You don't say . . .



RC Imports may take issue with some of that.

Back in Europe . . .










Turbo 300E v Ferrari

When I was younger and just got into it, I didn't feel very welcome at MBCA events with my older car.

I got the impression it was mostly for the new car crowed, in their 60's...

Now as I get older and move along in life, eventually I will get a new Mercedes, and I won't join the MBCA.


MBCA should do something with the Classic Center to try to get more younger people with older Mercedes interested in events. That's part of the problem with selling higher priced cars.

BMW gets them threw slightly used 3 series and Audi has VW as a funnel towards A4 ownership.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Of course you can find exceptions (and btw, there's un-coincidentally an e36 in your top picture). Missing the forest for the trees.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Okay, live in your reality and I'll live in mine. Stop by 190Rev.net sometime and see what some folks are doing with cars from the 80's and 90's.

The issue with all those "parts" for Honda, VW, Mustang or Vettes . . . after spending the money, it's still a Honda, Mustang or Vette underneath. If you're talking Saleen, Rousch, Calloway, etc . . . then the parts list gets shorter and the prices skyrocket, don't they.

The MBUSA dealership network has firmly stated in the past that they want to be a luxury brand in the US. Hence, the fully loaded cars in the dealerships, disdain for cars like the W203 Couple/Hatch and the cold shoulder for the A & B.

Lap Record Laguna Seca for 2.3-16

YouTube search for Mercedes Lime Rock has hits.

At no time have I said that there are more popular cars that folks like to mod, I was responding to the notion that you can't, for reasonable money, mod a Mercedes and have a blast.

You are completely missing the point. The magnitude of the community surrounding performance is nearly nonexistent compared to other makes and models, much of which has to do with good platforms to start (2.3-16 was a good one, but hard to find) and the rest having to do with parts, community and knowledge availability afterwards. Again, I ask -- try to find something like spec e30 series or spec e36 series within the realm of MB. Hell, try modding a w202 with the same budget as an e36 and see how far you get.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Still a MBCA member, but haven't been to an event in a few years. Yawn.

It's much more fun to hit the tuner shows and see the whacky things people create with limited budgets, and lots of times limited taste. Same goes for the muscle/hot rod guys.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

This.

I am convinced that it depends on which section of the club you are in. I see Matt in Ohio posting about events that his section is doing on Facebook every few weeks and there is nothing here in the Philly area.

One of these days I need to check out the mbca events local to me. Seems pretty active compared to other locations I've lived. Still an mbca member, but almost primarily for the parts discount the classic center gives, which was the original reason. The local chapter has more driving events however, like road rally stuff, so could be fun.

Been to a few events back when I first joined in less populated parts of the country, and it was a bit stale. Unfortunately because mostly I only have interest in the older vehicles. However one day ill make the effort to hit up the mbca CT headquarters car show event.

I just don't like the undercurrent of brand pretension that sometimes is a factor at MB stuff. One of the reasons I love the impromptu GTGs often organized by forum members is there is none of that, just people who love their car for whatever reason and are often hopeless tinkerers. However when you go to an officially sanctioned event from mbca, you have this brand undercurrent thing going on.

That may be a bit unfair, as obviously it IS about a brand on some level, but still, there is a definite feel to it, you can sense the difference in the general mindset.

I don't know, maybe its the inherant sense of pretension the mbusa had tried so hard to culivate showing itself through owner attitudes, but it makes mbca events less fun.

I see three distinct groups of MB owners, the owners who drive the old MBs and love them, and those that drive the newer ones and love them, and those that just drive the car period and will never be part of any club. IMO, mbca is trying to appeal to all groups in a general sense, which is hard to do.

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Check with Cat Cams. Last I heard they have a duplicate of the AMG camshaft, cast not billet, for under $1K. Shifts the power curve to the upper revs.

What kind of power increase would one realize by shifting the power curve?

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

I don't think that pushing the power curve higher up the RPM scale is the recipe for improved 0-60 times in a typical porky MB product.

It'll make it more useable on the track, plus probably a little bump by allowing the valves to be open for a slightly longer duration (moving more air). But really what it all amounts to is that doing mods on an older MB is not nearly as accessible for most people than a whole slew of other cars. I thought about modding my 300E with a homemade supercharger...would be fun, but then it would just be a slightly wallowy (if comfortable), slightly more powerful car with an auto and over a ton and a half to lug around. Just doesn't make sense. Cars that have a great following are there because they have a great platform to begin with, then that spawns people who modify them, which drives aftermarket demand. MB sadly has almost none of that.

Plus factory turbo cars typically have WAYYY more power available per dollar than NA cars. The CLA45 is neat but doesn't leave much room for tunes pumping up boost...we'll see where that leads.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Only a couple more grand to keep up with an E36!

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth