Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:55:24 -0500
Reply-To: Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Subject: Re: Why I love Mercedes Benz but would never own one of their
cars (Friday ramblings)
In-Reply-To: <012101ce6935$b23d0650$16b712f0$@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Interesting, I've owned 18 Mercedes-Benz cars and I'm about to get another
one. I bought all of them used and took most past half a million miles. I've
lost three transmissions & one engine in the process, which really isn't bad
considering.
The engine is worth mentioning -It was in one of my 300E's. It dropped a
valve at 210,000 miles and I had a friend of mine rebuild it. After he took
the head off he gave me a call & insisted that I come over. I walked into
his shop and he said "Look at this, no ridge at the top of any of the
cylinders!" He had taken out his ridge reamer to remove the ridge that forms
at the top of the cylinders as they wear then he realized that there was no
wear. And even though the cylinders were glass smooth you could still see
the cross hatch pattern in the cylinder wall.
The dropped valve broke the head into two pieces and broke the piston into
three pieces. He found a good used head, ordered a new piston, had the head
reworked and $4700 later I was back on the road. And yes, I did type
$4700!!! The piston by itself was over $300.
Mercedes does make great cars. Treat them right and they go the distance,
don't maintain them and you might as well be driving a Chevy Chevette. I
mentioned that I've bought 18 of them used. And for every used Mercedes I
have bought, I have walked away from at least 20 because they were junk. We
don't properly maintain cars in this country.
Thanks, Tom Hargrave
www.kegkits.com
www.stir-plate.com
www.towercooler.com
www.grow-sun.com
www.raspberryproject.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Stuart MacMillan
Sent: Friday, June 14, 2013 2:31 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Why I love Mercedes Benz but would never own one of their cars
(Friday ramblings)
I’ve never been into luxury cars and never will be, but I have always had
tremendous respect for the company that arguably invented the automobile in
1886 and has advanced the safety of it throughout the decades with
engineering innovations and liberal licensing of their technology. Did you
know they invented airbags and first installed them in Europe in 1981? We
could have had them in our Vanagons, not that they would help much without
the front crumple zone they also invented in 1951 (the defunct Eurovan had
both). But in many other ways our VWs are descendants of this lineage. A
Wikipedia excerpt:
“Numerous technological innovations have been introduced on Mercedes-Benz
automobiles throughout the many years of their production, including:
• The internal combustion engined automobile was developed independently by
Benz and Daimler & Maybach in 1886 • Daimler invented the honeycomb radiator
of the type still used on all water-cooled vehicles today • Daimler invented
the float carburetor which was used until replaced by fuel injection • The
"drop chassis" – the car originally designated the "Mercedes" by Daimler was
also the first car with a modern configuration, having the carriage lowered
and set between the front and rear wheels, with a front engine and powered
rear wheels. All earlier cars were "horseless carriages", which had high
centres of gravity and various engine/drive-train configurations • The first
passenger road car to have brakes on all four wheels (1924) • The "safety
cage" or "safety cell" construction with front and rear crumple zones was
first developed by Mercedes-Benz in 1951. This is considered by many as the
most important innovation in automobile construction from a safety
standpoint • In 1959, Mercedes-Benz patented a device that prevents drive
wheels from spinning by intervening at the engine, transmission, or brakes.
In 1987, Mercedes-Benz applied its patent by introducing a traction control
system that worked under both braking and acceleration • Airbags were first
introduced in the European market, beginning with model year 1981 S-Class.
• Mercedes-Benz was the first to introduce pre-tensioners to seat belts on
the 1981 S-Class. In the event of a crash, a pre-tensioner will tighten the
belt instantaneously, removing any 'slack' in the belt, which prevents the
occupant from jerking forward in a crash • In September 2003, Mercedes-Benz
introduced the world's first seven-speed automatic transmission called
'7G-Tronic'
• Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), brake assist, and many other types
of safety equipment were all developed, tested, and implemented into
passenger cars – first – by Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz has not made a large fuss about its innovations, and has even
licensed them for use by competitors – in the name of improving automobile
and passenger safety. As a result, crumple zones and anti-lock brakes (ABS)
are now standard on all modern vehicles.”
I'm a bit of a car history buff. I have a short automobile history reading
list if anyone is interested.
Stuart
'85 Westy and VW driver since 1976
