I do not think you are 'venting' at all. I often read how the US has a significant portion of sales. I just find it hard to believe that Germany will dictate what options, cut down options and vehicles each country will have.

To me the manufacturer will hire so called experts in each importing country, then those appointee's will be responsible for what models, options etc they will import.

It is like me saying why don't Mercedes-Benz manufacture a 4Matic vehicle? We both know they do, but none are imported into the UK. I certainly do not blame Germany for this decision, I believe we in the UK only import 'X' number of vehicles so Mercedes-Benz UK decide what they believe will be the best for us. The US does not import a 320CDI estate is that also because Germany will not allow it?

Why do you believe that someone living in Germany will know what is best for a foreign country? Why have MBUSA if you are going to blame the manufacturer?

I am not criticising your post you have asked a very sensible question and my response is in the hope it will get some constructive rebutals.
Do we blame Germany? or MBUSA?

I would also love to see the figures on the total numbers of Mercedes-Benz manufactured compared to totals sold in the US. How many A-class are imported into your fine country. (This is a very popular vehicle in Europe) How many V-class (Viano). Vito vans and Sprinters are another extremely popular vehicle sold in the hundreds of thousands but we do not see many on the streets of the US. I am certainly not saying the US is not a major importer, of course it is.

Regards,
John

Because XM relies heavily on a giant network of ground-based repeater stations, whereas Sirius is truly directly off the satellite. At least, that's what a Navy communications-geek friend of mine told me.

Much to our disappointment, the Viano is not sold in the US and the Sprinter is re-badged, gets a new grill, and is sold as a Dodge!

bring the Viano with a great CDI motor and you will have a homerun here in the USA

I have been onto the Dodge site and it is sad that the engine option is limited to just the one!!!!!

Hi saffrontiger,
Again this highlights my point, it does have an excellent CDI engine and is available in LHD.

The 400CDI is an engine that is available in some countries, but not the UK, the new 420 will be a flying machine, but who is getting it?

John

To improve the car:

Find a way to increase rear seat room by an inch or two. While I rarely have to be back there, it is (or feels) smaller than my '00 and other comparably sized cars seem to have a allocated the space better. This is a passenger car after all.

With Keyless GO, I have to wait until all doors are closed before pressing the handle button to lock the car. Not so with the key. The reason for this, if any, eludes me.

Acutally Sirius and XM both have satellites and ground stations. XM has more ground stations but Sirius is getting there. I can listen to my Sirius radio five stories down in a parking garage in downtown Nashville because they have a ground transmitter. If I go 20 miles away I lose Sirius connection if I get under an overpass because the ground station is too far away.

Sirius spec's in a higher gain antenna than XM (1 dB more gain) and they are usually flat antennas or hockey pucks. XM spec's that the antenna needs to accept circularly polarized signals (from satellites) and linear polarized signals from ground stations.

It's probably the manufacturer of the Sirius equipment that MB picked. I know that both XM and Sirius have really tiny receivers the size of cell phones. My Blaupunt in the truck is really tiny and sticks to the windshield.

My profession is as a communications engineer. I work on this stuff all the time.

One request...

More standard features, and less options... like back in the day, when most MB cars has one or two options at most.

Back in the 'old' days even the radio was an option. I think what has happened is Mercedes-Benz has got more 'options' as standard (even airconditioning) BUT they are now offering far more options!!! Which are both tempting and perhaps debatably more expensive.

John

The fact remains that other luxury cars INCLUDE items that are options on a Benz, that by today's standards SHOULD be in a luxury car and NOT an option... but thats because a Benz is built "more heavy duty" (no other luxury car is built as much like a tank as a Benz) than the other luxury cars, and will outlast them by years.

However most (not all) Benz buyers Lease & will be out at 39 months, so the person paying the most for the car, will never realize its longevity. ...So its really just a build standard philosophy for Benz for us in the States. It costs more to build a tank, (in Germany) than a loaded, well insulated, very dependable, respectable luxury car called Lexus/Toyota. MB has to come in at a certain price for each model, and less content is the ONLY way they can do it. Too bad for MB, too bad for us... but if you want that "Build Quality" you only have one choice.

Well said and could'nt agree more.

Unfair to compare one countries options with anothers, but Bentley and Aston Martin vehicles which I consider to be 'luxury' vehicles have far less basic specifications when you compare them to the CL Mercedes-Benz. The E-class might not have the same basic specifications as perhaps the equivalent Lexus, but!!!! I simply don't care. Folks that like Lexus, buy them and I respect their choice.

Just my two penarth,
John

That may have been the case in the UK, but here in the US back in the 80's and before... there simply weren't that many options on a benz, almost all of it was standard. The American car makers on the other hand had literally dozens of packages and options, which was annoying on a car like a Cadillac.

As for Lexus, et al.. I hate comparisons because I am a strong believer in MB's superior build quality, but I'm not sure that MB should be using the Detroit model of options on cars that are at the top of the lux range. Maybe the C class, could have a few options, but when you get into car's in the Mid 50's and up, stuff like heated seats, xeon lights, and premium stereo should be standard (Even if they have to bump up the price a tad to cover those costs).

Another thing is Volvo builds cars arguably as well as MB, yet their prices are significantly lower (20% or more), so clearly there is room in the production/business model to add more lux for the buck.

Hi Sam,
Volvo is now owned by Ford and again differing countries have different 'basic' fittings. Your gripe by the sound of it is again back to good old MBUSA nothing to do with Mercedes-Benz. My E-class has bi-xeons as a standard fitting. Optional is the Active headlights. It is down to the importing country to decide what standard fittings go into what specific model\range The problem with the options is precisely that very word. What is a fundamental requirement for one person is simply a worthless option for another.

In the 60's and 70's (they are to me the old days) Volvo, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz would never fit a radio into the car as a standard fitting (neither would Rolls Royce or Bentley) The arguement was that there customers could choose what radio they wished to have from a list. You refer to a 'premium' stereo. Sadly what is 'premium' to me might be rubbish to someone else!! The radio and CD player that comes with the E-class as the basic system is more than adequate for the 'average' owner, but members here might well think its quality is rubbish!!!

You simply cannot compare manufacturer 'X' and say their car comes with more basic toys than manufacturer 'Y'. There is no logic to it! Buy a top of the range Proton and it will no doubt have more bells and whistles fitted as 'standard' when comparing it to say an E-class but so what!!! I hope I do not sound inflammatory because it is not intended, I am merely saying if you don't like what one manufacturer offers you for your dollar, go next door!!

That might sound rude because no doubt you are merely asking is it possible to put more gadgets into the car withour raising the price??

My answer would be No!! simply because for the last 18 months or so it looks like Mercedes-Benz are taking OUT basic features in an attempt to keep the price competitive!!

Back in the good old days when Mercedes-Benz was a car to aspire to, the vehicle was built to a standard, and we paid a premium for that standard, then we paid extra for options. Now the average buyer wants a 'cheaper' (competitively) priced car, but also fully loaded with all the options!!!! One does not go with the other. Lexus have their way of doing things and that works for their market. In a sad way it is Mercedes-Benz that is copying Lexus. Certainly not in cutting edge engineering technology, but in mass produced reliability. MB was never a really mass producer of vehicles and we are perhaps suffering as a consequence.

Boy what a ramble!!!

Bye for now,
John

MB's car sales numbers have more than quadrupled in the last 5 years alone here in the US, and that is their problem... they're now having to compete with the likes of Lexus and Acura, whereas before they were King, and the others were just cheap copies.

I'm still happy with my car (for many reasons, not relating to the skimpy options that were standard), but this thread asked what I would change, and I still maintain that for a high-line brand like MB and in their cars that are in the top 50% of their production, more should be standard, and less optional, that's all.

Oh well, I've said all I can about this.

Now thats the understatement of the year for sure.....

Glad to see your starting to post again John. I always look forward to reading your informative and "flip-side" view points with that tweeked sense of English humor...
Hope you stick around awhile.

I don't know how many times I have attempted a turn signal and hit the cruise control stick which made the car accelerate forward. The two sticks are too closely positioned together on the left side of the wheel. On my Honda Pilot the cruise control commands are built into the steering wheel. I have talked to other drivers and they have the same experience. At a minimum, the cruise control stick should be repositioned. What happened to ergonomic design?

Good morning Harley,
For my next suggestion.....

Fit Bridgestone tyres on the E55AMG!! (short and sweet!!!)

Regards,
John

Yea, that is downright annoying. I don't know how many times I went to signal a turn, only to do something to the cruise control.

After seeing two recent comments on the cruise control, I think a contrary opinion is necessary. I have driven Mercedes Benz vehicles since 1995 and have never hit the cruise stick in error. It is one of my favorite features in the car because it is so intuitive -- up = accelerate; down = decelerate; backwards = discontinue; forwards = restart. No other cruise control comes close in ease of use -- you always end up fumbling on the steering wheel wondering what's what.

I am curious to hear other opinions as I read about this being a problem in an auto magazine test a couple of years ago and discounted the rest of the article based on this comment alone.

Regarding the cruise control - this was my first M-B. It took me a couple of weeks to get used to the placement of the cc stalk. After getting used to it I liked it but initally I thought it was a goofy placement.

It would be even bettter if it were a tad shorter IMO.

I would agree with the list you created and especially support the following points:

-reliability: especially regarding small 0.02 cent parts

-plastic cover for door sills

In addition I would add the following

-floor mats that cover dead pedal (left foot resting spot) like they have in Europe

-back to old butterfly armrest which is still bein installed in Europe (or at least give people a choice)

-more effective seat ventilation (AVS)

-roll up or down windows with key that works like the central locking system like on Lexus, not what they have now at MB where you have to stand right in front of the car for it to work

-sturdier leather (excessive wear on side bolsters)

For me part of the problem is that I drive several different vehicles. If I only drove the E I would be more used to its placement. One of the other vehicles I drive is the ML class and I never have a problem with accidentally hitting the cruise control. This seems to be a problem unique to the E Class and it appears to me that the problem is contributed to by the placement of the turn signal as much as the placement of the cruise control stalk. The turn signal lever is about an inch too low and should be closer to 9-o-clock rather than down at 8-0-clock.

For me, the cruise stick placement is perfect - but I have trained myself to hold the wheel at "a quarter to three" whereas I used to hold it higher (more "ten to two"). In those days (in an SLK) I often would signal my intention of moving to the right by accelerating instead of indicating!

I note that some manufacturers are starting to recommend the "quarter to three" position because of the apparent danger of your arms being hit by the airbag as it deploys and then having them (your arms) hit you in the face if they rest on the wheel too high. Perhaps this is MB's "gentle" way of enforcing active safety on its drivers?

Philip

Again, I too find the cruise control stick to be perfectly placed, and more intuitive than the buttons on wheel that some do... I also love the digital display on the spedo that they use to mark the set speed..