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These pics (courtesy of c450.com) were taken at 2016 Detroit auto show a week ago and reveal 2 ridiculously ugly bumps on the sides of the license plate on the rear bumper.
Any thoughts/confirmations that this is, indeed, how the US model will look ?
Also attaching a pic of C-coupe I took in London in December.
ya the AMG GT has this as well, and its the only thing i dont like about the car,
same goes for Canadian markets, they add those bumps
I didn't know the same applied to Canada, must be a distribution reason. I wish these car companies would band together and get some of these silly archaic regulations changed and modernized. There's a bunch of things we can't have in the US like Adaptive Highbeam Assist and Laser Lights for BMWs. These laws were written over 50 years ago.
So what exactly do those bumps do and why are they part of the regulations?
Basically they're bumpers. The regulation forces manufacturers to add these on so the car can withstand a 5 MPH hit usually during parking. Here's the quote and the source:
3) What are the Federal regulations for bumpers?
49 CFR Part 581, "The bumper standard," prescribes performance requirements for passenger cars in low-speed front and rear collisions. It applies to front and rear bumpers on passenger cars to prevent the damage to the car body and safety related equipment at barrier impact speeds of 2� mph across the full width and 1� mph on the corners.
This is equivalent to a 5 mph crash into a parked vehicle of the same weight. The standard requires protection in the region 16 to 20 inches above the road surface, and the manufacturer can provide the protection by any means it wants. For example, some vehicles do not have a solid bumper across the vehicle, but meet the standard by strategically placed bumper guards and corner guards.
It has to do with the US 5 MPH bumper regulations. The S class coupe has it, Porches have it and The AMG GT. That's how it will look.
Except on S-coupe they look like an integral part of the bumper. And on AMG-GT they follow the shape of the bumper.
But on C-coupe, they look as if a 5-year old decided to attach something at the last moment.
I would expect such an awful design on a $16K Nissan, but not on a Mercedes Benz.
I think I would have been kinda ok with them if they were square or rectangular.
But they really look, like they were mindlessly taken from AMG-GTS (where their shape follows the shape of the bumper) and attached to a C-class, where this shape looks ugly and out of place
So basically, the nhtsa regulations make our cars uglier and have less features. nhtsa
Before we go start blaming "Big Government" and all, I'd like someone to answer the question of why the 2015 - 2016 W205 sedan doesn't have those ugly wart thrown on back.
Did U.S. regulations change just from last year? How do we know this wasn't a Mercedes Benz bean counter response?
The shape and height of the bumper is what warrants this add on. The sedan sits higher thus doesn't require this.
Originally Posted by Vihzel
Oh wow that really sticks out like a sore thumb. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that on a luxury car.
I'm sure you have as they are found on many sports cars it's just that in real life they aren't nearly as noticeable compared to pictures.
Originally Posted by Flanker
I think I would have been kinda ok with them if they were square or rectangular.
But they really look, like they were mindlessly taken from AMG-GTS (where their shape follows the shape of the bumper) and attached to a C-class, where this shape looks ugly and out of place
I'll admit your picture seems much less noticeable because that's how it looks in real life. Here is a more unforgiving angle:
another one:
And another one:
Originally Posted by cleankutazn
So basically, the nhtsa regulations make our cars uglier and have less features. nhtsa
Yep, write your congressman/woman.
Originally Posted by Brutus99
Maybe that can be removed? Or in the worst case change to the European bumper lol
Usually attached by metal brackets the holes would look pretty bad I think.
Originally Posted by MASSC300
Before we go start blaming "Big Government" and all, I'd like someone to answer the question of why the 2015 - 2016 W205 sedan doesn't have those ugly wart thrown on back.
Did U.S. regulations change just from last year? How do we know this wasn't a Mercedes Benz bean counter response?
Sedan rear bumper is shaped differently and sits higher. Nothing to do with bean counters and everything to do with the regulation. This regulation even ruined some early US Lambos:
No bean counting at Lamborghini under any circumstances. So yes blame "Big Gov't" as these archaic regulations have been holding the US back in more ways than just design, look up lighting regulations and how they've prevented us from having Adaptive Highbeams, Laser lights, sequential turn signals LEDs, spotlights on night vision systems for S Class and 7 Series and more.
look up lighting regulations and how they've prevented us from having Adaptive Highbeams, Laser lights, sequential turn signals LEDs, spotlights on night vision systems for S Class and 7 Series and more.
the lighting package has "Adaptive Highbeam Assist". is this not the same as adaptive highbeams ?
No bean counting at Lamborghini under any circumstances. So yes blame "Big Gov't" as these archaic regulations have been holding the US back in more ways than just design, look up lighting regulations and how they've prevented us from having Adaptive Highbeams, Laser lights, sequential turn signals LEDs, spotlights on night vision systems for S Class and 7 Series and more.
To be fair, sounds like "Big Government" is not to blame for the ugly wart bumpers, it's the insurance companies who lobbied for these 5 mph bumper standards...so we should be blaming them.
To be fair, sounds like "Big Government" is not to blame for the ugly wart bumpers, it's the insurance companies who lobbied for these 5 mph bumper standards...so we should be blaming them.
True NHSTA did lobby for them, I'm just saying as it stands it is a Federal regulation and therefore we have to get someone to lobby to change it. Whether that's blaming the government or not, we can't point fingers at MB which is what many here are doing.
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