That's like saying that your Mercedes is a Chrysler. VW makes fine car, that is reliable and fun to drive. I wouldn't worry about the association with Bentley.

 

I agree, no need to worry about the VW connection. Right down where it matters, the VW expertise and economies of scale will give you a level of technology which no vendor of the same volume of cars could produce. Porsche have done the same with the Cayenne. On the surface, where your visual and tactile impressions are formed, you have a car which is low volume, exclusive and hand crafted for that extra measure of "something special".

lorinserbenz is so correct. If Mercedes stayed with the high end, the dealer experience would be high end as well. As it is, the brand value and ownership experience is devalued by them trying to be in all market segments. Here in Europe, we have the A and B Class runts and the Smart which make things worse still.

 

When I first saw the 612 I thought it was the ugliest Ferrari ever made. But pictures do it no justice, it is beautiful in life... I would of gotten it if it wasn’t for the fact that I jumped on a F430 Spider build spot. The ESV is going to have to end up out of the garage.

 

But what about Lexus and their IS?

 

I agree with you on that... Lexus does touch every market segment yet maintains a higher level of dealer service than MB does.
What Lexus has that MB doesnt is cheaper labor... MB's problems stem from their labor issues. When the people assembling the cars are pissed off you its going to effect the overall quality.

However, I dont care how you slice it a Lexus is still a Toyota to me just as a Acura is Honda and an Infiniti is a Nissan.. All three make outstanding cars, but they dont have the prestige of MB and probably never will.
I think that as MB loses more high end sales they will eventually fix their problems. The feeling the MB brand gives me is that the people that are driving the low end Benz's are just happy to have a benz and dont really complain much. Id really like to see MB ditch the C,ML, and Slk. I think it would do wonders for the brand...
This will never happen, as the sell a boatload of those models.

 

What's prestige if it's in the shop / doesn't work?

 

Its not like MB's are breaking down in droves and spending weeks in the shop..

Ill take my SL with a few quirks over anything Lexus has to offer.
Lexus makes rock solid reliable cars but they aren't much in the looks dept...
owning a lexus is kinda like dating an ugly girl with a hot body and big ****.. its fun at first but you get sick of looking at her after a while.

 

Subjective. The MY2004+ LS430 has looks to kill. And it's quicker, quieter, and cheaper then the S500. :x

It's also not about spending weeks in the shop, it's just having to go to the shop. Even BMW is better at it than Mercedes. I walk in, walk out with a loaner. For Mercedes I sit on my *** for a few hours because "the VP hasn't released all the loaner cars yet"

But I disgress, and I leave one question.
How are dealers (dealer network, etc.,) for Bentleys? I don't think we'd ever get one, but I'm still curious!

 

Lexus LS= Toyota Avalon..... Killer looks? Most would say not..

 

In many ways, Mercedes suffers the same problems GM and Ford do - their people costs are just too high. In the case of Germany, its government mandated social security costs in the form of taxes; in the case of GM (for example), its union mandated costs in the form of antiquated work practices, old plants, health and pension costs. For both, lethargic management just compound the issues.

 

Were you in the Charlestown area Friday morning? I saw the exact same vehicle that morning and everything else around the car seemed like a Prius. Congrats on your purchase.

 

I wasn’t. GTs are becoming more common. I saw one on 128 a week ago, just before mine was delivered. I’ve also seen one around downtown Boston on a couple of occasions recently: black exterior with red primary and black secondary leather.

 

Need to hang pink fuzzy dice on the rear view mirror so you can be exclusive.

 

I think it’s infinitely customizable for a price. You can see the standard selection at www.bentlyconfigurator.com

My digital camera shot of the interior distorts the colors slightly. The blue leather is really a slightly darker blue. The light leather is a little more yellowish in real life.

 

The Boston area dealer is a subsidiary of Foreign Motors West, a Mercedes and BMW dealer. A little surprising given Bentley’s corporate parent.

 

Helps to be able to spell the name of your car.... www.bentlEyconfigurator.com LOL

 

I see your point, but I’ve managed to keep the ‘stone’ interior of the SL clean for a year, and the ‘Designo Shell’ interior of my S500 clean for four. Both are lighter than the Bentley. I used to have a saddle brown interior in my old R129 SL. It was nice, but my personal preference runs to lighter colors.

 

Please be charitable and attribute it to a key not struck with sufficient force! As you can see, I’ve managed to spell it correctly otherwise.

 

sillydriver,

This is the first negative depiction I have seen you make of the Renntech upgrade. I go back and forth between getting it and not getting it. Most of my driving is in a densely populated urban setting and the idea of a "hair-trigger throttle" is a little unsettling. Any thoughts?

 

That’s a perceptive catch on your part! Although I still am very pleased with the modifications overall, using the car as an urban commuter for the last year has revealed the downside. The problem is that you always have to pay attention to your right foot. When a downturn stoplight turns green, you can’t just hit the pedal and go, you have to feather the throttle off the line to avoid noisy wheelspin that makes you look like an obnoxious idiot. As a result, cars around me usually get of the line faster (Boston city drivers are incredibly aggressive) until I surge ahead once I’m sure that the tires are hooked up. This is particularly true when making a turn off of a stop. The traction control makes sure things never get out of control, but it can’t prevent screeching tires when you don’t want them. Accelerate carelessly in a straight line and you’ll also loose traction at about half throttle in first gear as the turbos kick in. On Boston's washboard pavement you can even loose it in second gear. None of this will happen if you remain calm and focused, but let the least bit of emotion into your driving and the traction control goes on.

Now I happen to like all of this because it’s a great feeling to feather the throttle right at the limit of adhesion, where you can just feel the rear end begin to squirm without the traction control light coming on as you accelerate. The extra power is great too: in the morning I love slowly edging up one of the sharply-angled entrances to Route 128 (horrible civil engineering in Boston) just as someone sails past at 80 MPH in the left lane. They’ll step on it as soon as they see me accelerating onto the highway, but regardless of what they do I’ll blast by them in the right lane a couple hundred yards down the road. What a trip!

My wife, on the other hand, constantly complains of whiplash when she’s the passenger, even when I am trying accelerate smoothly from a stop. And this is a woman who until a week ago drove a 911! As she points out, I have the advantage of being able to hold onto the wheel while she’s thrown around in the passenger seat. I’m sure some of the problem is my sophomoric driving style, but some of it is the car.

I fear these comments may turn you off of the upgrade path, but I want to present the downside honestly. Overall, I’m glad I did made these changes because they’re appropriate to what has become an over the top ultra-performance car. I would not want such sharp response in a lower performance car, which would be difficult to drive while not having the thrilling performance upside.

 

sillydriver- do you drive with the transmission in the comfort mode or the sport mode? Wonder if the comfort setting would eliminate some of the wheelspin. I keep mine in comfort mode when I am in the city.

The Bentley looks great by the way.

 

congratulations on your purchase. that body seems sculpted, not fabricated.

but each time i look at one down here in S FL -- and there are plenty to look at -- i notice no sunroof.

is there a sunroof available?

david

 

You're right: there is no sunroof or sunroof option. Must be that British weather.

 

I keep it in S for sport or standard. Renntech claims comfort mode is unmodified from the stock SL600. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison, but the throttle response is a lot softer in C than in S mode. Even with the risk of wheelspin, the S mode is more to my taste, which is why I'm still happy with the modifications.

 

if i had to guess about the reason for not offerring a sunroof option, i'd say it's to create a crystal-clear distinction between coupe and fothcoming convertible.

really too bad because that's about all the coupe is missing...other than distronic-like feature and some sort of door rubs to defend against profligate door-dingers. ;-)

david