This is pretty common in the Porsche ranks. The 911 guys are pretty snobby when it comes to their model, and don't consider any other model a "real" Porsche. The one thing I always thought funny was when some fellow in his lightly modified 914 2.0 would lap some fop in his late model 911.

I think the same is true of the BMW vs. Mercedes debate. Though they compete in the market, the cars have different characters that appeal to different, well, characters. The BMW tends to be biased towards the sports end, and service requirements tend to sports-car-ish. The Mercedes hits a middle ground. Now, that said, I have yet to meet more than a few BMW drivers that have the capability of exploring, let alone enjoying, the high limits of their sports-sedan. They are mostly bench-racing windbags.

And bragging about your bank account is not the way to win friends. I know plenty of folks with plenty of money, and not one of them is "not concerned" with what things cost. They own expensive things, but didn't get to be well-off by being stupid. They still want value for their dollar, and don't respect people that don't.

Thankfully for us mere mortal, that foppish crowd is moving on from German sedans to Rig-pigish SUV's. I have noticed quite a few late model 540i's, E430's and the like for REALLY low prices. Hhhmmm...

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

The E38 750iL is a beautiful car...I hope you the best...if you have time, plz come back and visit!

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

Well G8 certainly exposed one weakness!

Why do we get so possesive and protective towards MB (Or BMW) for that matter?

We have voted where it counts - $$$$ (or in my case ££££).
Surely we are members of this forum to help each other out not to act as unpaid marketeers for any manufacturer ( now if MB said forum members could have 70% discount on parts that would be entirely different - and I would be the first to challenge G8 to a duel).

In the meantime there is nowt wrong with a bit of jousting - albeit, in the General Discussion forum!!

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NormanB
230 TE (W124) 1989 with 153,000 miles on the clock - hoping for at least another 100K

Actually I'm surprised that Enzo Ferrari would make such a statement being that the Dino was named after his son, who was of ill health and died quite young.

I would do your homework on the 750il (check the BMW forums) - though a fine car in its own right, I seem to observe that ANY V12 is not cheap to keep running. That being said, there's nothing quilte like the sound of a finely tuned V12!

As former King of England (I chose to abdicate to be with my commoner wife, Julia Roberts) and owner of Microsoft (Bill Gates just fronts for me), I've been privileged to drive all of the finest automotive vehicles. Since the track that we had built on the yacht is only a 1/4 mile oval (we did have to accommodate the ballroom after all, and still fit through THE canal) I have been unable to put in many of my usual 200+ mph laps, but , as Mario, Sterling and I were saying the other day in St. Bart's, those MB's certainly perform well for a passenger car. My '84 300SD (I only have it to identify with the common man) actually lapped Gunther's Testarosa the other day (such fun).

Well, I have to go change the oil now....oops.ahh..hem...haw..I don't care about money... honest.. I use Mobil 1.

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

Let this be my last word on the subject. First of all I AM a Mercedes owner and have been for the last 260k miles. I don't own a BMW. I erroneously replied to what I believed was a blatant false statement- that people should not get the false impression that MB cars are troublesome and unreliable. Well they are! And getting worse with the introduction of each new model. Just read the posts for the last 6 months, and decide for yourself. If you want to judge engineering, fix every damn thing that goes wrong with your S class all these years as I have done.
I have a strong automotive and mechanical backround- having been a heavy diesel mechanic, automatic transmission rebuilder from turbo 400 to Allison heavy trucks. When I was young, some 40 years ago, I used to build race engines for Penske Racing in PA. on the weekends. Mark Donahue, the race car driver who died, built me a special suspension for one of my cars that outperformed a 911 Turbo carrera on twisty roads in PA. In return, I built him a custom CHEVY motor that he put in a special Camaro, shortly before he died and gave it to Aronoway(the fellow who developed the Cigarette boats in Florida for a 100k boat. In my spare time, I built custom cars for people from the ground up if they had enough money including a custom body(first car was an exact replica of the Ford GT40). I took classes on suspension design at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with with a fellow, Dave McClellan who later headed up Corvette division when Zora Arkus Duntov left. He found my ideas so helpful that he sent me a $1,000 set of stainless steel shocks GM used at their proving ground to design the Corvette suspension because they came apart and had 100 interchangeable valves, etc. The point is
I know cars. Though these days, I am only interested in driving what I believe is an excellent car- the 750iL. If you check the web site I posted at the beginning, you'll see I am not alone. And finally, I was in Italy picking up 48 IDA Weber carbs at the factory when I read in the paper the quote by Enzo Ferrari. He said it!

Hi jbaj007

Or your lordship - whatever.

A real devilish contribution there ( number of posts 666!)

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NormanB
230 TE (W124) 1989 with 153,000 miles on the clock - hoping for at least another 100K

JSlabotsky,

Yep, you're right, definitely a troll.

Have a great day,

"I met a guy recently at a gas station"??? Get a life!!!