All Entries in the "MERCEDES-BENZ" Category
Guide For The Wary: ECLASSBENZ.COM
In the market for a W210? Caveat Emptor.
By Gunnar Heinrich
AFICIONADOS know that when Mercedes introduced the W210 generation E-Class to the world in 1996, it was the start of a long fall in build quality and long term reliability.
Less than a decade after the first cars hit the streets, rust started surfacing in door jams and trunk lids. The bulbs in those iconic oval eyes would routinely fail. And, depending upon the year of one’s E320, the straight six (M104) powerplant seemed destined to leak oil from the head gasket, or the main crankshaft pulley would come loose in one’s newer V6 (M112) and cause under bonnet mayhem. Either way, without acute monitoring, the proverbial $#1T could hit the fan at any moment.
As with any car, come to think of it.
Most W210 E-Classes are already there mileage-wise and some. Which makes shopping for and/or owning one of these Teutons something of a responsibility.
Hence, this handy site.
Eclassbenz.com- is a small, but helpful guide to would-be owners and do-it-yourselfers.
The site’s publisher, C. Blake Cameron has taken stock of the many mechanical concerns and has written a fairly comprehensive list of things to look out for and what to fix as a course for preventive maintenance. Added to these helpful nuggets is the author’s mindful consideration where the W210 generation fits in the grand legacy of Mercedes-Benz.
“The W210 marked the last of the high quality Mercedes-Benz construction before cost cutting sent reliability and durability crashing. (W124 owners often claim their cars are the last of the high quality, “money-no-object” Benzes. They are correct that the build quality in the W210 is not as good as the W124.”
Written from the keystrokes of a true (and mechanically inclined) aficionado.
Generational Contrast: W123 & W212 Benz
From this perspective, the W123 wagon seems like a die-cast model.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler AG
YOU can just catch a glimpse of the slight curve of the spare tyre cover from behind the rear cargo area’s glass pane.
Kind of seems silly, at first.
Why use up all the cargo space for a spare tyre when most station wagons now stow the extra wheel safely underneath the cargo floor? Then it dawns, if the back of your wagon is loaded with junk – and you blow a tyre – it’s easier to reach the spare from the side than have to unload the bay to lift the floor panels.
Those crafty Germans. Lean design was key in the 70s and 80s. Not so, for the noughts. That said, there are some stylistic ties to a simpler time in Benz history.
Consider the signature slatted seats of both the W123′s interior (top) and the W212′s cabin (bottom). These were a hallmark of the 70s and 80s. There’s also a similar symmetry in the dash’s neutral layout and a rectangular commonality between both generation’s instrument clusters.
Still, the old estate’s compartment seems uncluttered and focused while the new cabin seems the a overly earnest attempt to fuse too many elements into one space.
And then there’s the very similar shape of the cargo areas – the slanted rear windscreen, the abrupt rear departure angle below the bumper, the balanced ratio between glass height and sheetmetal. And on the surface of it all, the color schemes on these showcase Benzes seem to order from the same military supply catalog.
Simply put, the W123 and W212 are similar yet very different cars. As one would expect to find in three decades of design evolution.
More Wagon Talk: 2010 E-Class
2010 Benz E-Class Station wagon
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler AG
SEEMS fitting to discuss Mercedes-Benz station wagons on a Saturday.
For decades, the luxury Euro estate was the set of wheels for the weekend in the country. Indeed, for SUV-averse countries like the UK, the station wagon is still popular by virtue of its standard car platform with long cargo hold.
Still, the idea of hauling something the size of a trailer or a boat seems too daunting a prospect for a mere wagon. Surely only a Suburban or GL-Class would do. You know, a full size SUV.
Reading the laundry list of new features that Daimler’s listed on the new 2010 E-Class station wagon, two new features stuck out at me and make me think twice on this bit of common sense.
1) Standard Self leveling rear suspension. That’s key. Consider loading three kids in the back plus cargo plus a hitch to something the size of a minor U-Haul and you’ve got enough weight to compress any set of Bilsteins to let the muffler catch any hump in the road. If you think about it, Mercedes should’ve offered this on wagons back in the 70s when the W116 S-Class featured hydropneumatic vehicle height control. Better late…
2) Ten engine options, three of which are diesels. Bet that the E350 CDI wagon will find its way Stateside along with its de-stumping 368 lb-ft of torque available at 1900 rpm. That’s more power than a 911 GT4, incidentally (314 lb-ft).
Gotta love the Benz station wagon.
Surviving The Estate: 2010 E-Class
New horse. Old hitch.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler AG
NUMBERED are the station wagon’s days.
Sadly, trends are showing that the world’s breadboxes are being sidelined for SUVs (Stateside), Crossovers (ibid), and hatchbacks (Fair Europa). I note this decline with some regret, for I credit generations of Volvo wagons for transporting yours safely.
Lords knows what the demise of the wagon will do to the I-roll company.
That said, thanks to Mercedes-Benz’s seat-for-every-ass product-line philosophy, the station wagon isn’t going anywhere soon – at least not in this product life cycle.
The 2010 E-Class wagon whose handsome images leaked earlier in the week is a testament to Stuttgart’s commitment to an older utilitarian form of vehicular transport.
What’s more, it seems that finally (and not since the W124 generation of the mid 80s to early 90s) Mercedes has produced an estate as thoughtfully executed and comprehensively engineered as the new W212 series.
Mercedes-Benz says the new station wagon’s stuffed with more safety goodies than you can [insert whitty safety-themed metaphor here]. There’s the mnemonically titled “NECK-PRO” whiplash protection system, a lane departure system, PRE-SAFE with Attention assist, and Night View Assist Plus (Plus = pedestrian detection system) all packed tightly into a five-door wedge.
It’s more commodious than the predecesor and the exterior features actual surface tension, high shoulder lines, and a lofty rear departure angle. So better of both fuction and form worlds, then.
Perhaps it’s my fondness for traditional modes of transport, but somehow, BMW’S 5er Gran Turismo SAV seems suddenly less appealing.
eBay Watch: 1994 E320 Cabriolet
Wide eyed: early 90s E320 Cabriolet
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG eBay Motors
BIDDING’S at $4,161 as I write this piece on one cherry on cream E320 Cabrio from Pennsyltucky. A pretty example of the W124 generation of tried and true over-engineered tanks.
The odo grins six digits wide – 123,126 mi – as the camera captures the burl of unfaded, unwarped, uncracked walnut and the satiny glow of German leather, lovingly cared for. This décapotable was $80,000 or better when new.
You can almost pick up the sweet scent of mid 90′s Benz. Powered by the M104 straight six engine, winding up to an underwhelming but adequate 217 horsepower on command. This 2+2 topless tourer flexes and shimmies in the twisties.
Comes with “ultra rare Mercedes Benz key coded locking gas cap.” Huh? Engine’s in “A1 mechanical condition.”
Still, it’s cred lasts as the consummate boulevardier. Not that Pennsyltucky has all that many glossy avenues to shine down. This beauty deserves a flash home. Five days…
[Linked: E320 Cabriolet]
Benz ABC + Crosswind Stabilization
By Gunnar Heinrich | Video via YouTube
FEATURED as standard equipment on the S600, Mercedes-Benz has taken their decade old Active Body Control program (ABC) and redeveloped the system to counteract crosswinds – a great aid to a juggernaut as broad as the Sonderklasse and trickle-down technology that we can all look forward to… in the next decade or so.
That said, for a company with budgets and talents as outsized in comparison to most of the competition, you have to find this video a little lacking in demonstrating the effects of the crosswind stabilization in action.
Grant you, the comparo would be tricky to visualize in the best of circumstances, but surely there’s a better way of communicating the before and after effects with imagery. Certainly, the unique program would be worth the effort.
Just sayin’.
W116 generation S-Class (1972-1979)
Teutonic Twins: Benz & BMW 70s Design
Benz or Bimmer?
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG & ADL
IT’S true that despite being fierce rivals, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have been interwoven in a number of ways through the years.
For instance, they’ve ordered from the same parts suppliers like Bilstein and Boge. Subbed some of their manufacturing out to the same contractors like Austrian firm, Magna Steyr.
And share a certain, similar, Teutonic design aesthetic.
Case in point: the 1972 Mercedes ESF 13 (experimental vehicle based on the W116 S-Class).
From this three quarter aspect, there’s the familiar three box design with a low, wedged hood line leading to an abrupt a-pillar that starts the tall, rectangular passenger compartment, concluded by a long, slightly tapered trunk.
It looks like a match for the E23 BMW 7-Series.
Then consider the successor 1973 ESF 22.
With double, sealed beam US spec headlamps, clumsy 5-mph bumpers, and multi-spoke 14″ rims, the sedan’s practically identical to the production version of its Bavarian rival.
It’s like you could swap the tri-star for a roundel, old school Rolls/Bentley style.
But the first generation BMW 7er debuted in 1978. The W116 Sonderklasse premiered in 1971. And yet all that seems to separate the Bavarian flagship from Benz’s ESF models is the Hoffmeister kink.
Funny, those Teutonic similarities.
History: Mercedes-Benz ESF Program
Four decades of “ESF”
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG
FOUND an interesting story on Daimler’s media site about the company’s Experimental Safety Vehicles program. Mercedes has been producing a fleet of “ESF’s” since the US DOT under the Johnson Administration started a Federally funded ESV program in 1968.
Mercedes followed with their own program in 1971.
The fruits of the program? Read to find out. Follow the jump.
