Verb04

thanks.

mdp c230k

One car magazine listed it at 44lbs heavier for the panorama roof on a C230K. No idea on a sedan but it will be less.

Verb04

44lbs heavier then the normal sun roof, or 44lbs heavier then no sunroof?

trench

Motor Trend listed the C230K with pano-roof as 44 lbs. heavier than one with no sunroof. I, for one, don't beleive that this value is correct. My guess is that the sunroof and associated motors for the C240/320 probably weighs around 30-40 lbs (and the much larger front and back pieces of the panorama roof around 60-70 lbs).

Cheers, BT

Harris

Do you want to buy a sunroof?

mdp c230k

Do a search on this topic. A long time ago I went through all the math to show that it is possible for the coupes roof to add only 44lbs. I went through the weight of the metal, glass, etc...

MB-BOB

I think all of you are misreading Verb04's question... Unless it's a mistake, he's asking about the weight of the SEDAN sunroof, not the Coupe Pana roof...

Verb04, there have been lots of posts concerning the Coupe's roof, but I think this would be the first concerning the sedan. I don't know the answer myself. But, IMO, the only way we can verify any of these claims is to take two cars to a weigh station, one with glass roof, one without... that applies to both Coupe and Sedan.

trench

I remember your calcs - I simply choose not to beleive them. No offense, at least you bothered to look up some values to prove your arguement -

My arguement is based on the following: I know that the panorama-esque roof of the 2002 Porsche 911 Targa adds 150 lbs of weight. Porsche is more up-front about this kind of thing, especially since the springs and shocks had to be revised to maintain the handling on a similar level to the standard Carrera coupe. From the picture attached below you can see that the surface area of the glass is roughly equivalent - if not less on the Porsche. The C230K probably doesn't have the same level of structural reinforcement as the Porsche (as putting a big hole in the roof will affect structural rigidity and therefore handling - which is more important in a Porsche). However, considering Mercedes fanatical devotion to safety I beleive that the amount of reinforcement could be similar to better protect the occupants in a rollover. I can see where the glass panels in the roof might might weigh 44 lbs, but the added ancillaries (motors, blinds, etc.) combined with the strucutal reinforcement around the roof and in the A and C pillars should weigh more than the sheet metal removed from the roof.

Cheers, BT

mdp c230k

Trench,
Remember that this car was designed from the inception to have the panorama roof, so the structural members were likely to be the same in both the C2 and non-C2 versions, the Targa was not. Therefore there will be no weight add by these members if there is a roof. The shades add no more than 1lb each as the fabric and one small strip of aluminum weight no more than that. My old estimates for the glass vs metal still hold and the motor and mechanism is not more than 15lbs. So it is easy to get an estimate of 44lbs. I appreciate your arguement but still hold that I am right.

trench

I see we agree to disagree. No problem - someday I'll have to weigh my car (no heavy roof for me) so we can see who is closer.

Something that occured to me a little while ago - if the weight increase was 44 kg, I would beleive that 100%. It's not inconceivable that MotorTrend accidently messed up the unit of measurement. Even NASA screwed this up - and caused a space probe to never be heard from again.

Cheers, BT

MB-BOB

This has been a controversy since day one around here. It won't be answered satisfactorilly until some real cars (one with, one without, but otherwise nearly identical) are driven to a weigh station and compared on the scales.

I suppose it would have to be Coupes with matching transmissions (either mannys or autos), engines (2.3L or 1.8L) and same wheel packages, with similar levels in the gas tank.

Anybody game?

mdp c230k

I'd love to but weigh stations are few and far between in the middle of Los Angeles. Any ideas?