When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Rafael Dobler. I got to meet him during my AMG factory tour. He has been working for AMG for 3 years. Before that he used to build Renault diesel freight truck engines. Quite a change!
I took a picture with him, but obviously don't want to post a pic of him w/o permission.
Good to know your engine badge isn't perfectly centered either... Mine is a bit too far left
Lots of them are. I found my 6.2 E63's builder on there.
If you search the Affalterbach hashtag I think you an find a bunch of them. There are a dozen of them following me too.
The builder is also expected to follow the specs of the engineers who designed these engines. Hence the head bolt issues. I am sure the "one builder" decided to not torque the head bolts to the right specs, etc.
I wish I could read my builder's name, my plaque is so faded.
05 SL55, 10 C63, 12 SLK3, 20 S560, 08Bentley GT Speed, 16 Aston Martin Vanquish
I have three AMG cars a C32,a SL55,and aE63 have never had a problem with any of them. All have been and still are great cars that have been a pleasure to have in my collection.
I had had a few AMGs and have never had an issue with any of the engines. It would be a nice statistic to see, however I am sure they are all within the same strict requirements, remember this is Germany not Detroit. I would be afraid to see the list if it was Ford building engines. They probably allow for certain tolerances/deviations on Friday afternoons and Monday mornings lol.
Calling them 'hand built' is quite a stretch. There are a few videos on YouTube and most of the 'builder's' work is moving the engine from station to station. Doesn't look overly intensive.
Calling them 'hand built' is quite a stretch. There are a few videos on YouTube and most of the 'builder's' work is moving the engine from station to station. Doesn't look overly intensive.
I had had a few AMGs and have never had an issue with any of the engines. It would be a nice statistic to see, however I am sure they are all within the same strict requirements, remember this is Germany not Detroit. I would be afraid to see the list if it was Ford building engines. They probably allow for certain tolerances/deviations on Friday afternoons and Monday mornings lol.
You will be surprised at how good quality control is at Ford. Ecu and engineering is quite up there too. They are one of the few car manufacturers who do not have a widespread issue with gunking the intake valves on DI engines without secondary port injection. Their ecu processors capacities are right up there with MB and sometimes surpass the Germans.
Interesting videos... It's all Greek to me, other than the Japanese flute and narration it seems the guys are doing very similar tasks, I'll take your word for it that the four gt-r builders have more hands on time with the engine... Certainly seems they have more of a spiritual connection with it in the least
Here is mine, Knock on wood 57000 miles and no issues, been tested for the head bolt issues, none. But she does eat over two quarts of oil between changes. Overall I am very happy.
Last edited by screw991le; May 25, 2016 at 12:06 PM.
2020 C63S, 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, 2018 Nismo GT-R
Originally Posted by CliffJumper
Lol, I don't drive that much either, but and I know your cars are modified, but 17k miles is a drop in the bucket. I'd hope even a "kid off the street" could build an engine that lasts 17k miles with MB's engineering process. (Hope you don't take this the wrong way b/c I've found several of your posts extremely useful during my 6+ months of research before buying this car)
My parents' cars (all Toyota/Lexus-based cars) have 350k, 250k and 175k miles with simply routine maintenance (oil, spark plugs, timing belt). Obviously, I don't expect AMGs to last that long with as little maintenance, but it would be nice.
For AMG cars, I wonder if engines built by "Klaus" only average 125k miles while engines built by "Stefan" average 250k miles.
you can’t compare lexus to Mercedes’ (especially AMG) precision, technology, innovation and more importantly PERFORMANCE. Also my parents 1992 500SEL is still running strong with a little over 847k miles. They’ve had that car since before I was born and they met when my mom arrived to the states from Japan.
Owly I know and thanks for that info but I already knew that the engines that Mercedes makes for Nissan and Infiniti are not hand built. It’s not necessary for Nissan or Infiniti since they are considered entry level cars including the gtr. The strategy behind hand assembling the gtr’s engine is to be able to justify the cars price, but even with that they still can’t manage to sell them for their msrp for several reasons mostly being the fact that A. It’s only a Nissan and B. There are cars out there that cost $100k and they can embarrass the gtr. 💁🏻♂️
Last edited by Yoshi Tanaka; Aug 29, 2022 at 12:10 AM.
Nissan copied their hand building methods from Mercedes’ AMG division. Except AMG had way more hands on time and involvement with the builder where the gtr goes through stages with various technicians and bug the way they are assembling “by hand” large components many made by machine so in actuality they are piecing together parts largely 3D printed.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
(Hope you don't take this the wrong way b/c I've found several of your posts extremely useful during my 6+ months of research before buying this car)
