I'm just not an outsorcing fan. I been involved with companies where they've outsourced and before the inks even dried the third party begins to cut back on costs....I remember at times not asking for changes and them simply happing since the company now incharge of this division found a way to save money. In the end it hurts the customer getting a subpar item because someone found a way to save 15 cents on mass production of the item.

Hello everybody,
I have a 1990 124 - 230ce and I love it. I love the design of the 124 coupe's, they still look great, and the ride is absolutely up to date with modern cars. The feel of the old mb's is without compare. If I should say anything negative about mb it must be the new'er models... What happended ? Can anyone tell me who allowed drugs inside MB's headquaters? I think its sad that they didn't use the philosofi of the 123 and 124 for the w210 and so on. Someone should kick MB whit a shoe made of a poison Strong ylocentrotus. So what i'm doing is keeping my trusty 124 coupe in perfect running order so it last unlit MB makes another real starcar

Mine is a 2.3 190E 88,132 mls
Paid 1300
Navy Blue with Palomeno (just added Zebrano trim & waiting on the matching Shift Nob)interior.

Favorite: My dream come true and project.

Dislike: Starting with a 2.3 I thought would be cheaper,but as i realize twice the machanic was a easy learn and the repair cost will be same for all modelz. So, very I'll be investing in something a little bigger.

Over all at purchase: Back left passenger Window Regulator 80 buckz, Fuel Accumalator 35 buckz, Pluggz 12 buckz and Flinge disc 150 buckz.

Most of GM's cars and parts are made in Mexico. Yeah their real high quality.

Outsourcing isn't a bad thing. They company will build what you spec. Everything is built to spec, Toyota and Honda have no problem in this regard.

MB uses a lot of Bosch parts. Have since WW2 ended. Go check out a Gullwing.

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

I think the drugs are from the marketing people trying to appeal to the American drivers that buy the cars. Most Mercedes Engineers are logical and calculating individuals and most American car buyers are illogical emotional in nature. When you have marketing people who affect the engineering there is always problems....

Cheaper Faster Better usually ends as Cheap Broken and Worse.

The fan controls. You seem to have 3 choices: High, low and whatever the car feels like. Would much prefer to have a simple selector, say high low medium.

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Der Panzermann und Fraulein Fahrvergnuegen

1991 420SEL 201K "The Big Blue One"
1985 300DT 205K chassis/285K engine nee California emissions "Goldbug"
1983 300TDT 255K "The Womble"
1983 300 DT 214K "Sea Sprite"-Rear-ended a truck
1983 300SD 285K "The Donor" Gave his life so that others can live
1980 500SL Euro 105K "Der Panzer"

the tank (aka "ze panzer")
1990 W124 300E 2.6.
150000 or so miles. odo broke at 105141
beige/ champagne colour with a light tan MB tex interior

*love the monowiper. cleans more surface than most dual wiper systems and starts on the drivers side to immediately clean the screen.
*love the little sunscreen above the mirror. its thoughtful little touches like this that really endear me to the car
*love that the buzzer goes off if i leave the keys in the car or the lights on
*love that the coolant passes through the windshield washer bottle; cars that are plugged in overnight can have warm water melt the snow off the windshield
*love the two stage opening act of the hood. used this feature many times as a mercedes apprentice mechanic back when
*clear precise instrumentation. proper oil pressure gauge, accurate coolant temp gauge fuel economy gauge!!! warning lights for everything.
*nice large fuel tank. near 500 mile range with very very very easy foot.
*cavernous trunk
*dashboard rheostat dims all interior lights.
*driver retractable rear headrests
*beautiful beautiful shape. and elegant timeless shape that still looks attractice and contemporary today. W210 looks ungainly by comparison
*clean well laid out interior
*MB tex still looks new.
*arm rests are both in the perfect position for me
*no cupholders
*closing all windows and sunroof with key in door
*UV filtering glass
*road/ highway presence. manners on the road are impeccable.
*compact car turning circle
*this goes with the above. the glasshouse is so expansive you can clearly see where you are going when you reverse. ive manouvered my baby into some tight spots

i could go on and on and on.


dislikes arent many.

*cruise control demons
*only a four speed auto with no lockup. would prefer a 1st gear start coupled with a longer rear ratio or a five speed.
*passenger side mirror. that square ugly square thing may give a nice view but its hideous
*sorry DOT headlights. will remedy this with euro lights in the future
*factory stereo lacks bottom end thump.
*fuel economy can be pitiful when youre foot is in the gas all the time.
*lack of warning triangle in trunk

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'O=00=O'
bmw 2002.
long live the legend

about the only real pisser on these cars in my mind is the #@$%&* automatic ac controls. the under sized gm ac compressors in the 123 cars come in a close second.

oh yeah and the frankenstein ac bracket in 115 and early 123 cars and the 115 alternator adjusters #@$^%&! to them.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I know it. That sounds like a very common problem.

1996 E320, Im new to this car and am impressed. From what I hear I dont have one of the better years either.
I like the cars looks and stature, comfort and good performace of a larger car. Economy is good also for what it is. The engine really turns on above 3500 rpm WOW Its not my Mach 1 but its not in that class.

I dont like the climate control switches and the hydraulic throttle it detracts from the ability of the car and the driving experience overall.

S600(140), 560SEL(126), S55(221), S500(140), S600(220), 1960 300d
Everything about the german design and engineering are good but the quality of most benz with electroniuc component gave much of the infamous reputation plus they refuse to accept their short comings (fault cause by down budgetting with mb sub contractors for parts), no decent recalls has ever been published accordingly. Although after fixing the wrongs of the plant, these cars can really make you enjoy your driving.

In their effort to be cutting-edge with rival Japanese firms on all of the techno-gee-whiz applications, the newer cars are suffering from reliability problems in great numbers! No one seems to fault MB with fit, finish, and the driving experience (still at the top of their game), but it's all eclipsed by electrically-related failures of high-tech components!

I can vouch! I write software for handheld wireless devices, and while the applications are robust, the high-tech (and sometimes low-tech) components give us the most grief in the field. Even things as simple as dirty battery contacts caused uneccessary application issues that took months to diagnose.

We can only test as extensively as possible (1000+ cycles) with a team smaller than MB and certify stuff as ready for prime time. But the problems that show up in the field (100,000+ cycles) will never show up in the lab. I figure MB has the same sort of issues.

BTW, the most recent reliability survey has MB at the bottom. Land Rover, and Hummer hold a spot in the basement as well. This year for MB, it's the complex electronic 7-speed transmission.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

These two Mercedes are my favorites; but all of them old and new have been great cars. The 300CE has the coupe styling and tremendous on the road performance, particularly in the higher speed ranges (a straight six!). It is just a great car and I will never sell it.

The ML is my daily driver and I have been highly satisfied with it in terms of overall performance and dependability. Very little maintenance, other than the MAF, window control module and (MB replaced) balancer and one cat.
Spark plugs fairly easy to replace; some were tight, but so what.

My 420SEL is a good road car, but does not have the style or performance of the others overall.

Ben Carter

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Ben Harrison Carter
1999 Mercedes ML320 87K
1992 Mercedes 300CE 89K
1995 Corvette 29K -- Sold Dec 09
1989 Mercedes 420SEL 99K -- (Sold 4/08)
1968 Mercedes 230S (106K) (Sold 9/06))
1976 Mercedes 450SEL 130K (Just sold - 06)
1961 Mercedes 220Sb (sold years ago)

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That has always amazed me..all the electronics we all use in everyday living and I have yet to see a decent, reliable battery holder ..seems such a simple thing to design and make, yet no one does..and that goes back as far as one can remember...shall I say 'FLASHLIGHT".. bang-bang ..ah, there we go , now it works...

I always thought that a design simular to those old screw cap fuse holders would be so much better..and still user friendly.

I agree...the electronics sure is a weak point....some of these cars will probably wind up Brain Dead long before the drivers seat show wear.
Maybe then JC Whitney will come out with a Fits All /BrainDead Conversion kit to convert them back into a running car. Points/cond/igniton sw . and a couple of jumper wires ought to do it....

I have had an 1986 300E, 155,000 miles, for a little over two years now.

Likes:
This car is nearly 21 years old and still looks stylish.
I prefer the more squared-off styling to the newer cars which all look alike.
The smooth power from the straight six and nice exhaust sound.
My model has no air pump or EGR valve.
Seats are comfortable, although would be better with a rebuild.
The small sun visor over the rear view mirror.
The way this car soaks up bumps and dips in the road without having a floaty "Buick" feel.
Nice short turning radius like my Volvos.
Fairly simple engine design and good access to the engine (except for the water pump).
Motorized outside mirror on the right but not on the left. I can manually adjust the left mirror just fine.
The memory driver's seat, my wife and I need vastly different settings. Now if she would remember to put the seat back down so I wouldn't hit my head.
The road noise is low enough that I can bear to have my hearing aids on when driving.
The general feeling that the car is solid. This car weighs nearly the same as my '93 Volvo 940 wagon but feels much more solid although the 940 is a great wagon.
The feeling when I get when I realize I'm finally driving a Mercedes!

Dislikes:

The tranny has no overdrive and starts in 2nd, unless I manually put it in 1st.
The automatic climate control is unneeded and has a wacky mind of its own. The temperature won't stabilize until we've gone down the road 20 minutes.
The stereo is only fair but we don't use it much anyway.
Why the vacuum operated locks when electric locks work fine?

The poor mechanics I've found so far. I've had two visits to the shop when I couldn't do the work because of time or weather. In the first case they replaced the alternator without looking to see if the problem was just the regulator (most likely). The second was replacing the water pump ($$$). The mechanic screwed up the serpentine belt tension indicator and failed to tighten one of the bolts on the power steering pump.

The paint is beginning to look poor, lots of chips but at 21 years this is no surprise.
The steering feels slow and heavy compared to my Volvo.
Headlights are marginal.
Dash lighting was awful but I installed LEDs and now it is great.

I will probably think of more things later, got to run now. Thanks for sharing.

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1986 300E
1993 Volvo 940 Wagon
1984 Volvo 240 (daughter's)
1976 Dodge 1/2T pickup, gas hog