Upgraded AMG 'Experience' For Owners (And Fans...)

New Private Lounge opens at Affalterbach factory

AMG's swishy new facility

We're not sure what else goes on at Affalterbach, but the AMG factory definitely makes the place worth a visit - especially as the company has invested in a new VIP lounge and 'sample room' for punters who want something a bit special.

Even if you're not in the market for a custom interior or paintjob you can still enjoy the new facilities, thanks to the Spirit of AMG tours bookable through the AMG Driving Academy. We got to experience the set-up at the unveiling of AMG's new 5.5 litre M152 engine earlier in the week, and managed to cram in a quick factory visit too.

The new lounge has been described by Ola Kallenius (AMG chairman) as "a second living room" for customers, and also as a physical extension of AMG's online Private Lounge Community - a predominantly German speaking forum with 15,000 members. It's going to be used for customer and media events.

A second living room for owners...

There's also a new 'sample room' attached to the Performance Studio workshop, which follows the same boutique-style design theme, and where customers can pick and choose the various colours, materials and finishes that will give their brand new AMG a bespoke feel. Oh to be so lucky...

In the workshop when we visited were various machines getting the custom treatment, including a carbon-wrapped G55, a couple of SLS Gullwings and a CLS (according to Ola, a full interior re-trim for the latter would be likely to set you back around £20k) as well as a freshly-minted SLS GT3 car, which looked awesome. Sadly no pictures were allowed, as they were all private customer cars.

An engine getting serious stick

A quick spin around the factory gave us the chance to witness the 'one man, one engine' production system, where engines are made up by individual mechanics who wheel them on trolleys through the various build stages, and we also got to see an engine being given a seriously hard work-out on the test rig. It was spectacular to see the unit bucking and jolting with such violence on its mountings as its energy was unleashed through an extreme test cycle designed to reflect the maximum abuse a customer could possibly dish out, and watching the exhausts glow cherry red.

All told it's a great afternoon out if you're planning to be in the area, especially as the marvellous Mercedes Museum is less than an hour away. But don't just turn up - you can book a tour here.

You can't miss the new building	Bits of engineering. Yum.
Wonder where this is going...	One man, one engine
Up to 1000 engines can be stored	The performance pack for our C63
SLS manifolds	The "Hammer" V8
SLR susceptible to heat soak, perhaps?	Magic truck takes engines to M-B factory