We all knew that the W124's were the last of the "bank vault" Mercedes'. Just thought I'd share this article on the recent quality of Benz's. Its 1 year old, but still rlavant i think. "We cannot believe how many people continue to project Mercedes' bank-vault '80s image on the cars they sell today. From grudging magazine admissions to random websites, it seems that no one but those in denial can seem to equate the Mercedes-Benz badge to the majority of current Mercedes-Benz products.
To quote Edmund's, "interior materials will have you wondering if it's indeed a Mercedes you're in. Check the steering wheel to be sure."
The new E-Class, w211 (beautiful, incidentally), is supposedly better-built (and out of better materials) than w210, therefore the point is moot. How it might compare to w124, one of the best-built mass-production cars ever, is a question we doubt anyone wants to take up. Perhaps w211 will turn the situation around.
If this does not happen, the Germans might lose their foothold - although judging by the power of image, even under the most desperate of circumstances that could take years. It would take Benz and BMW (and, to an extent, Audi) far longer to slide down the slippery slope than it might Acura, for example, to build an accepted contender for the luxury class (i.e.: RL is mediocre, and the buying public treats it worse).
For now, the star has been remarkably untarnished by some of mistakes it has adorned in the last decade. Yet Benz should not take this for granted. How much longer? The answer lies in whether Mercedes can stem the tide they have fully admitted to creating (see Jurgen Hubbert's comments at Benz's 2002 shareholder meeting).
Returning to the E-Class for a minute: we suspect that w124 looks fresher now, 16 years on from the basic design, than w210 will in 2011. CAR has compared the rear of the little Sports Coupe to a "squatting babboon in heat." Not that we necessarily agree (though it is an amusing thought), but we must admit one could hardly call the C230K elegant.
Why must all luxury cars strive for the same look and feel? Benz was once set apart. It has been left standing next to (and, in some cases, behind) the others in terms of quality, life cycles, and fashion trends. These 'warm' design cues date quickly.
More visibly, C230K additionally lacks the solidity, build quality, quality of materials, and cachet that the three-pointed star has earned. Mercedes-Benz is not defined by panoramic roofs or bundled telematics. To quote Robert Farago, "... what makes a Mercedes a Mercedes: fanatical attention to detail combined with engineering innovation and bulletproof build quality... it must be quality you can see, feel and hear, whether you're a driver, passenger or mechanic."
We like Mercedes-Benz just fine - but not enough, or perhaps too much, to blindly watch the company throw away an image earned by building some of the most skillfully crafted, arrogantly competent, and solidly superior automobiles the world has ever seen (think '80s S-Class, '70s 6.9).
Even the last-generation S-Class, ugly though some may have called it, was gloriously competent. The new 'S is too darn recyclable.
A Benz is a car to aspire to - not something built down to a price so that a college kid might finance it.
In the 190E, drivers were sitting on quality. In the C240 that followed, they sat on the lowest common denominator of what Benz's bottom line could afford. Between an 11-year old 190E and a 10-year old C240, it would be interesting to see where you'd rather be sitting.
Mercedes-Benz has been watered-down; those of us with some concept of its history will shed a tear. The irony of it all is that these changes are taking place with the same 3-pointed star expected to pull the image along.
How long will it last?
We'll see - although we will admit that w211 is an improvement."
Extracted from www.autobear.com |