A4Jared

I've driven that car A LOT. Its too much power for the chassis and the tires are WAY too thin for that much tq.

Regardless, you're making the right decision by getting the Sl. Chassis is much more rigid and it is a much more stable car.

A4Jared

but wtf are you talking about?? Mercedes is the least focussed company I've ever seen....how can you say they're focussing on quality? They're developing the most ridiculous concept cars right now. The new S class basically drives itself...The R class is going to tank. Smart is tanking in europe and Mercedes is thinking about bringing it over here where the market is EXTREMELY limited. The new E class is basically a copy of the Lexus LS. They're talking about developing the SLT, a coupe no bigger that a z4, with over 500hp.

Mercedes is still dealing with COUNTLESS electrical problems, INCLUDING brake failure and ABS modules frying. Yet they're going in all crazy directions with their company. Lets see, they have a 3 cyl city car, barely bigger than a human and the worlds fastest 4 door sedan, sure sounds focused to me...

Here's some good reading. The TSB's for the W211 E55's http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=118719&highlight=TSB

You'll notice the TSB: P-40_10-43 JAN 04 Tires - Michelin Pilot Sport A/S(R) Tires Not Approved

I gotta ask, how does a company "That is focused on quality" throw on the WRONG tires on a car??

giovanna360

too soon?

GDawgA4

After numerous bad publicity and bad reviews on quality through the early to mid 00's MB has received, they have focused on quality recently. If you compare '04-'05 models problems versus pre-'04, they have improved.

Yes, electrical problems exists with MB but not as much on recently models as pre-04 that were plagued with issues. But honestly, what German car manufacturer doesn't have electrical glitches. German car makers throw so much electronics into their cars, there are bound to be issues. Example, MB recognized this with their SBC system, there were issues of brake failure and the maintenance of the overall system, that they are discontinuing it. Obviously the Japanese got the idea right of waiting for the Germans to get and work the bugs out of these systems before putting it into their cars.

I wouldn't use the word "countless" to describe the electrical problems. Yes, there are a lot however, many of the fixes acutally fix the problem the first time around.

I think it is Lexus who likes to copy German designs more than the other way around. Most Lexus designs I've seen can be spotted from MB body designs and styling cues. I think a lot of people would agree on this...

The current head of MB who is has thrown in the towel and is leaving at the year end I believe. He has not done a great job but recognized MBs issues and their ratings dropping and tried to correct it but in the end, he is leaving. He did not do a very good job in leading the company. His successor has a proven track record of turning companies around with QC and I think he will.

MB reduced their profits from 3 Billion to 1 Billion to put more money into QC, which they have. They've doubled the amount of hours put into testing and the like. I take that as a sign of being more focused, don't you?

Recent European study shows that MB now compared to a few years ago is doing much better in the ranks of electrical glitches and reliability issues.

Look, I'm well aware of MB's issues...I'm a MB fanatic, as well as an Audi fanatic. I'm on MBWorld, so I see the issues people are having. Granted, BMW nor Audi may have as many TSB's as MB but they still have their TSBs.

I agree with you that MB's direction seems not quite right...I think they throw too many models out within each line they have, C, E, M, CLK, SLK, etc.

However, I have to give MB credit for pioneering many of the safety systems out there in the automotive world (ABS, crumple zone, ESP, etc). They are one of the leaders in pioneering safety systems in vehicles, no doubt.

I'm not here to argue with anyone, this is how I feel about MB and the direction their headed in with QC. Its my belief that they are turning around, albeit slowly, but at least they are.

Only time will tell

floorit

a car like the E55. Really wouldn't you expect tires spinning with that much power under the hood. Hell if your complaining about the ESP light going on then jump into my 02 A4 3.0 CVT and let it rip. It too will turn the ESP on all the time.

from my experiences with mb dealerships they are lot better than going to the audi stealership.
Mercedes does a lot better in service than audi does. Everything is done right, and they don't try to give you the run around. I am actually thinking about trading in my 02 A4 for a C class or a used E class.
Audi doesn't have a picture perfect track record on reliabilty either - did you forget about the coilpacks or maybe lower control arms and many more? Have you seen the number of TSB released for certain models in the Audi line up.

SLine2.0B7

I can't say anything about the European market, because I don't really follow up on that. As far as quality, I don't see how MB bringing their smart car over here has anything to do with "quality" or where they are focused...so maybe it isn't a good idea...you said it yourself, they have the world's fastest four door sedan! And you're saying their quality sucks...I don't think you get to the point they are currently at by having bad quality. (but yes I agree, not a fan of the R...it's rather ugly, but with respect to pretty much 90% of the rest of the cars they make, I would take one)

Turbosport

car went in for assembly yesterday afternoon...should have her back wednesday...how's your wheels? ;-)

SLine2.0B7

That is almost .5 sec. slower than his CLK500. I understand it is a heavier car, but that statistic somewhat shocked me. The SL is a nice car, but it is kind of hard to justify spending that amount of money, on a car that is slower than the current car, all the while being able to pay LESS and have the E55. That is personal preference since I'm a speed junky...but, not my $, not my car!

giovanna360

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/91412/jon1.1.jpg"></center><p>i came across a usefull mods to help maintain the health of your car in the future...