loubapache

I am not sure I would generalize like what you have said about "Korean junk".

If you have been to Korea, you will see a car, strikingly similar to the W124 and beautiful, in the streets. I was there a couple of times in the early 2000's and thought people just put different badges on the Mercedes so I looked into this.

It turned out that after Mercedes switched from the W124 to W210, it sold the entire W124 design and production to SsangYong Motor Company of Korea. They revised it to be a stretched version of the W124 as the Chairman, carrying a Daewoo badge. It has a 2.9 m wheelbase and 3.2 L Mercedes straight-6 engine.

This picture should remind those who have owned, driven, or seen the MB W124:

http://www.smotor.com/en/showroom/chairman/main.jsp

Hyundai is making much better cars than before. The equivalent of the hyundai Sonata is a very popular mid-level car in China and is heavily used by taxi drivers. During my annual visit to China, I always get the same driver to get around and from amd to the airport (long rides). He has the hyundai amd it has over 350,000 KM last May and all he has done are routine maintenance, a belt tensioner, and tires about every 80,000 KM.

Japanese cars are good and Korean cars are getting better. They may not be the balanced compromise MB seeks between handling and comfort, but they may be more reliable than the 2003-2005 W211s. Many people will take that kind of appliances, instead.

220S

Yikes, don't get me started on Hyundai....

They have a notoriously bad labor and ethical history. I think the former CEO, Chung Mong-koo is still in jail (embezzlement and starting a huge slush fund with company money.) Although I think I read something about a recent plea bargain. He is the son of the founder, Chung Ju-Yung.

They appropriate all their technology; Daimler pulled out of their alliance with them (in the truck building section) several years ago. Hyundai Precision America's Han Young plant in Tijuana has a history of labor abuses and bad (due to cost cutting) welds on truck trailers that led to a world-wide investigation.

It gave them such bad press that they changed their name to Hyundai Translead. They are located here in Socal; in San Diego. It was all front page news for almost two years; one of the big issues was having dangerous truck trailers on the road in the US. That also coincided with the same time Daimler cut off their alliance.

One may choose cars solely on price and/or other factors (looks, features, etc..) but I personally also consider the history of the company, it's social/moral integrity (or lack of), and its role in a philosophy of automotive design and manufacturing. Also, its ethical and environmental consciousness. A car to me is a sum of all those parts, and not just the physical product.

Quadcammer

Come on man, the camry starts at like $20k. The CLK started at like $50k.

Thats an astronomical difference.

I agree with Loubapache here.

ohlord

Arco fuel in most areas is problematic,for some reason in several of the mb's we own and friends benz that I drive while tuning. If Arco is used it triggers Cels.Might be the highly oxygenated reaction to the ethanol triggering Ltf codes.But it is not a coincidence.
The OP must be wondering what his question was

SLR after collision with a Smart car only kidding........the kid was driving over his ability.

Firestopper0383

Man oh Man! I am a newbie to this forum but I can't believe how much "mileage" this discussion over fuel grades has received.
Have a Great Day!

BoughtaBenz

That smell out of the exhaust is the smell of wasted money, but I agree that it sure does smell good (as long as it's not my money)! LOL

You don't need racing gas for these cars. In my opinion, that's overkill and you're just spending money that didn't have to be spent! Polar Bear is right about the unleaded though because leaded is a sure way to kill some cats (converters that is)!

I know nothing about Mercedes tuning stuff, but I know a bit about GM tuning. They use a high and a low octane table in the tune that compensates for gas of lower RON (octane) or just bad gas. If it refers back to this table, then timing is pulled to avoid motor killing detonation.

I wish that I knew of some Mercedes tuning software instead of paying big bucks for a tune. That's why mine is stock with K&N filters in it!

Fractal

I had a 2005 Acura TL that I put regular in and, while there was a slight performance loss, my fuel economy didn't change.

If I did that with my 2007 E350 and put premium fuel in it once a month, is that enough for the detergents to clean out all the gunk that regular fuel left?

Also is there a way I can check to see if my car is "programmed" for 91 octane? I remember reading that someone checked their "ECU" and saw that it was set for 87.