Collection from factory

[118]

Considering collecting from factory, anybody care to relate their experiences of collecting from factory. Is it all arrange getting there and do you need to arrange hotel? How long does the tour take? etc.
Thanks in advance.

[absolutely]

Its great at Sindelfingen, depends which car you're picking up though! Last time I heard C & E Classes were built in Sindelfingen, however my friend went to collect their SL from somewhere like Hamburg.

[r129sl]

There was an article about this in the Telegraph a couple of weeks ago: it suggested the experience was not without its problems. The Telegraph has a searchable archive so you should be able to find it.

The SLK and SL are manufactured in Bremen. Most everything else is around Stuttgart (Unterturkheim and Singlefingen, not sure of the spelling). However, a lot of the RHD stuff is made in South Africa, certainly the C-Class is.

[absolutely]

r129sl said:

There was an article about this in the Telegraph a couple of weeks ago: it suggested the experience was not without its problems. The Telegraph has a searchable archive so you should be able to find it.

The SLK and SL are manufactured in Bremen. Most everything else is around Stuttgart (Unterturkheim and Singlefingen, not sure of the spelling). However, a lot of the RHD stuff is made in South Africa, certainly the C-Class is.

Unterturkheim is the engine plant and full of Turks, hence "turkheim". The museum etc is in Unterturkheim.

[118]

r129sl said:

There was an article about this in the Telegraph a couple of weeks ago: it suggested the experience was not without its problems. The Telegraph has a searchable archive so you should be able to find it.

The SLK and SL are manufactured in Bremen. Most everything else is around Stuttgart (Unterturkheim and Singlefingen, not sure of the spelling). However, a lot of the RHD stuff is made in South Africa, certainly the C-Class is.

Thanks I will start searching for it.

[johnnyboy225]

118 said:

Considering collecting from factory, anybody care to relate their experiences of collecting from factory. Is it all arrange getting there and do you need to arrange hotel? How long does the tour take? etc.
Thanks in advance.

Ian,

My wife and I collected her SLK from the factory in Bremen in 2005 - it was a top experience... business class flights to Bremen, nice overnight hotel, then spent time at the collection centre within the Bremen complex - staff were top notch, the tour (we had a private tour of the SLK production line, about an hour)... then her P&J appeared... she was given a detailed introduction by MB staff... we then had the option to drive it straight home (return channel crossing also including along with flights, hotel etc in the 'collection' fee)... or extend the visit by a few days, and the MB team made all the hotel arrangements (at our cost)...

On our return, the car went into the local dealer, who did the necessary (UK plates etc)

from memory everything went smoothly... we'd certainly recommend the experience (well, collecting from Bremen anyway)...

Cheers,
John