Mom's Mercedes

[Kelm]

So it was my parents anniversay and my mom had been begging me to wax her car for her so I got up at 5AM and started at it...

I used the following... All Meguiars,
NXT Car Wash
NXT Tech Wax
NXT Tech Protectant
NXT Glass Cleaner
NXT Insane Shine Tire Shine

I think the result is pretty nice...

[amg/md]

Nice looking job!

I really like the reflection shot.

What year is the Benz? I have a new C-55, black.

I guess you didn't clay after washing? I would recommend you do the next time before waxing, even if the car is new. I didn't the first time on my new Benz, then did the second and it makes a big difference.

[Kelm]

It's a 2004 CLK240 with a v8....
So we got it used, but still you know it's nice as hell in my opinon.

I'll clay when I do the monthly detail because there are some white particles on the hood towards the Benz emablem... hopefully it will take those off.

[gb387]

Looks great very nice work!

[Bence]

Originally posted by Kelm
It's a 2004 CLK240 with a v8....
So we got it used, but still you know it's nice as hell in my opinon.

I'll clay when I do the monthly detail because there are some white particles on the hood towards the Benz emablem... hopefully it will take those off.

There is NO CLK240 with a V8... Especially as this is a normal C-Class...

The 240 engine is a 2600 cc V6.

[LnkPrkSoldier]

Originally posted by Bence
There is NO CLK240 with a V8... Especially as this is a normal C-Class...

The 240 engine is a 2600 cc V6.

Lol caught him red handed. I don't see the pictures. Me no like posers, Especially when they put on amg badges but have no amg mods done to their car at all. Would like to see how the detail came out though... Anybody know of someone selling a benz e430? im looking for a new car and a v8 sounds tempting.

[Kelm]

I don't even know what AMG or all that is.... I just know it's a Benz and looks nice as well as runs great... In our neighborhood there are 12 homes, 10 people have benz so we got one.

[Bence]

Wise, well informed, investigative choice...

Oh, and if your community is sooo germaniac, don't let them buy AMGs. It is the in-house tuning company of Mercedes-Benz. In German, it is pronounced "I am gay", and if it starts to spread...

[atclew]

Originally posted by LnkPrkSoldier
Lol caught him red handed. I don't see the pictures. Me no like posers, Especially when they put on amg badges but have no amg mods done to their car at all.

Especially since the only "240" model Mercedes Benz USA has made in this new decade is the C klasse!

You can easily see a 16 year model overview of any class of Mercedes my simply navigating to Mercedes Benz USA and looking for yourself!!!

It's under "Features and Specs" in any model overview!

[sneek]

wow benz fans in here!
and i love amg tuned cars expecially the cls-55 and 65 AMG and the s65 amg the SL 65amg seems nice too !

How can you hate AMG???

[SweetJazz]

Photos?...

[LnkPrkSoldier]

Originally posted by Bence
Wise, well informed, investigative choice...

Oh, and if your community is sooo germaniac, don't let them buy AMGs. It is the in-house tuning company of Mercedes-Benz. In German, it is pronounced "I am gay", and if it starts to spread...

...?? Benz rocks... I can't wait til i get my c55. Oh and in my opinion, benz > bmw.

[Bence]

Well, some of them yes. Just be sure to avoid the electrydraulic brakes (SBC; not on the C) and the 7G-Tronic tranny. MB has enough quality issues even without them, so it is not worth topping it (pun intended).

Nothing is a wise choice just because "In our neighborhood there are 12 homes, 10 people have benz so we got one". Remember the billion flies-analogy?

Personally I can't see elegance in an overturboed AMG, for me they are just steamhammers. And because I am a car-journo, I use to drive them quite often. I drove a test E500 which dimmed its headlights when braking - the faulty SBC pulled so much power. And when the system fails, believe me that's not a pleasant thing... especially with the updated software.

And if you want to know what shift shock is, then sample an older (well, relatively) 7-speed MB. It can be crushing.

The car industry is benchmarking to Lexus and Honda standards. For me the only acceptable quality.

[KLENBORE]

Originally posted by Bence
Well, some of them yes. Just be sure to avoid the electrydraulic brakes (SBC; not on the C) I drove a test E500 which dimmed its headlights when braking - the faulty SBC pulled so much power. And when the system fails, believe me that's not a pleasant thing... especially with the updated software.

Obviously, there are people who haven't a clue about what the recalls and SBC campaigns addressed.

The first incidents were due to worn SBC pumps generally on German taxis that had an ungodly number of brake applications w/o any service of the SBC system.

The first recall was to reprogram the car so that after a certain number of brake applications, the driver would receive a message to take the car in for service so that the SBC pump could be inspected. The number of brake applications were rumored to be around 100,000. The average driver would never see that message.

When the W211's first arrived in the U.S., dealers were unfamiliar with the procedure required to bleed the SBC brake system. They were apparently taking shortcuts and this resulted in the SBC system shutting down shortly after being serviced by a dealer. Once dealers found out how to service the brakes, these incidents stopped.

More recently, it was found that the cable to the SBC controller could work loose and this again resulted in SBC systems shutting down. The most recent recall is to fix this problem.

There were also at least two problems with the W211 resulting in the batteries not being charged to an adequate voltage. One of those had to do with defective alternator voltage regulators and the other was resolved through a programming change. Low voltage resulted in a myriad of problems including false SBC failures.

I'm still waiting for someone to prove to me that the SBC system is inherently unsafe. Considering that there are over 2,500,000 vehicles sold world wide over the past 4 years with SBC (R230, W211, W219, etc) and many are in intense commercial activity (such as E class cabs), that is pretty dog-gone good record for any kind of a brake system!

[Bence]

KLENBORE,

Yes, the first incidents were recorded on taxis, as they are living an accelerated car-life.

I live Europe so I am a bit closer to the actual experiences. There is no system in the failures, and it can happen right after the necessary software update. (Happened 20 mins after servicing with an SL55 AMG driver.)

The failures can be unrelated to the bleeding or to the loose controller cable. I know of an E320 which have the problem only below 70 km/h. Another SL has it only over 210 km/h.

The test car I mentioned functioned properly (Battery & charge were OK), but the system drew so much power to somewhere that the headlights went dark when I stepped on the pedal. Deceleration was all right. But when the car indicates "Bremse defekt! Bitte anhalten!" (Brake failure! Please stop!) on the racetrack, it is a funny feeling...

I don't want to prove anything, especially the inherent unreliability of MB's brake system. But the fact the the SBC system will not be the part of any new-gen MB, is another perspective of the story.

...Costs, ahem...

BTW, Mercedes did a demo, an unintended triple crash test, in which a new S-Class should have stopped right at the back of and old S-Class in simulated foggy conditions - because of the all-conquering electronics known as Distronic Plus and Brake Assist. The car, the driver and MB all failed. MB knew that the system won't work, so they discreetly placed a board, a plank onto the "runway" to warn the driver in time. However, the S-Class crashed. MB reacted, stating that the human factor, aka the test driver was monkey; and a bit later the construction of the hall was responsible, because its all-steel structure disturbs the Distronic.
Hey, it was their own Safety Center, where ALL systems must work properly! (For scientific, repeatability, etc. 100 reasons.) It was a disgusting, scandalous event.

You can watch the test online (in German) here.

The following reactions ("Lies and other reactions after the test-crash at Mercedes-Benz") are here.