OOPS! Mercedes goofs up S Class demonstration.......ummmm...actually no

GTO · 21st November 2005, 15:39

GTO

Badcheetah · 21st November 2005, 15:49

Nice find GTO ,

Hilarious . well after all that money spent on R&D .
Possible to have the video of this . i would love to watch the faces of the engineers .

Steeroid · 21st November 2005, 15:53

"According to a German news site, the blushing Mercedes security engineers soon discovered the problem: The test had been done in a hall which was made of steel. This confuses the radar, and the system doesn't work properly, causing more than £150,000 worth of cars to crumple into each other."

I cant believe they didnt do a test at the venue before the filming - whats happening to the usually thorough German efficiency? The fact that they didnt either meant that they were super-confident of their products ability, or that they were slipshod......Fraulein Mercedes, your slip is showing!

tsk1979 · 21st November 2005, 16:18

This means that if you are on a highway with lots of container trucks, your radar may fail. Lawsuits, anyone?

Shan2nu · 21st November 2005, 16:34

Another reason why you shouldn't completely rely on electronics.

But, the idea is pretty good. Fifth Gear got to test the S class in a recent episode. It works pretty well. Jason even tried swerving into another lane at high speeds and the system instantly applied the brakes and slowed down to the speed of the car ahead and maintained a certain distance throughout.

But the night vision cam was disappointing. In some cases, the onboard screen couldn't even detect things that the normal camera was able to project.

Shan2nu

ajmat · 21st November 2005, 16:50

By the look of it, Mercedes did not check out the venue ahead of time

Shan2nu · 21st November 2005, 17:07

Here are some more images.

Crash images

Shan2nu

deepakhon · 21st November 2005, 17:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajmat

By the look of it, Mercedes did not check out the venue ahead of time

A more serious issue than that is that they did not forsee such a situation and test their cars beforehand.

RX135 · 21st November 2005, 18:15

Looks like software bug has bitten them too. No matter what, a fatal exception always occurs at the time of customer demo.

Deeps · 21st November 2005, 19:23

haha...the incident is more funny than anything else. Am sure that MB learnt a lesson...the hard way though. And as Steeroid said, they should have tested before hand. And yeh, i would never rely completely on these gizmos.

aniguchisan · 21st November 2005, 19:25

A pre-demo test should definitely have been done in order to avoid the embarrassment. The point made by tsk1979 is quite valid, and such aspects should surely be considered. If the radar is bamboozled by steel, this can be quite a serious issue. Not only will this not operate smoothly in steel enclosures such as warehouses, the system could flop severely in certain tunnels or buildings, and perhaps even bridges! In accordance with the latter-most point; I would hate to see a W221 blasting through a bridge.

Aditya · 22nd November 2005, 08:01

After so many years of testing and being the first to "bring in technology" in cars, I would certainly not expect such a mistake from Mercedes Benz. Damns silly.
Wanna hear something even sillier? Some time in the early 90s I read somewhere, porno magazines were found in a Jagaur XJ which was delivered to Queen.

ajmat · 1st December 2005, 21:49

Not really, some mercedes engineers and a journalist were trying to be "clever" and fake it after Mercedes clearly said that the experiement would fail. Looks like the S class suspension got the better of them. More here:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11...e_test_fiasco/

amit · 1st December 2005, 21:57

Quote:

Not really, some mercedes engineers and a journalist were trying to be "clever" and fake it after Mercedes clearly said that the experiement would fail. Looks like the S class suspension got the better of them.

Ajmat beat me to this post. I was just about to post this and saw your post on the same!
I find the theory a bit difficult to believe. How were the engineers "bullied" into doing the test manually by a journalist! Maybe they were paid off. Or maybe Mercedes is trying to save their skin and pride by making the journalist into a scapegoat.

jkdas · 1st December 2005, 21:58

Whatever

I just love the new S class. really a wow car.

21st November 2005, 15:39	#1
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 70,590 Thanked: 301,484 Times View My Garage	OOPS! Mercedes goofs up S Class demonstration.......ummmm...actually no Link to Original Article GTO
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 15:49	#2
Badcheetah BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: New Delhi Posts: 123 Thanked: 3 Times	Nice find GTO , Hilarious . well after all that money spent on R&D . Possible to have the video of this . i would love to watch the faces of the engineers .
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 15:53	#3
Steeroid Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: N.A Posts: 7,046 Thanked: 2,751 Times	"According to a German news site, the blushing Mercedes security engineers soon discovered the problem: The test had been done in a hall which was made of steel. This confuses the radar, and the system doesn't work properly, causing more than £150,000 worth of cars to crumple into each other." I cant believe they didnt do a test at the venue before the filming - whats happening to the usually thorough German efficiency? The fact that they didnt either meant that they were super-confident of their products ability, or that they were slipshod......Fraulein Mercedes, your slip is showing!
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 16:18	#4
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,718 Thanked: 22,833 Times View My Garage	This means that if you are on a highway with lots of container trucks, your radar may fail. Lawsuits, anyone?
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 16:34	#5
Shan2nu Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Hubli - Karnata Posts: 5,533 Thanked: 125 Times View My Garage	Another reason why you shouldn't completely rely on electronics. But, the idea is pretty good. Fifth Gear got to test the S class in a recent episode. It works pretty well. Jason even tried swerving into another lane at high speeds and the system instantly applied the brakes and slowed down to the speed of the car ahead and maintained a certain distance throughout. But the night vision cam was disappointing. In some cases, the onboard screen couldn't even detect things that the normal camera was able to project. Shan2nu
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 16:50	#6
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,887 Thanked: 28,112 Times View My Garage	By the look of it, Mercedes did not check out the venue ahead of time
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 17:07	#7
Shan2nu Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Hubli - Karnata Posts: 5,533 Thanked: 125 Times View My Garage	Here are some more images. Crash images Shan2nu
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 18:15	#9
RX135 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: pune Posts: 2,106 Thanked: 75 Times	Looks like software bug has bitten them too. No matter what, a fatal exception always occurs at the time of customer demo.
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 19:23	#10
Deeps Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: Delhi/Noida Posts: 1,116 Thanked: 170 Times	haha...the incident is more funny than anything else. Am sure that MB learnt a lesson...the hard way though. And as Steeroid said, they should have tested before hand. And yeh, i would never rely completely on these gizmos.
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 19:25	#11
aniguchisan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,022 Thanked: 123 Times View My Garage	A pre-demo test should definitely have been done in order to avoid the embarrassment. The point made by tsk1979 is quite valid, and such aspects should surely be considered. If the radar is bamboozled by steel, this can be quite a serious issue. Not only will this not operate smoothly in steel enclosures such as warehouses, the system could flop severely in certain tunnels or buildings, and perhaps even bridges! In accordance with the latter-most point; I would hate to see a W221 blasting through a bridge. Last edited by aniguchisan : 21st November 2005 at 19:27.
	() Thanks

22nd November 2005, 08:01	#12
Aditya Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 17,926 Thanked: 77,420 Times View My Garage	After so many years of testing and being the first to "bring in technology" in cars, I would certainly not expect such a mistake from Mercedes Benz. Damns silly. Wanna hear something even sillier? Some time in the early 90s I read somewhere, porno magazines were found in a Jagaur XJ which was delivered to Queen.
	() Thanks

1st December 2005, 21:49	#13
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,887 Thanked: 28,112 Times View My Garage	Not really, some mercedes engineers and a journalist were trying to be "clever" and fake it after Mercedes clearly said that the experiement would fail. Looks like the S class suspension got the better of them. More here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11...e_test_fiasco/
	() Thanks

1st December 2005, 21:58	#15
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,687 Thanked: 1,492 Times View My Garage	Whatever I just love the new S class. really a wow car.
	() Thanks