07_R & G 320's

It was 2 weeks old. Not a scratch on her. 1,835 miles on her. DAMN.

Well - ahem. I dropped a cell phone, looked down for it and.... well hit a bus at 35 mph. Stone cold sober, hit a bus. Yes, these things can take a MAJOR hit - here's pics:

I have 4 cracked ribs, broken wrist, but walked away from this. And - ALL FOUR DOORS OPEN AND SHUT AS NORMAL. Amazing. THIS is why I buy Mercedes, as even though this was my fault (my first) - I wasnt killed. Can you imagine this in a Kia Sportage?

guru

yes, this is the reason to buy MB

hanmust

It seems to be a very safe car..but will it be this much damped with such a normal speed..

petery

Glad you are OK. I drop cell phones all the time too so I guess I need to be careful too. BTW, I like the little drawer on top of the ashtray to be very useful to put the cell phone, etc. and let the bluetooth to do all the work.

Nevada Jack

Glad the injuries were minor. Sure speaks well for MB and their crumple zone techology...looks fine from the firewall back.

Sorry you had to experience this loss but it can be replaced...a Kia driver would be 6' under after this.

Danno4x4

Dave...

WOW! Sorry to hear, but glad you are okay.

Did this happen somewhere in Tempe?

carpersn

Glad you are ok...photos make me want to weep-such a clean grand machine...might i suggest, as someone else did, that you spec the bluetooth in your replacement?

mbslk350

Wow, it hurts just to look at it. But this is a major reason why I purchase Mercedes-Benz vehicles. And these photos justify the decision to drop $63K on a new GL320. Can't put a price on safety.

07_R & G 320's

Benz bluetooth is worthless, cradle is the only way to go for 100% reliability.

But it happened in Tempe Arizona on Sunday Morning the 31st at 8am.

And yes Danno - I made the Channel 5 news. I just didnt see the bus, and the next thing I knew I was in the hospital in Scottsdale. Guess it was quite a scene. One very minor injury on the bus. Cops have been great, and the news people filled me in on the rest. I got a ticket for 30mph in a zero zone.... - and I can go to class for the ticket to have it removed.

However, I am sure my nice cheap insurance rates are a thing of the past. I have an R Class also, see pic, and a Sprinter Van.... - but just paid the year insurance on them already.

Oh well, life happens....

Nevada Jack

Aside from all the chaos above...that is about the sharpest R Class I have seen.

07_R & G 320's

Well if we are talkin baby pics, here's oneof my favorite Benz's. I owned this for a few years, and sold it to buy more rental houses. The spare tire was never one the ground, a real time capsule that brought home all the money.... The clock even kept time....

Taz0369

yikes! that damage looks like you were going a lot faster than 35mph...but i'm guessing the bus probably didn't budge too much when you hit it! it is truly a testiment to the quality of design and engineering that virtually all of the damage is forward of the firewall. any encroachment into the floor board of engine or transmission?

07_R & G 320's

doesnt seem to be. The body shop will know more tomorrow. Looks like the engine flattened downwards to the ground like it is supposed to. The Steering wheel went in and up a few inches, which made getting the key in or out or to turn impossible. (Had to unlock things, but power was cut by firemen oddly, as they didnt know the battery was under the passenger seat....

However - here'sw some good German Engineering at work. Very usefull for those 239 mph jaunts down to the corner store.

mbslk350

I was just wondering, did TeleAid automatically call for help like it's supposed to? Which air bags popped? Just the front? And if there was nobody in the passenger seat, did that air bag stay undeployed?

Sorry to be getting an education at your expense...I'm just trying to see if everything worked like it's advertised. Of course, the fact that you walked away from that crash is the main thing, but the engineer in me wants to know how the safety systems did their job.

07_R & G 320's

Tele-Aid DID NOT DEPLOY. Seems that the car dealer hadn't faxed the 'new car form' into MB USDA yet..... Tele-Aid had no way of knowing who/what the car was... I was going to ask Shumacher European about that tomarrow.. They set up the Sirius Radio (also worthless) but not Tele-Aid....

I did hit the button for the "Welcome" talk, but they couldn't do anything for me as Schumacher, again, had not faxed the owner info to MB USA.

coloradokid

Is that a bike rack or a storage rack

btshep

guess you wont need those led tail lights you were asking about. glad to see you are ok though. the gl looks bad but that is a good thing. i wonder why they wouldnt fax it in within the first couple of days. did you ever hit the i button and do your orientation call to the service center ? all the documentation for tele-aid says that after the form has been submitted via mail or fax that the vehicle owner must press the i button and do an intial setup call before the service becomes active. if you guys think of basic physics all that damage to the engine compartment means that all the energy was disapated before it reached the cabin interior. In every motor vehicle accident there are seperate and potentially dangerous collisions. 1st one is the vehicle traveling at a certain rate of speed crashing into an object coming to a sudden stop. 2nd is your body hitting the dashboard and coming to a sudden stop at the same rate of speed. the third and last collision is your internal organs coming to sudden stop as they crash into the walls of your body at the same rate of speed. ie 35 mph into the bus. 35mph into the dash and 35 mph into your the walls of your body

cmcjo

Good your not seriously injured. Mercedes is certainly known for their safety.

Regarding the bluetooth phone, I have had perfect success with the MB bluetooth attatchement in the S and now for the last hour or so in the GL

I also think it depends on the phone you are using. It works all the time with the Palm 700 and I had no issues with the Verizon 6700 PPC as well. The only thing is the contacts won't upload to the command in either the GL or the S. But caller ID works great.

AsianML

Is that some sort of roof rack TV satellite on the GL? I saw one while watching Pimp My Ride once (you can beat the sh*t out of me later).

Glad you're alright and that nobody else was hurt. Good to see MB hasn't cut back on everything. But of course the GL is one of "those models" that's supposed to "change the course" for MB.

cmcjo

I didn't notice that.
It looks like he had Directv in their as well..

Love my GL

Looks like a tracvision satellite television receiver.

Dave: Glad you made it out okay.

CY

I was is an accident 4 years ago where my buddy was driving, but at 70mph and a LS400 instead of a bus...I am lucky to have all my limbs intact. Thank God ur OK....#1 reason to buy MB.

mannnu81

were glad ure ok. looks like a lot of damage at 35 mph.

myfirstbenz

All of these new diesel MB's, very nice! I rolled my w124 sedan winter of 05, and my doors still shut like new when it was righted up. MBZ is the only car to own for safety, I will only drive these for the rest of my life. Too bad the GL didn't have Pre-safe.

waxking1

Just curious about a couple of details on the accident. Was the bus parked, stopped or moving?
How do you know how fast you were going when you hit the bus? How many people were on the bus and what kind of bus was it?

I live in Memphis, and I know if I hit a bus here everyone on the bus would be filing a lawsuit and they would all have been in the emergency room. My insurance would not be enough.