I think the word you want is “eminently” – meaning “very much so”

Damn! That one slipped though the net (so to speak).

Text amended. Thanks.

I think the word you want is “eminently” – meaning “very much so”

My grandparents have a 98 540i Sport, and while it will cruise quite nicely, it doesn’t seem as relaxed as the Mercedes. It’s wanting to be run hard.

All this talk, and I’ve had my eye on an 84 300CD TD refreshed coupe. I don’t think we can do an old Volvo 760 and an old Mercedes.

Take a look on mobile.de, there’s a company in the us that sells american BMW and Merc in Germany (through the Netherlands if i remember correctly). They are indeed quite cheaper but don’t forget to add extra €’s for their europeanisation.

FWIW We used to run the Italian autostrada at ~120 mph with a 90HP US-spec 1.8L VW Rabbit ‘vert (same as a GTI). Mpg? I have no idea but better than I expected.

I had to check to make sure I wasn’t accidentally re-reading the Cobalt review again. I thought Mercedes were built for people who actually pay attention to cars.

The lack of cupholders surprised me, too, but it must be a cultural thing; I’m sure the Germans would be equally horrified by our propensity for Super-Sizing.

Big time Europeans can do the same as long they have the Mula.

European cars have speedos that tend to exaggerate speed, especially in the upper ranges. I recall reading somewhere that the European version of our SAE, (DIN?) a group that sets various standards has a decree that the speedo may never under-read the actual road speed.

So, if it is possible to get a larger size tire on, even aftermarket, the car still cannot under represent the actual speed. Obviously the larger tire will cause a reduction in the registered speed due to an effective change in final drive ratio.

This was the reason that in most European car auto reviews, the indicated speed was typically higher that the actual speed. Much higher in some cases.

American and Japanese vehicles do not have this provision, so their speedometers tend to be spot on, though they, too may slightly over-read.

I think this was in Car and Driver some years ago, when a reader posted a question as to why a BMW review indicated a 12 MPH difference in the indicated top speed…

Kind of ironic that someone would propose “gray market” imports of German cars from to U.S. to Germany.

I remember when, 20 to 25 years ago, the strong U.S. dollar made it cost effective to gray market import German cars into the United States.

At that time, Mercedes and BMW didn’t adjust their prices downward to reflect the favorable exchange rate for U.S. buyers. No, they simply sat back and enjoyed the extra cash flow generated from the strong U.S. dollar, plus the tactic (of keeping prices high) allowed them to maintain an even greater cachet of exclusivity for their brands.

Today’s market is both competitive and filled with better-informed consumers, making it difficult for a manufacturer to keep prices high in an attempt to preserve a perceived brand image. That also points to a reason why it will be difficult – if not impossible – for a Cadillac, Lincoln or Chrysler to “move upmarket” with enhancements to product, image and price. It also doesn’t help when these brands have been cheapened for the past 50 or so years…

I have a good friend in Germany that would definitely be interested in a scheme like this if we found a way to pull it off

Mike never presented avg mpg or avg speed or top wrong. Cant say why people read him wrong.

Great review.

As for the mpg’s, that what we calculated on our return trip from Munich, where we averaged appx 55-60mph, with sprints up to 130 or so due to traffic. We calculated 40mpg overall based on Imperial gallons and what we used. Still pretty good IMO.

The top speed was achieved on the way back from the Alps, which allowed us a really good downhill run. We topped the governor, and due to me keeping my eyes on the road, my passengers reported a 260km/h reading. We soon backed off quickly even though it was very exciting, excitement tends to end quickly when meeting a tree head-on. On flat level ground, the Merc did a solid 130mph, no more.

And I’m working on my German, for a hopefully upcoming Italian assignment next year… where Martin Schwoerer and I will be bringing you more Euro Market reviews!

Horror stories about abysmal quality and stratospheric maintenance and repair costs kept me from going back for another. Hopefully Mercedes has exorcised its demons. Time will tell.

And the seats are still rock hard and uncomfortable, as is the norm with base MBs. And BMWs for that matter. The 3 looks better, or should i say less weird. Still, this is the least ugly of MBs new releases and facelifts. Which is a lot like saying one kind of horrible illness is a lot better than another.

And it costs 40.000€ with no options. Thousands more than a comparable BMW, and almost 9000€ more than the base 316. Not that i would pay over 30.000€ for a 316 either

As I’ve said before, US prices for cars are the lowest in the world, so everyone else subsidizes the US market. Germans would no doubt kill for a semi-loaded Merc C350 for the equivalent of 32K USD plus VAT!

I just went to the Daimler AG Germany website, and the car Mike drove is 31K Euros including tax at 19%. The C350 with automatic is 45,368.75 Euros including tax or about $58K USD before tax, so they cost about twice as much as in the US.

In the days before “free trade”, such pricing policies were known as dumping, which the Big 3 used as a criticism of Japan Inc.

Canadian price before tax starts at $47,900, so we get a sort of reasonable deal, but 32K USD is a giveaway.

That sounds about right on flat ground for a car with that hp. You can calculate out the theoretical top speed when all the power is used the cancel the drag force. For a Civic with ~140hp this comes out to around 130mph, so 133mph for the Merc seems reasonable.

I hope with gas prices going they way they are over here we’ll see more supercharged 4’s around here.