el presidente.

Thanks for that. These figures do seem to reflect what is in my manual, but I've been told by a MB UK dealer who had it in last year for a major service that the engine produces 240 bhp. - can that be true? Am I lucky!?

I've also got a K&N air filter fitted, but don't think the claims of 10% power performance quoted on the filter boxes is correct.

The MB manual provided with the car states that the car will produce 162kW at 6,400/min, redline at 7,000 rpm and the max torque of 265Nm at 4600/min.

If I remeber correctly, MB don't 'speed test' the cars empty. Weight to represent a fellow passenger and another 20kg in the trunk to represent a suitcase and I think they also had a full load of gas. Not too sure about the full gas tank, but that is what I was told. So the top speed of 148mph is pretty accurate in that case.

In the UK car registration plates carry the year of issue, so that sales will always pick up when the new plates are issued. I've noticed that a lot of drivers don't like moving over for cars with older plates on. To make things worse, I've got a private plate on mine, that makes it seem even older than it is. Good fun.