Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 22]

[GeniusOfLove]

ingenieur said:

Mercedes had some real aesthetic design issues starting from around this time. Maybe they just assume all their customers want Dubai spec. I want a new W211 estate, which is not what they produced in the w212 and w213

Someone on here posted a while ago that at some point Mercedes Benz became Vauxhall and nobody noticed, which I think was on the money. Now they are just Vauxhalls for people with better lines of credit, and the most tasteless and crass cars on the market.



I can feel the imagine from here.

[Rayny]

I've owned both, and Mercedes could never sink to the level of Vauxhall.

There again, this is only my (BMW driver) opinion...

[GeniusOfLove]

Rayny said:

I've owned both, and Mercedes could never sink to the level of Vauxhall.

There again, this is only my (BMW driver) opinion...

You need to try an A class. You couldn't get a fag paper between one and an Astra.

[Mammasaid]

GeniusOfLove said:

Someone on here posted a while ago that at some point Mercedes Benz became Vauxhall and nobody noticed, which I think was on the money. Now they are just Vauxhalls for people with better lines of credit, and the most tasteless and crass cars on the market.



I can feel the imagine from here.

I had an E-class when my V90CC was in the bodyshop, I couldn't wait to get back into the calm oasis of the Volvo...

[E90_M3Ross]

Mammasaid said:

I had an E-class when my V90CC was in the bodyshop, I couldn't wait to get back into the calm oasis of the Volvo...

That's a mega colour scheme with that purple exterior. Wonderful!

[Mammasaid]

E90_M3Ross said:

Mammasaid said:

I had an E-class when my V90CC was in the bodyshop, I couldn't wait to get back into the calm oasis of the Volvo...

That's a mega colour scheme with that purple exterior. Wonderful!

Well, it was 'Magic Blue'!



(the purple was the dog's blanket hung on the line )

[Rayny]

GeniusOfLove said:

You need to try an A class. You couldn't get a fag paper between one and an Astra.

I do remember seeing the 'new' A Class at MB World Brooklands about twelve years ago.
Somebody was aghast that there was only one strut to hold the bonnet up - He did make some comment about how low Mercedes had sunk.

[biggbn]

Rayny said:

GeniusOfLove said:

You need to try an A class. You couldn't get a fag paper between one and an Astra.

I do remember seeing the 'new' A Class at MB World Brooklands about twelve years ago.
Somebody was aghast that there was only one strut to hold the bonnet up - He did make some comment about how low Mercedes had sunk.

Indeed, how dare Mercedes sully a reputation hard won throughout the early noughties by producing cars that were supplied as one piece and rapidly shed chunks of corroded metal before their owners eyes, by producing a mass market model that was reviewed well by contemporary media, would instill brand loyalty into a younger generation for the future, was affordable and made the company enough money to cover the corrosion/subframe warranty claims. One strut, how very dare they...

[donkmeister]

biggbn said:

Indeed, how dare Mercedes sully a reputation hard won throughout the early noughties by producing cars that were supplied as one piece and rapidly shed chunks of corroded metal before their owners eyes, by producing a mass market model that was reviewed well by contemporary media, would instill brand loyalty into a younger generation for the future, was affordable and made the company enough money to cover the corrosion/subframe warranty claims. One strut, how very dare they...

Which early noughties models are you referring to?

[E90_M3Ross]

donkmeister said:

biggbn said:

Indeed, how dare Mercedes sully a reputation hard won throughout the early noughties by producing cars that were supplied as one piece and rapidly shed chunks of corroded metal before their owners eyes, by producing a mass market model that was reviewed well by contemporary media, would instill brand loyalty into a younger generation for the future, was affordable and made the company enough money to cover the corrosion/subframe warranty claims. One strut, how very dare they...

Which early noughties models are you referring to?

W210 was available in the early noughties and rusts badly, same with the first gen CLK. Some cars in the noughties also had very bad subframe issues, too. I assume that's what he meant.

[donkmeister]

Rayny said:

GeniusOfLove said:

You need to try an A class. You couldn't get a fag paper between one and an Astra.

I do remember seeing the 'new' A Class at MB World Brooklands about twelve years ago.
Somebody was aghast that there was only one strut to hold the bonnet up - He did make some comment about how low Mercedes had sunk.

If I may invoke the "no TRUE Scotsman" fallacy, the A-Class (including all the befrocked variants such as the CLA) isn't, and never has been, a real Mercedes.

It's like calling the AM Cygnet a real Aston Martin. No, the original was intended as a cheap runaround that had the appropriate badge for the driver's badge snob father/employer... Possibly it helps fleet wide CO2, dunno. But if you ask someone the attributes of a typical Mercedes they wouldn't say "cheap, transverse FWD shopping car driven by men who wear tracksuits when they are not exercising".

I vaguely recall one generation having a lot of common engineering with the Renault Megane.

Now, they're perfectly fine cars. I had a few as hirecars and used to giggle as I chucked them around and thrashed the nuts off what I assume came from the Briggs and Stratton stable. It made me understand why people found the original Mini so much fun (as I was comparing it to proper cars with longitudinal engines), but it wasn't a Mercedes.

[donkmeister]

E90_M3Ross said:

donkmeister said:

biggbn said:

Indeed, how dare Mercedes sully a reputation hard won throughout the early noughties by producing cars that were supplied as one piece and rapidly shed chunks of corroded metal before their owners eyes, by producing a mass market model that was reviewed well by contemporary media, would instill brand loyalty into a younger generation for the future, was affordable and made the company enough money to cover the corrosion/subframe warranty claims. One strut, how very dare they...

Which early noughties models are you referring to?

W210 was available in the early noughties and rusts badly, same with the first gen CLK. Some cars in the noughties also had very bad subframe issues, too. I assume that's what he meant.

Ah...

If so he has his years muddled. That's a 1980s car, released in the 1990s. The W211 is the noughties model.

ETA just reread my posts and I'm sounding like a Merc fanboy with a sandy crack over transverse engines, stty paint and biodegradable wiring looms Really not the case, I'm just being a boring pedant.

Edited by donkmeister on Saturday 30th March 13:56

[biggbn]

donkmeister said:

E90_M3Ross said:

donkmeister said:

biggbn said:

Indeed, how dare Mercedes sully a reputation hard won throughout the early noughties by producing cars that were supplied as one piece and rapidly shed chunks of corroded metal before their owners eyes, by producing a mass market model that was reviewed well by contemporary media, would instill brand loyalty into a younger generation for the future, was affordable and made the company enough money to cover the corrosion/subframe warranty claims. One strut, how very dare they...

Which early noughties models are you referring to?

W210 was available in the early noughties and rusts badly, same with the first gen CLK. Some cars in the noughties also had very bad subframe issues, too. I assume that's what he meant.

Ah...

If so he has his years muddled. That's a 1980s car, released in the 1990s. The W211 is the noughties model.

ETA just reread my posts and I'm sounding like a Merc fanboy with a sandy crack over transverse engines, stty paint and biodegradable wiring looms Really not the case, I'm just being a boring pedant.

Edited by donkmeister on Saturday 30th March 13:56

Pedantry is sometimes how we learn, and i love to learn! I bow to your superior beard brother man. I just remember going to view many, many Mercedes in my horse trading days, most having plates from mid nineties to @2010 or so, although the subframes went much later than that, and finding cars described by their smitten owners as immaculate, well serviced etc having frilly arches, manky wheels and many clearly dubious MOTs. Somewhat diluted my respect for the marque and has, perhaps wrongly, stuck with me. I love an older Merc, had a few W123 and W124....all of which had rot, but they were old when I bought them, properly old, so it seemed forgivable!!

[donkmeister]

In fairness, the W211 did have the infamous SBC braking system which, whilst very good, did introduce the concept of a built-in life for the main unit combined with a "you might not have any brakes... you might be about to die!!!" message coming up whilst illuminating the dash in red to scare people into getting it sorted... Which unfortunately would also come on when the back-up battery for the brakes was a bit duff. Wish I'd known in advance, as it came on whilst I was entering a sliproad at 70mph.

(No issues with the brakes, it was all fine, but a bit of a scare when you don't know what it means)

[ingenieur]

donkmeister said:

In fairness, the W211 did have the infamous SBC braking system which, whilst very good, did introduce the concept of a built-in life for the main unit combined with a "you might not have any brakes... you might be about to die!!!" message coming up whilst illuminating the dash in red to scare people into getting it sorted... Which unfortunately would also come on when the back-up battery for the brakes was a bit duff. Wish I'd known in advance, as it came on whilst I was entering a sliproad at 70mph.

(No issues with the brakes, it was all fine, but a bit of a scare when you don't know what it means)

Mine had the red brake warning and it was caused by the brake light switch. Apparently the brake light switch is good for x-number of operations before it has to be replaced. £8

In fairness to the W211 I have had a c6 Audi A6 of the same vintage side by side, both 3.0 TDI. The Audi had rust at the backs of the front wheel arches (bottom of a-pillar) and the gearbox had failed (which meant I got it for £360). I'd say the engine in the Audi v6 3.0 was a peach compared to the straight-6 in the Merc.

I've driven the new c-class but not the CLA, I imagine it would feel very similar apart from the driven wheels thing. I thought it was actually good for what it was but not a luxury car at all.

Wasn't the first small Mercedes the 190? More of a solid car than the ones which followed but you can see the lineage which started there and logically follows through to small Mercs... then it forks off to the A-class built on another platform with front wheel drive... but even that was 25 years ago now.

[21st Century Man]

O/T

Nurburgring

Century

Got the T-shirt

[tobinen]

Happy Easter bargistas. Some interesting barge content from memory lane

[Rayny]

21st Century Man said:

O/T

Nurburgring

Century

Got the T-shirt

Yeah - But did both the car and yourself get back home safely....

[martynr]

GeniusOfLove said:

Someone on here posted a while ago that at some point Mercedes Benz became Vauxhall and nobody noticed, which I think was on the money. Now they are just Vauxhalls for people with better lines of credit, and the most tasteless and crass cars on the market.



I can feel the imagine from here.

It is a very low resolution image which doesn't do it any favours. I might take a picture with long exposure.
It is what it is. Instead of building a car for a life, but now only for a few years of the lease. Also, making profit of any variation of the model. Them leds look cheap and tacky...

[tobinen]

I stumbled across this on my daily browsing. With the trend for every manufacturer to have an SUV, even Century capitulates: