Hi all:

Do you get the French stitching on the dash when you get the Artico (MBtex) interior on a 320? I have two different answers from two dealers.

Thanks in Advance!

 

I'm not sure what "French" stitching means, but I have the MBTex interior on my GL 320 and there is stitching on the dash.

 

Are the dashes not the same w or w/o the leather package?

 

Thanks guys!

Nobody in my town has a 320 w/o leather to show me, so I guess it has the same dash, unless it is an America only thing.

French stiching has three seams, one hidden on the inside and two exposed ones outside, like what you have.

 

Sounds like you’re writing from Europe. Almost everyone on this forum is in the US. As there are differences in the vehicles themselves and the way they are sold, I don’t know if we can be of much help. We only have the choice of leather or Tex (Artico as they call it over there) interior and I’m sure parts of the leather interior are Tex as well.

 

Nope, only Alberta... but I do spend several weeks a year over the pond.... and every time I come home I say "next car's a diesel" but I never do it. This time, looks like a good chance!

 

for USA the leather models get stitched leather inserts on the doors... mb-tex models just get stretched mb-tex inserts. All models have a stitched dash with mb-tex, unless you got a premiere edition then u have a nappa leather dash.

 

That musta' been what had them all confused.

Thanks for your help!

 

Sounds like you and I are kerosene brothers - that was my same reason for getting the MB (I have never liked VW's diesels). Can't you get Toyota diesels in Canada? I hear they're putting a V8 turbo in the Land Cruiser now.

STP

 

What I wouldn't do for a new HiLux Diesel, but no luck on that front. Although the Tundra is the wrong car for Canadian conditions, it's what we get due to proximity.

However, we do get, and have had in the past several cars you guys don't get, like the original smart and the B-class...

 

The Smart & the B-class ... you can keep the Smart! (Too late, oh well.)

STP

 

No dude, sorry you are wrong about the smart. The ones we had before the US deal were cdi's, and I think it's just as safe as a Golf or C-class.

Not the sort of car I would own, but is reasonable for those who can use them.... If I had a big commute, I'd rather drive that thing bumper-to-bumper in traffic, and use the money I save on a nice used Carerra for the week-end.

I have driven them over here and in Europe, and they are really pretty good, if you tried one out with an open mind (maybe blindfold?) you would be shocked.

Sad thing is, now we get the gas vs. the original cdi's, and I think it would remove some of the charm.

Remember, the Smart started life as the Swatch car. Look at it through that that lens, and it's easier to understand.

Again, not the car for me, and obviously not the car for you, but the way I look at it, the more motoring choices, the better!

 

You are definately entitled to your opinion. Most say the ride is jittery at best, the handling is sloppy, the 40hp diesel was anemic and the gas model suffers from an automanual tranny (amongst the confusing controls) that really makes the car lurch, all the while handling poorly as well. All opinions, I admit. What I can say is, I won't be getting one for anyone I love.

 

Nice, but that is a VW Cross Fox, not a Smart...

 

Yeah, which has more front-end on it than the Smart. You're saying the Smart would've done better? It's that blunt front-end that leaves nothing between you and what you're hitting, particularly if, as is the case with these cars in head-ons (and rear-enders), you dive below the larger, heavier car.

 

Well, with all due respect, I'm not going to get into a debate with my benzene bro about what a picture of a compact SUV crash (that looks like it would be fatal in any passenger vehicle) has anything to do with how good the smart is as a city car, but I would suggest having a look at this similarly sensational image of the relative crash performance of a Mini and F-150 in the same 40mph tests... it does not make the GL a dangerous car, just because it's a full-size truck. Looking at the pictures, I'd rather be the dude in the mini.

Like I said, to each their own, and I think people should be allowed to make their own decisions about what to drive. From a statistical point of view you are more likely to die in a light truck (eg: Toyota Tacoma 111 deaths per million accidents, vs. 47 for the Jetta).

Quite frankly I don't care what anyone else thinks about the smart, I'd never buy one in my stuation, but I thought it was a pretty good drive. Plus, the more doorknobs that buy them to save the planet or whatever, just means there will be more gas around for gearheads like us!

 

And I'd also not have an F-150. I'll take a Mini any day, it's a safer car. It's not got the diving front. As for the Ford truck, it's just not properly built. But if you really want to be afraid, go to YouTube and look up "Brilliance BS6." It's a new car from China and they've posted offset and (I think) side impact crash test videos on that thing. I'm pretty sure they're not sold on this continent, but God help us if they are.

Of course, ultimately it comes down to whether or not you've got the proper dash stitching on the car. And whether it's diesel. (Hey, I've got to stay on topic SOMEhow!)

STP

 

True enough, gonna try to do a deal on an in-stock one or make an order on Monday...

 

Mixed bag, that. I got an in-stock one and while I was perfectly fine with getting one off the lot and saving a few bucks, I do wish I'd gotten a few things I could've only done through ordering. Like 3-zone climate control and bi-xenon headlights. It's only now after owning it that I might not have gotten a black exterior (though even completely fithly and unkept it's still very good looking) so that wouldn't have made a difference.

If they've got one on the lot that's got what you want, I say go for it! The closest I could've come would've been the one Nevada Jack turned down in Denver. If I'd, say, sold my GL to someone in California when it had the requisite number of miles on it, I'd be driving his. I do believe he had every single option on it.

STP

 

Yeah Steve....I even tried to get the ADSII on it but that didn't work...:-) It was loaded to the gills!

 

Is it just a question of care? The stock one has too much junk I don't want and is (the colour names could be different) Obsidian. If I were to order it would be a three way race between Cubanite, Obsidian and Peridot, all with a black interior... any cautions? The base model up here is pretty loaded with all the stuff I need like hitch, heated seats, parktronic, command, sunroofs...everything else is a toy in my opinion.

 

I can't speak to a black interior, I have macadamia, but I'm sure it'd be gorgeous. But yes, it's a question of maintenance. It's such a good looking vehicle in the darker colors (sorry, "colours") but the black shows every scratch and speck of dust. That said, when it is cleaned up it's just gorgeous. And the Mercedes paint ... well! Of course, that's coming from a Lexus (aka "Toyota") with it's 1/500th mil of paint on it.

Hitch isn't standard here. The three zone climate system is hardly a toy in the Arizona desert (I can, however, get the anti-UV film put in and I would suggest you do so if you get the black interior to protect it), the same with bi-xenon (am I spelling that correctly) on dark roads at night with wildlife (deer, elk, heffalumps here in the mountains). My "toys" currently consist of Sirius, a wood-n-leather steering wheel (you'd do better with the heated all-leather, I'd think), and the chrome hood fins and rims. In the desert, the clear-bra system's much more useful than not, so that doesn't fall into the "toy" category for my thinking either.

Ultimately, with all but one or two owners I've "met" here, it's a question of degrees of hapiness, only the one or two being "unhappy" with the truck, so I think you're going to have good luck no matter how you slice it!

Then, of course, you'll be required to do a "lower-48" road trip to meet some of us in person. Pretty much straight south to come see us Zonies.

STP

 

I have to come to the defense of Ford - somewhat. That F-150 in the photo is the previous generation (prior to 2004) truck. The NHTSA front crash test is probably the only major fault I’ve found with it. It was just replaced by a 2008 F-250 but, it’s been my company car so I’ve spent the last two or three years driving one and just sitting in it many hours a week. I can tell you they are very well made other than the under-engineered front of the passenger cell.

The current F150 passed the crash tests with flying colors.

Keep in mind that these tests simulate a crash into an unmovable object. Freeways (but not other highways as much) are designed to almost eliminate the possibility of hitting such an object – though usually with very generous helpings of alcohol some folks seem to find a way. However, a heavy truck is a close approximation of an unmovable object. Stay way clear of them. Those of you who cut in front of them on the road are total morons. The more likely scenario is a head on collision with another passenger car, pickup or SUV. What do you think is more likely to hold its integrity: a structure built to stop the momentum of the mass behind the firewall of a Mini Cooper or that more or less of an F-150? In a head on crash of a Mini vs. PU, the Mini presents less of an unmovable object to the PU than vice versa.

 

So who produces the stitching on the GL's dash?



It's Eissmann, from their new plant in Pell City. More: http://www.eissmann.de/