Otto

We, (my wife, 3 years old son, and I) just came back from Demark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland trips.

We had a chance to ride on a w211 taxi when we visited Tivoli in Copenhangen. the taxi outside looks exactly the same as my car (obviously, no pano roof) but inside is totally different.

e.g.
plastic seats, cheap faked wood, no center console (replaced with some audio system. of course, it is not hk.) no computer style of "speedo" (raplaced with regular one.)

I think I will not buy it even it costs under usd 30k. I took w210 cab ride a few years ago in Singapore without leather seats as well but inside "atmosphere" let me still feel it is a "mb". (I don't know how European mb owners feel about their cars are "same" as cabs -- of course, inside stuffs are differnt. If I lived there, I would buy Jaguar or Audi)

the worst thing of this ride is the driver is not honest who took a long way from our hotel to Tivoli, costs 220 dkk. when we went back, took w203 taxi, which costs only 120 dkk. (I was told that taxi fare from my hotel to Tivoli should be between 100 dkk to 160 dkk, our hotel is near Copenhagen airport)

I hope US cab drivers will not rip off tourist by giving "sight-seeing" ride becuase you actually represent "your people" while you provide a service.

jim256

Otto, all the cab drivers in the US are absolutely ethical, no unnecessary detours or sightseeing rides, always pleasant and willing to go out of their way to accomodate you. Perhaps it was the W211 that corrupted your driver?

bmms8

Perhaps it was the W211 that corrupted your driver?

haha, thats a nice line, i think that was probably the reason

otto, were they all the same color(yellow)?

Kain

Here in Dubai, the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class are police cars.

bmms8

nice, crimes musta went up because of that jk i wish the U.S. police cars were MB's or something

E55AMG99

Not all EU spec cars are configured that way. There is some kind of a tax loophole in Denmark, Sweeden and Norway that lets taxi drivers off the hook from paying the huge car tax. I forget the specifics but I remember it is substantial.

Lbcgolf

I rode in a w211 taxi in Cologne (Koeln) in April. He was giving me a 1 hour drive @ night all the way down to a remote little town called Hennef. The interior was a definite step down but it wasn't bad for say... a car that cost $20 to $30k. The weird thing was that he didn't know how to get to my hotel in an obscure city. The radio in the middle of the center console was just your run of the mill DIN sized Blaupunkt or something similar, then I saw him push a bunch of buttons on the radio. We get rolling, and all of a sudden, the radio starts displaying names, arrows and distances in km on it's 2 line dot matrix display! Holy cow, it's the GPS!!! Obviously it wasn't as impressive as a 7 inch color LCD on the dash, but it was kewl 'cos it looked different and I'd never seen one b4.

S_kLaSse

It shows how MB owner love to drive their car. . In US, they drive FORD, so no point driving it all day.

Otto

Unfortunately, it is not -- that is why I feel bad for those European mb owners.

same thing in some Aaia countries, because police needs a better performance car for chasing in a highway.

I have not seen any E500 during this trip, I think the price of gas keeps away from the buyers. e. g. one liter of gas in Helsinki costs around 1.1+ eur, (1 gallon = 3.785 liter and 1 eur = 1.12 usd), I think no one wants to pay near 5 bucks (usd) per gallon of gas for this hog.) Early this year when I was in Singapore, I can only find E240 or E200 and very few E320 in the streets. (now E500 is available in Singapore, I doubt how many E500 can be sold there under COE, certificate of entitlement.), I found the most popular S model there is S280. (Big engine only work in US and Canada.)

I think most of you have heard the COE in Singapore. In Singapore, when you buy a car, you need to buy a COE as well. By the way, your car has to install a electronic device for entering city zones (like ez pass in us) and you have to carry parking coupons.

CLK 69

T A X I

Rock72

lol, that taxi looks just like my car (except for the rims).

Rock.

S_kLaSse

I rode a W203 taxi, but their interior are all basics, no power window, no moonroof. VERY BASIC. I wont buy it if my C is like that.