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Sedans High End Luxury Cars
24648 messages, Last post on Feb 17, 2009 at 11:03 AM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
Let's try to define this forum as being limited to luxury performance vehicles where the mainstream version in a typical configuration has an MSRP of at least $60k.
A luxury vehicle with a base price of $59k qualifies because it would typically be bought with some additional equipment, bringing the MSRP over $60k.
Vehicles like the E, 5, A6, M, or GS, even if available in certain versions over $60k, don't qualify because they are cars from companies that have higher end cars in their lineups.
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Replying to: tagman (Nov 13, 2006 7:00 pm) Yes the issues at the Bama plant go back to day one. I guess they're too deep to correct this time around. A shame really. One plant in Germany spits out the SL, S and CL, all shimmering in build quality and the Bama plant isn't anywhere close except for maybe the GL450. Hell if this new S proves to be reliable there will be no excuse as to why the ML, GL and R aren't. Mercedes knows how to build a reliable car, they did it for years. Someone, somewhere forgot that, but they seem to have remembered how to do so with the S (fingers crossed), but no one told the folks in Bama how to or showed them the best materials to assemble the ML and R with. M
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My theory has always been that they're purchasing a lot of things from the same suppliers that do business with Ford, GM and Chrysler. I've read where a lot of German suppliers opened up shop here back in 1998, but my nose told me otherwise when I sat in the first ML. The same smell and feel you get in a German made Benz simply wasn't there. Now the new generation Bama vehicles seem to be a mix of American and German suppliers by my nose. On thing I truly hate is that steering wheel. It screams cheap when you order it with wood and only one half of it is made of wood in contrast to every other Benz. I couldn't care two lugnuts about a wooden steering wheel in general, but if they're going to do one they could at least do it right. That 1/2 wood stuff was for Cadillacs and the like. Then there are the huge gaps between the buttons and the steering wheel hub, it reeks of American supplierism. See the gaps in this photo:  M |
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Replying to: merc1 (Nov 13, 2006 10:06 pm) |
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Replying to: merc1 (Nov 13, 2006 10:37 pm) We've all seen this before, when the steering wheel's hub uses the center axis as a pivot point, and therefore needs the "space" to move (push on side to side) the hub in order to honk the horn. The gap is by design, but there are alternatives that other manufacturers have clearly proven are less unsightly. TagMan
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Replying to: merc1 (Nov 13, 2006 10:37 pm)
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Replying to: merc1 (Nov 13, 2006 10:37 pm) It just doesn't belong in a vehicle starting slightly south of $60k. It's hard to say this, but the Escalade's(altho tilt only-MANUAL AT THAT!!) is more nicely wrought out. The whole IP is a bit uninspired to my eyes, but the use of materials and assembly are first rate. But as Tag eluded to, the steering wheel gaps are part of the function of the wheel, not a design flaw. But it is a cheapened way to get a better wheel to fully integrate the wheel controls and hub, like on most other high end cars. |
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Replying to: anthonyp (Nov 14, 2006 1:31 pm)
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Replying to: tagman (Nov 14, 2006 11:14 am) Well I think it is just plain poor (i.e. cheap) design. Mercedes does much better on their other models so there is no excuse for the R/M/GL steering wheel to look that way. M |
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