed in new hotrod!

[Aaron]

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Hey all,

I literally just arrived home from my week long venture with the new 500E. The car ran absolutely flawlessly and we saw some speeds that would be considered illegal even in Germany on certain stretches of Autobahn, hehe!

The trip went something like this:

12/27: Leave Cincinnati, arrive 10 hours later in Alabama to collect 500E.

12/28: Leave Alabama, make a bee-line for Miami, Florida. See 120mph a few times on FLA Turnpike, 130mph once or twice while cruising with a new Infiniti coupe.

12/28 through 12/31: Hooligan-esque driving all through Miami and Fort Lauderdale. 500E cruises Ocean Drive on Miami's infamous South Beach, gets admiring glances among the new F360s and Murcielagos lining the streets. Locate trustworthy MB shop near our home in Miami Beach to have 500E's oil changed (German Auto World). 8.5 fresh quarts of Mobil 1 0W-40 in sump and new filter and we're ready for more driving!

1/1/06: Leave Miami, head to Jacksonville. Mistake! Gator Bowl going on and no hotel rooms available! Finally find some crappy yet expensive room outside of the city.

1/2/06: Wake up and head for Brumos Mercedes-Benz in Jacksonville to get a new wiper blade for 500E because of heavy rains expected on next leg of our journey. Oops! Dealership closed, long weekend because of holiday. Press on to Georgia. Arrive in Augusta, Georgia that evening. Visit with some friends (fellow Benz fanatics).

1/3/06: Leave Augusta this morning. Pass more Georgia staties than I've ever seen in all the times I've driven through that state! One was even hiding IN the woods off to the right of the highway. 500E's K40 radar system is rendered useless because it hasn't given us one alert the whole trip although is powering up ok. Idiot me forgets to pack Valentine One in anticipation that K40 will work. Somehow, miraculously, we do not receive one ticket the entire trip!

Present: Finally arrive back in Cincinnati. Car still intact. No problems. Sweet machine. As soon as I finish all my appointments up this week, she's getting cleaned, waxed and serviced again and stored until spring time.

Pics to follow....

[wbain5280]

I recently saw a 500E on ebay with a K40 and rear sunscreen. Did you buy it?

I aspire to buy a 500E500 one day. I hope there are some left in decent shape.

http://www.500ecstasy.com/forums/index.php

Oh, and thanks for the update.

[t walgamuth]

the 500e is on my list of cars to own before i die.

tom w