What got you into a Mercedes Benz?

[DREAMER NO2]

Well it would be an EV

 

[VitoVanMan]

Rover was the original company and started by actually making motor cycles before moving onto cars and Rover was an upmarket brand the government used Rover P5B saloons and Coupes these used the Rover 3.5l V8 all alloy engine that was based on the 215 Buick lump. Land Rover was a division of Rover before being split off Rover later was swallowed up by British Leyland then even later become MG-Rover the 75 was made under the MG-Rover brand which was actually owned by BMW during the 75's design which is why they have the M47 diesel engine and BMW Z axle rear suspension, brakes and alarm systems. The M47 supplied to MG-Rover was a detuned version only giving 113 bhp the 75 and the MG ZT version are FWD and not RWD despite having the BMW rear suspension the 75/ZT uses a JATCO 5 speed auto box with the M7 mounted transverse.

Land Rover was later sold to Fords then sold to Tata (Indian company)

You will find that Ford sold Land Rover to BMW in the early 2000's and Ford stitched them up, because BMW had to use Ford power train units for the first of the Third generation Range Rovers. I spent three months snagging the first 1000 production vehicles ready for the launch at the Paris Motor show. in 2001. Also as we were snagging the Range Rovers at Solihull, BMW were snagging the X5's which had similar components to the Range Rovers, when the Germans found faults on X5's we had to rectify on Range Rover and vice versa Range Rover faults were rectified on X5's.

 

[Srdl]

You will find that Ford sold Land Rover to BMW in the early 2000's and Ford stitched them up, because BMW had to use Ford power train units for the first of the Third generation Range Rovers. I spent three months snagging the first 1000 production vehicles ready for the launch at the Paris Motor show. in 2001. Also as we were snagging the Range Rovers at Solihull, BMW were snagging the X5's which had similar components to the Range Rovers, when the Germans found faults on X5's we had to rectify on Range Rover and vice versa Range Rover faults were rectified on X5's.

I believe BMW never wanted Land Rover for the long term but they just wanted to get their hands on the 4WD technology. Having got that, they then sold LR to Tata.

 

[Hotspur]

Since they bought Land Rover though you have to admit - the X5 story has been a pretty blinding success - selling between 2 - 3 Million vehicles, and that doesn't include the hugely popular X3, X4, X6, X7, X1 and X2 vehicles...we have had 2 and they are great cars.

 

[Plezier]

Since they bought Land Rover though you have to admit - the X5 story has been a pretty blinding success - selling between 2 - 3 Million vehicles, and that doesn't include the hugely popular X3, X4, X6, X7, X1 and X2 vehicles...we have had 2 and they are great cars.

Just goes to show that you can actually fool a lot of the people.

 

[ChrisMisc]

When I was 26 I got my 1 years no claims bonus after driving a Vauxhall Corse 1.2l so I was looking for a better car. My friend who was a Royal Marine mentioned to me he was selling his Black SLK 200 year 2000 which had been sat on his Marine base for the last 6 months doing nothing as he had been around the world. He offered it to me for a cut price of £2000 back in 2014.. which was a steal for that mileage and condition. He even let me pay him in installments of £400 per month.

That summer I was driving around with the roof down feeling on top of the world. I've never looked back. In 2020 I bought an SLK 250d coloured Black. And on Monday I just bought a 2016 facelift SL 500. I love Mercedes!

 

[Rexhsu2001]

I bought my first Mercedes Benz SUV because it's my one dream. Also, believed it provide my family a safety driving.
As it is 10 years old, I am doing lot of study about its replacement part. Look like there are many components to be replaced. Hopely, it will become a SUV I expected after maintenance/repairing.

 

[JoeHorner]

Just realised that, nearly 2 years in, have never answered this question. So....

My partner has an auto-only licence, and we tend to run older cars (mine's a '93 E35 525TD). That kind of limits options for replacement when needed, especially if you're in a hurry.

Back in 2022 She had a Daewoo Tacuma which she likes (but was absolutely pants). One day we got a knock on the door to be told local farmer had run into it with a combined harvester - and then just driven off.

Cosmetically the damage didn't look bad. A bit of a dent by the N/S/R wheel and a missing door mirror but, turning it on, dash was showing an ABS fault. Probably just a damaged sensor at that wheel but insurance wrote it off.

So, the hunt was on and (jokingly) I suggested a C270CDI which was showing on Facebook reasonably locally for £700, 13 months MOT, as a stopgap. She took my joke seriously so off we went to look.

MOT was pretty obviously blind-tester territory but no serious rust, it started, steered, and stopped (with a bit of vibration) and figured 13 months ticket gave time to sort stuff. Plus, she absolutely loved it.

So here we are, nearly 2 years later, the only outstanding jobs are aircon, front drop links, and some bodywork tidying with by far the most comfortable and economical car we've known

 

[rider_mustafa007]

My journey with Mercedes started when I entered the chauffeur business. I needed cars that clients would find comfortable, reliable, and presentable. My first was a W211 E-Class. it did the job well and showed me what Mercedes really offers.

Now we have several Mercedes in our fleet, including the E-Class (W213), S350d, and V-Class for group transfers. Personally, I drive an E-Class AMG Line, which handles both work and city driving perfectly. Have other brands too, but Mercedes continues to deliver the right balance of comfort, performance, and client appeal.

 

[Not_Anumber]

A rather tatty late 60's W108 280S in pale blue with fishbowl headlamps and MB tex interior. Bought from a colleague as a restoration project as it seemed a neat idea at the time, it needed more work than expected but ended up quite a good albeit stately thing to drive. A few years later I inherited some money and bought a R107 500SL which was a pretty good car to waft around in and overlapped with an old W126 280SE for work trips. For some reason I sold them both to get a W124 300CE-24 coupe, then was ofered an early and rare W210 3.6 litre 6 pot AMG which was a very good car. A change of work and I bought a W124 300TE-24 estate from an MBOC club member, sold that and bought a nice W126 500SE from another. With longer work trips needed a W202 200 petrol estate seemed a good idea at the time but failed to float my boat and was replaced by a W210 E320 cdi estate (nicer all round). Then a bit of a gap to my S212 E350 cdi estate and a brief daliance with a W166 ML 350 bluetec that i didnt really like so promptly bought the S212 back.

 

[Malcolm Johnson]

In the 80's went through Ford & Opels
in the 90's Citroen xm, 528, Audi 100 quarto (3 child seats in the Back)
in the 00's rover sterling. 2004 W220
teens second w220 , 2012 R230 SL500, 2015 W221
stopped working 2018. keeping R230 and W221.
Just like them, not a good financial decision.

 

[DREAMER NO2]

MONEY .For my first one W123 Second one W124 was a gift .

 

[SL63 Mark]

MONEY

I think that would have to be true for all of us

Looks like I replied to this thread four years ago, but here is a quick update.

Our first two Mercs were fleet cars, company cars back in the 2000s. The first was a 2003 C220 cdi, the second was a 2007 CLK 320 cdi.

After that it was AMGs, because I like the bonkers performance. A 2004 SL55, and currently a 2016 SL63 AMG.

Hope that is helpful.

 

[dwarfer]

How did I come to mercedes, well i worked as a tech years back, been through 47cars of my own , last was range rover vogue, soo tired of their problems and thought I better by benz..

 

[Harry Good]

Started in 1987 mainly because SWMBO enthused over them. Got a W124 250D, partly for economy and partly for the caravan. Drove all over Europe including Portugal and piled up quite a mileage, 500,000 kms in all. Sold it when I retired along with a classic and regretted it. The people who bought it piled on a lot more mileage and I offered to buy it back but he forgot the offer and scrapped it. Went through a variety of other marques until buying my C220 CDI which is currently having a heavy overhaul at 93,000 miles.

 

[fastboats]

my first car after passing my test at 25, was a Vauxhall Corsa, 1.4l. I eventually upgraded to a beautiful panther black, Audi S3 8v, and fell in love with the Audi brand.

I had a great time with the S3, fast, quattro, great in the wet, and the hatchback has a decent sized boot.eventually, 2 or so years later, i switched to a fully loaded Audi S5 b9 coupe. Pan roof, rear sports diff, massage seats, and loads more optional extras. a beautiful car, that i had for 5 years, before it was written off a month ago.

The search for a new car began with Audi again. I couldn't find anything to satisfy by bug for a fast saloon within my budget of about £33k. so i had no choice but to start looking elsewhere, and i'm so glad i did.

eventually i found a 2018 E53 saloon, premium plus, and bit the bullet. It comes with a 2 year warranty from the main dealer, which gives me some peace of mind. although, at the end of the two years, the car will be more than 9 years old, and that excludes me from being able to extend the warranty.

it's my first mercedes, and i'm thouroughly enjoying it.

unfortuantely, i think Audi post 2019, have completely lost their way. cheap interiors, and bad design.

 

[Srdl]

Welcome - glad you saw the light eventually!

 

[Ron240]

I eventually upgraded to a beautiful panther black, Audi S3 8v, and fell in love with the Audi brand.
unfortuantely, i think Audi post 2019, have completely lost their way. cheap interiors, and bad design.

I bought a brand new S3 Saloon Black Edition in May 2018 in the best colour of Ara Blue.
It was a fantastic car...fast and firmly planted to the road in all weathers.
It wasnt until 2021 that I bought a car that could compete with it, a CLA 35 Premium in another beatiful colour of Sun Yellow. This was when the yellow was an AMG exclusive colour.
Both cars had their plus points, but the gearbox in the S3 was without a doubt better than the CLA.

I do agree with you about the current Audis...far too much black plastic at the front, and the S3 doesn't even have an S3 badge on the grille anymore.

 

[ALFAitalia]

When I was selling new VW and Audi (from 1978 to 2002) in Chichester I took in a Mercedes 450 SE W116 in Brown just like the one below. It only owed the company a long note so I bought it......ran like a bag of nails....so I took it off the road to fix the M117 4.5 that powered it.....it was NOT fast...at only 222 hp...and handled like a pig on stilts .....but there was something about it. I fixed her up, polished the flat brown paint and smoked her about for a year when I was not in company cars....just as well it was not my daily as I was only about 25, it cost plenty to insure and only got about 15 mpg running about. I sold it for about £3000 IIRC........but that got me into MB....but it was a while before I had another. The seats however......truly terrible. brown hard velour that spiked you through a shirt!..... completely flat with no side support for cornering at all....and they honestly were so still that they felt like they had been stuffed with cardboard.....Id have another tomorrow though......just not in brown.....and with normal cloth or leather!!!

 

[fastboats]

I bought a brand new S3 Saloon Black Edition in May 2018 in the best colour of Ara Blue.
It was a fantastic car...fast and firmly planted to the road in all weathers.
It wasnt until 2021 that I bought a car that could compete with it, a CLA 35 Premium in another beatiful colour of Sun Yellow. This was when the yellow was an AMG exclusive colour.
Both cars had their plus points, but the gearbox in the S3 was without a doubt better than the CLA.

I do agree with you about the current Audis...far too much black plastic at the front, and the S3 doesn't even have an S3 badge on the grille anymore.

The piano black is absolutely horrendous. The new steering wheels look like they belong in a Kia. it's all just so awful. which is such a shame, because Audi were really onto something exterior and interior wise in 2017 with their b9 platform.