makakio,

I don't think Mercedes NEEDED to switch to rack & pinion to rival BMW's steering "prowness". Even the BMW M5 uses recirculating ball. Mercedes coulda improved their recirculating ball design to match BMW's, instead of doin' a total swap to rack & pinion, which BMW ONLY elected to use on their 3-series (and a few other random cars, most notable the Z8).

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1995 Mercedes-Benz E420 (W124 - Black Pearl/Black)