HKJay

So I'm doing 30 in a 25 and a jogger and his dog are paralleling me. Without looking, they decide to cross, about 5 feet short of the crosswalk that is not in an intersection. By the time I notice what they are doing, I take my foot off the gas and before I can hit the brake I realize I am through the crosswalk anyways. It was a wide street and they never came within 10ft of the car. Of course he still had some choice words he decided to scream at me as I sped off at 25mph. Through the f#$ks and c@##suckers, I was also able to hear him say, "you don't think crosswalks apply to you?!" Well, I do, obviously, but the general feeling I got from all this was, his hate for me was greater, due to the wagon. And that's not the first time I've experienced this in the last couple months. In the daytime on my street, I've had opposite direction traffic flash and honk because they think I am going to fast. And I'm still in break in procedures! In my commuter car, the S4, I keep the revs high and drive the hell out of that thing, and don't get nearly the amount of dirty looks and under the breath mutterings as I do in the E63. I will say, there are the small group of enthusiast I occasionally meet and commend me on the wagon, but as for the general public, they have preconceived notions, which are wrong, of who you are just by looking at the car. It also might have to do with the fact that we are surrounded by hippies, hipsters, and extreme left tree huggers up here. (not bashing anyone's political leaning, but c'mon, extremely far left or right, there both crazies.)

cnolke

My perception is that 99.9% of people think its just another (nice) station wagon. 1 in 1000 knows what it is, but very few voice it. It's even better to debadge. I don't need anyone thinking I'm fancy because of a big number on the back of the car.

In Europe, most old money (much older than even this country) tries very hard to avoid the spotlight. There's a pretty good lesson in that, I think.

Sorry about the incident with the crosswalk. There are a lot of people fighting their own battles out there. His wife might have left him last week for someone with a 2008 Mercedes E350 wagon

rediesel

I had this woman jump into the street waving both arms yelling at me to slow down. . .and when I looked at my speed I was going 20 MPH in a 25 MPH. The next few weeks I made a point to drive by her apartment as loudly as possible.

rory breaker

In any AMG or M car before this, I'd get thumbs up most of the time, with some hate sprinkled in.

In the E, it's very few drive by thumbs up, many "wow that thing is awesome!" In parking lots and gas stations, and many, many dirty looks w plenty of hate. Clearly something about the E as a yuppy, entitled, status symbol has folks assuming the worst about the driver. Where normal situations may result in a head nod or hand wave (such as switching lanes to get in before an exit) in the E, you get the opposite (speeding up to not let you in, etc). Unfortunate, but I'm not losing sleep, just an interesting observation.

CanuckE63

they probably hear the exhaust and assume $$$ more than anything else. almost no-one knows the potency of the e63 amg wagon.

faz492

I live out of town and to get to our estate is a wide open bendy road no traffic ever and on that road the speed limit is 55mph.
The housing fence regulation is literally like a country fence which holds horses in.
Whenever i get on that road I accelerate 0-55mph pretty quick and the amg does make a bit of a sound with black edition mufflers bolted straight onto stock with new flanges.
The neighbors have called the police to my house 4 different occasion that i have a "obnoxiously loud exhaust to annoy the neighbors" and each time police have inspected my car and noticed the exhaust was stock and all i said to them was *take it up with Mercedes not me i didn't make the car loud they did* and each time the police go across the road and tell the home owners its a stock pipe and each time they winge and winge and winge. Had a few times they recorded me and had police sit on that road and every time they complimented the car and said there was nothing wrong with it haha.

rediesel

^^^ Your neighbors are really self-centered. You have an exhaust to annoy them - wow.
I recommend you get a Harley-Davidson

sdg1871

Funny my E63 S sedan draws no attention at all other than the noise created by the Renntech sport mufflers. I like it that way.

otakki

Really friendly neighbors you have there, faz492. Mind sharing which part of the country or the world you are at so I can avoid it?

cnolke

I assume its the UK, but you can certainly come to Oregon and avoid all estate owners altogether . Even the local billionaires don't have estates. The Bagwan Shri Rajneesh once had an estate in Oregon in the 80's, but that didn't end well for him.

patrick_y

Advice to the original poster; 1, drive 25 mph, not 30 and nobody could fault you. FYI, in CA you can legally drive up to 65 mph in a any speed limit zone lower than a 65 speed limit (non school non construction) as long as the police doesn't think you're being dangerous; this is called BASIC Speed Law. 2, if you're ever in an accident, see if the pedestrian had both earphones in ear (pedestrians and drivers are supposed to only have one headphone so they can listen to traffic), then photograph everything and hire a good lawyer or have your insurance company hire a good lawyer. 3, If you don't think someone will break a window to get to it, have a dashboard camera installed (install it with no permanent alterations to the vehicle if possible).

Remember, if you hit a pedestrian, you're not always at fault. Pedestrians need to adhere to traffic laws too. If a pedestrian is distracted and gets hit and was not crossing in a crosswalk at a designated time, that pedestrian is at fault. Cyclists who are cycling through the crosswalk are crossing illegally. Joggers who jog through a cross walk are actually also at fault. A pedestrian has to be at a walking speed (5km/hr 3mph approx) and cannot be running or moving at an unpredictable speed. And just because they're in a crosswalk doesn't mean that they're in a "anything wrong I do is okay" zone.

A lot of pedestrians are very entitled. But few know crossing rules. For instance, in four-way stop sign intersections, pedestrians are actually required to adhere to stop signs in California and are supposed to stop and wait until it is their turn to cross the intersection. These ignorant pedestrians don't realize it, but they are sometimes the cause of an auto accident.

21950. (a) The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to
a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or
within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except as otherwise
provided in this chapter.
(b) This section does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of
using due care for his or her safety. No pedestrian may suddenly
leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path
of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.
No pedestrian may unnecessarily stop or delay traffic while in a
marked or unmarked crosswalk.

Last Tuesday 9PM, University Avenue, Palo Alto, California I had a green light, pedestrian on a cell phone walks into cross walk right in front of my vehicle. Totally ignorant and unaware that he was even entering the intersection. I actually rolled down my window and said he ought to be more careful (admittedly not in my normal melodic singing voice, but not more irritated than normal), the bloke had the audacity to yell back some profanity. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But nevertheless, society is going "kaplunk" and people are becoming increasingly selfish.

A week before that, another not-so-intelligent pedestrian is on his cell phone at a major Northern California airport in a designated crosswalk with two feet and his luggage 2 feet into the road from the curb. He's facing traffic but he's stopped. Legally, I have to stop and let him pass, but he's not paying attention nor moving forward. Is it a big deal? No. But certainly rude and ignorant behavior.

Entitled cyclists who cycle with no light at night, no helmet (a kamikaze act if you ask me), and on the wrong side of the road. How do the cyclists not know they have to go with traffic?

BUT!!! On the flip side... I drive a lot, but I also walk a lot too. And as a pedestrian, I too see a lot of drivers not following rules that marginalizes my safety. Fortunately, I have a good sense to avoid getting into these situations, by not having the mindset of an entitled pedestrian.

In conclusion: All drivers need to re-read the driver's handbook. But all pedestrians should read the driver's handbook too, so they realize what drivers are expecting. Maybe a pedestrian and cyclist handbook should be marketed. When you have an uninformed public, it's the government's job to educate them.

patrick_y

I concur. I doubt the pedestrian disliked the original poster for the kind of car the original poster drove.

A debadge in Europe means two things.
1. The car is a small engine size, and it's debadged to avoid embarrassment.
2. The car is a large engine size, and it's debadged for subtlety.

Funny possibility you mentioned! Hey, you never know!

patrick_y

But Faz, look at it from your neighbor's perspective. Maybe to them, your stock car at 5000 rpms is perceived as awfully noisy.

Not saying your neighbors are great people, but if you don't at least consider the possibility your neighbors have a point, then you are possibly, just possibly, being a little conceited. Just maybe a tiny bit.

faz492

I see where you are coming from, But like i said its a stock exhaust take it up with mercedes benz not me.
In the same scenario I don't call the police on them for having a loud ride on mower every saturday morning at 7am.
Cant help some things from factory just come with a bit of noise, both sides just have to considerate of one another.
The stock amg pipe might be slighty loud than a subaru legacy In the same fact at least I'm not driving like a lunatic or speeding and harming anyone's life.
I bring my car out once a week or a fortnight because it chews up a lot of fuel, Although my everyday car is just a 6cyl ford which is quiet as a Hybrid.


Now explain to me how i may be conceited.

faz492

Australia.

faz492

haha, sorry about the mix up.
In australia an estate is not a mansion or a massively big area for billionaires.
An estate in australia is what your neighborhood is called.
(eg. hey mate you live at thornsville estate? oh sweet thats right next to my estate maryville estate)
Its not a fancy rich place you live here ahha, EVERYONE lives in an estate in simpler words even if the land size is 980SQM or 1 acre.
Could be a little 2 bedroom house or a 5 bedroom houses like 200+ of them in the area and that area is called an estate which everyone lives in.
An estate is in a suburb, and a suburb is in a city.
But sorry if you had the wrong idea of what i ment by estate haha.
I;m having trouble explaining but yeah hope that helps.

jmg1848

thats no fun. SB seems so mellow/tranquil

I am always driver, are these things loud to pedestrians?

patrick_y

Definitely didn't say you were conceited. But just put yourself in their shoes.

Let's say you drove a Subaru Legacy. I don't know how loud a Subaru Legacy is, but it probably still makes some racket at 6000 rpms. And let's say you drove it aggressively every now and then at 6000 rpms. Your neighbors may still complain. Maybe, just maybe (I haven't met your neighbors) it's not the car that they're complaining about, perhaps they're complaining about the general behavior of what they think is rude and disturbing noises, stemming from substantial acceleration, and the complaint translates down to you as a noise complaint.

Again, I'm not pointing fingers, I'm just considering the possibilities.

I totally understand where you're coming from. And yes, I agree, nobody should have their lawn mowers on at 7AM on Saturday or Sunday morning. I'd be annoyed at my neighbor too. There are some neighborhood associations that ban Saturday/Sunday morning gardening with "heavy machinery" specifically because of noise issues where I live.

Maybe you will one day have a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Many perceive them to be noisy even when the rider is driving very slowly and non-aggressively. Maybe your neighbors would complain.

And who knows... Maybe your neighbors are just big complainers. Perhaps they'd complain if you had a silent electric car because they've got nothing better to do.

Rhetorical question: is it always the same neighbor complaining? Or is it more than one neighbor?

rediesel

It sounds like you did to me.

You need to put your self in Faz's shoes reading your comment, and consider the possible that he has a point....


Besides that Faz has shown ample consideration for his neighbors by demonstrating concern for and compliance with the rule of law, thus his regard for civil society. Faz's neighbors certainly aren't considering his point of view, his enjoyment, his rights, and wish to restrict him for their personal pleasure.

Chocofishez

I don't get any attitude because of the car.

I also don't get any hot heads trying to race. Way different than my C63 and M3s prior. Seemed like everyone wanted a piece of me in those cars.

The E63... nope. It gets an awful lot of respect on the street.

kart125

Same here. In the C i got looks everyday. In the wagon it happened maybe twice... I like it that way!

faz492

I understand where you are coming from and i do agree, I'm not a big fan of loud noisy cars or motorbikes, I'm getting to old :P haha (even though im 23).
Just one neighbor.
Australian law's are a bit different to America.

squid23

FWIW, my first thought about the OP's incident also was that sound was the trigger, not the wagon.

I mean a black E63 with the LED triangles might also do it, but the sound is more likely, IMHO.

HKJay

sorry to leave the thread hanging, but been out for a while. Appreciate all the responses and discussions. The feeling of the situation I described is hard to put to words. You kinda had to be there, but I definitely felt it was more about the car. Just the way he said it, and I don't think my wife in her Toureg would have gotten it the same. Also, not just that once either. You're right, I do get less people that want to race off a light than I did in a S4. But I also get more looks, positive and negative, in the wagon. I had a dad with his wife and young kid stop me the other day coming out of a restaurant and he saw my car seats in back, and we ended up talking for a while about the wagon. As I was getting in the car I heard him say to his wife, "hang on, you gotta hear this" Engine was still warm, so hopefully, I did not disappoint him. People like that make my day. It's fun talking to people who actually love cars. Although his guess on the engine was a v12 that put out 500 horse.
And also, for PatrickY, I must be reading your post wrong. I know you're not telling me that one can do 65mph on a city road that's posted limit is less, other than school and construction zones, without a serious chance of getting arrested. I know we have some lawyers here, but, even the best would have a tough day extrapolating that from the vehicle codes!

HKJay

I too, have never heard mine go by, I'm always driving it, so I don't really know how loud it is or what it sounds like coming up on me.