I have owned my fair share of Mercedes Benz automobiles. With my first job in the late '80s came my first Benz-a 1982 300D. What a solid car it was, and what great personality it had. The large authoritative steering wheel, the clatter of the steadfast motor, thick wool carpeting, and solid bundt wheels took us o'er vales and hills in great poise and deportment. I loved the fact (at least I retro-love) that it had no cup holders. The slipshod synchronization of the central locking system was magical as the vacuum lines sucked the door knobs down. Next came the stately 1999 E300 Turbodiesel, black on black. Boy, that was the fasted automobile I had ever been in, or so it seemed after owning the W123. Nowadays the wife drives the S550e. It's so much car, and it does so much for you that it's unconscionable to start criticizing it. However it is fussy and exacting in its own right, and boy that little bumper scrape might cost me five thousand dollars!