Mercedes Benz Car Reviews: AMG, S, SL, C, CL, CLK & E Class

Review: 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster

By Chuck Goolsbee
June 25, 2009

Summer 2005. My plans for a Vintage Car Rally Vacation evaporate. Rebuilding a very poorly rebuilt engine vacuums funds allocated for the purpose out of my wallet. What started as an odd knock became a horror show. My fussy ex-pat Yorkshireman mechanic in Chilliwack, B.C. removed the head and found the forensic remains of a car-related massacre not seen since Pol Pot rode around in his '73 Mercedes. Just when I had given up on my dreams of a vintage vacation, the phone rang with an offer to co-drive an event in what many have called the world's first supercar: the Mercedes-Benz 300SL. I accepted the offer faster than Mr. Fangio could frustrate Mr. Ferrari.

Review: 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster continued »

rating summary and performance review: 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster

Posted in Car Reviews | Mercedes-Benz | 22 comments

Review: 2010 Mercedes E-Class Coupe

By Jay Shoemaker
June 17, 2009

I was expecting to dislike the new E-Class Coupe from Mercedes. AMG versions aside, the outgoing CLK was about as interesting to drive as a Toyota Solara, and Mercedes has already announced that there would be no AMG versions of the new car. From the early photos of E-Class Coupe, I had already determined that the large glass sunroof with its meager mesh sun protection would curry little favor with me, and the little rear quarter window spoiled the look of this frameless coupe. To make matters worse, the 2010 E-Class Coupe's engines are carryovers from the CLK. Mercedes claims our fuel quality isn't suitable for the new direct injected engines offered in Europe. (Translation: the US is a dumping ground for some old engine inventory.) The E-Class nomenclature is another sleight of hand, as the chassis is still derived from the C-Class. Harrumph.

Review: 2010 Mercedes E-Class Coupe continued »

rating summary and performance review: 2010 Mercedes E-Class Coupe

Posted in Car Reviews | Mercedes-Benz | 19 comments

Used Review: 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI

By Jack Baruth
March 9, 2009

My experience running the 2005 One Lap of America in a Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16/ had left me more than a little cynical about the event. The fantasy of running the "modern-day Cannonball" had been eclipsed by frustration with the quasi-time-trial, horsepower-obsessed reality that is OLOA in the modern era. Still, the competitive disease from which both I and my co-driver Brian suffered meant that we wanted to "win" the thing before we left Brock's Big Parade for the greener pastures of real wheel-to-wheel racing. Enter former radiologist and current Mercedes-Benz tuner Satish Tummala, owner of Motorwerks in Detroit.

Used Review: 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI continued »

Posted in Car Reviews | Mercedes-Benz | 42 comments

Comparo: BMW M3 vs. Audi RS4 vs. Cadillac CTS-V vs. Lexus IS-F vs. Mercedes C63 AMG

By Mike Solowiow
February 23, 2009

M, RS, V, F, AMG. The alpha alphabet represents five manufacturers' best efforts to create something unique, exciting and memorable from their more prosaic mainstream motors. The resulting "performance tuned" sports sedans are so powerful, so capable, so versatile, that they're the ground based equivalent of the all-weather fighter jets that battle for control of the skies. While the shibboleth "there's no such thing as a bad car" applies here, there are always going to be winners and losers. And it's our job to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Comparo: BMW M3 vs. Audi RS4 vs. Cadillac CTS-V vs. Lexus IS-F vs. Mercedes C63 AMG continued »

Review: 2010 Mercedes GLK 350 4Matic

By Michael Martineck
February 3, 2009

The ad for the new Mercedes GLK is targeted straight at owners of MB's ML and GL SUVs. After all, the new GLK gives you the "same innovation in a smaller design." Same agility. Same suspension. Same luxury. Same depreciation (my add). So, why bother paying more for one of Mercedes' more much macho trucks? Sure, this baby brother routine hurts the automaker. The Nissan's Rogue's Murano-i-cide is but one example where a new, smaller vehicle robbed Peter to pay Paul less. But that's the way it is. In Bailout Nation's new era of hunker down austerity, downsizing is almost as fashionable as having a job. Big ticket buyer meets smaller ticket price on the dark side of town. The carmakers must figure that what they lose in profit they'll recover in volume. Ask GM how well that works. In that sense the Mercedes GLK is a born win - loser. Or is it?

Review: 2010 Mercedes GLK 350 4Matic continued »

rating summary and performance review: 2010 Mercedes GLK 350 4Matic

Posted in Car Reviews | Future Vehicles | Mercedes-Benz | 36 comments

Review: 2009 Euro Wagon Shootout: BMW 535xi Wagon, Mercedes E350 Wagon, Volvo XC70 T6, Volkswagen Passat 2.0T Wagon

By Alex Dykes
December 22, 2008

Station wagons, or “estates” as they are known across the pond, occupy that strange place in the auto market between SUVs, minivans and sedans. On the surface, wagons promise the holy grail of cargo schlepping and fuel sipping. But they're not as sexy as a sedan, not as practical as a modern crossover and they can’t haul as much crap as a minivan. In the new world “station wagon” brings up PTSD style flashbacks of 1970s Country Squire wagons with a roof-rack and eight kids in the back on the way to summer camp, 8-track blazing, and your dad at the helm wishing he had a terrier and a 240Z instead. Thankfully, this is not your dad’s Oldsmobile Customer Cruiser. For this comparo we’ve selected the BMW 535xi Wagon, Mercedes E350 Wagon, Volvo XC70 T6 and the Volkswagen Passat 2.0T Wagon.

Review: 2009 Euro Wagon Shootout: BMW 535xi Wagon, Mercedes E350 Wagon, Volvo XC70 T6, Volkswagen Passat 2.0T Wagon continued »

2008 Mercedes-Benz C180K Review

By Mike Solowiow
July 30, 2008

Engineered like no other car in the world. At some point in the 90's, Mercedes dropped their longstanding ad campaign. And no wonder. The promise had become a snigger-worthy ironic joke. That said, it stopped being funny when it started being you making regular pilgrimages to your local dealership. Mercedes trumpets its new C-Class as a return to the legendary, over-engineered cars of Mercedes-Benz's past. Heading straight to the very bottom of the range, will the cheapest and most basic of all "true" Benzes right 15 years of wrong?

: Ovoid no more

: No bling here

: Restrained, yet classy

: Just what you need, nothing more

2008 Mercedes-Benz C180K Review continued »

2008 Mercedes-Benz C180K rating summary and performance review

Posted in Car Reviews | Mercedes-Benz | 55 comments

2006 Mercedes AMG S65 Review

By Jay Shoemaker
July 23, 2008

$One man\'s loss is another man\'s gain$ America has the hots for hybrids. On the flip side of high gas prices, the value of any vehicle with fuel economy below 20 mpg has collapsed. Brand new "gas guzzlers" sit on dealer lots collecting incentives, rebates, finance deals and dust. The price of used fuel-suckers has dropped by 25 percent in the last four months, and THEN the rest. This is the perfect time to shop for a twin-turbo twelve-cylinder behemoth.

: Feels as classy as it looks

: One man's loss is another man's gain

: Two turbos, no waiting

: The next time you see it, it'll be a gray blur in your peripheral vision

: It doesn't look that fast....

2006 Mercedes AMG S65 Review continued »

2006 Mercedes AMG S65 rating summary and performance review

Posted in Car Reviews | Mercedes-Benz | 50 comments

2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Review

By Justin Berkowitz
May 21, 2008

With all this media talk of a gas electric plug-in hybrid clean diesel hydrogen fuel cell future, someone forgot to tell Mercedes that the horsepower war is over. Sure, the new BMW M3 has a 414hp V8, trumped by the Audi RS4’s 420hp eight pot. But who gives a shit? The new automotive arms race: building and selling enough small, high-mileage, low-profit vehicles that various government agencies will let you sell large, low-mileage, high-profit vehicles. Meanwhile, the Mercedes C63 AMG.

2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Review continued »

2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG rating summary and performance review

Posted in Car Reviews | Mercedes-Benz | 44 comments

2008 Mercedes-Benz GL 320 CDI Review

By Jay Shoemaker
April 18, 2008

I flew into Los Angeles with aspirations of driving something powerful; I had visions of some mighty motor displacing six liters or more. Anything with the letters AMG on the back would have suited me just fine. Instead I was staring at a gigantic Mercedes GL 320 CDI. That's CDI as in "diesel." I reckoned it was going to be a long drive to San Diego. I reckoned wrong.