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Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedans
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
If someone has better idea to use a particular product, please let me know.
Thanks in advance.
Question: some here have lowered the car with new springs. the other half would be to add stabilizer bars. What if just the bars were added? I don't care about cosmetic advantage of lowering (im sure it looks great!), but springs vs. stabil bars performance wise, what are the pros and cons of just doing one or the other??
This only happens in the morning and may have something to do with the car being cold.
I have read on the Owners I class site that they have many problems with the I class stalling and acting like the power is turned off. Has anyone had a similar problem with the I class?
According to the service tech, there is no longer a mechanical linkage and strangely the computer takes a little bit of time to make a decision to retard ignition, change fuel input and other things that used to be simple. It's annoying at times.
Good sound comes thru your ears,not thru your feet & that is where the factory system is located @ the base of the doors. Proper sound quality can never be acheived form this design.
Take a good look @ the A pillar. You will see a small metal grill. Also look @ the extreme ends of the dash & you will see grills. THERE ARE NO SPEAKERS IN EITHER LOCATION!!!. Even more interesting is that if you remove these grills there are mountings for speakers,but NOTHING IS THERE! This goes a long awy to explain the poor sound quality.
Also there are not 8 speakers in the system as advertised. Only 6!!. One pair of speakers are "dual cone" and therfore counted as being 4.
My salesman is pretty sharp did not realize this until I asked him to put his ear to the A pillar & hear nothing.
The remendy. Tore out the complete Bose system & the AM/FM/CASSETTE head. Mounted 3 way system in the dash/A pillar/door. Mounted a subwoofer in the rear package shelf(trunk mounted). Installed a new in dash AM/FM/CD player. In dash cassette without CD is stone age technology. Never missed the cassette.
NO PROBLEMS with any MB systems. Recommend that this type of upgrade only be done by a HIGH END installer who is used to working on HIGH END cars.
The 2000 and 01 versions with teleaid have speakers in the dash. They are for the teleaid.
I agree with alot of your opinion. I believe when bose tuned the interior they could have done alittle better. The speaker grill that is empty at the A pillar appears to me to be a vented port which does empty some mid range sound. At least that what my ear is telling me when I put it to the grill. I notice some higher sounds omit from there, but its very ambient, or sort of "surround" effect. While not as efficient as a tweeter, it does offer a smooth transition of sounds. To tear out system would disrupt the teleaide system. Some might not care, but it would permanently disable teleaide integration with the sound system. Also, the newer models have many controls on the steering wheel and changing head unit would also disable its (sound system) use. I think the bose system works well and gives a good result. The individual pieces are not as good as aftermarket, but I don't know if the end result is worth the trouble, and at a price of losing steering controls and teleaid. A likely upgrade would be to re-amp and respeaker but keep the head unit on 00' and 01' models. Those with phone or command would not want to lose those options either. I find the low end satisfactory with the two woofers in the rear deck. There are 2 ports that could take another woofer each. In the s class, they do have them filled with woofers. I do wonder if adding the additional woofer might be too much, throwing the system out of balance. Also the empty holes may allow for venting of low range back from the trunk. Personally I do not want a "thump mobile."
Changing the four hi-mid speakers could help, but it might become to bright with more effiecent speaker. I don't know the power supply ratings for the amps, and as you know one would need to make sure it works well together.
In all, I am satisfied with set up and realize that cost would weigh heavy in redoing the system. Adding to much brightness would leave a hole in the mid range. The bass level could be in need of upgrading, and then you have more costs. The thinking behind bose is to derive more from less.
As I said, I agree with most of your opinion but relative to the new models, there are other considerations. I also know they changed the head unit in either 99 or 00'. The amps and cd unit are hooked up via fiber optics. Its clean. I think that pre 00' models could benefit from your upgrade suggestion without losing other features.
By the way, what are you driving now?? Im sure it has a hell of a system for sound!
Good luck.
greasykid1 and bargammon -- I think I'm fortunate to be completely satisfied with the Bose audio in my '00 E320. After years of being exposed to jet engine noise as a fighter pilot (and the resultant hearing loss, which I've never noticed), I've been told not EVER to invest in expensive stereo equipment. So, the Bose system, to me, sounds terrific!
Stewart-spolet@aol.com
If you go back to Automobile Magazine's "Four Seasons"(don't know which issue from 1998 it was,but it had a yellow prototype of the new Beetle-summer issue?)report on the E320,they were quite dissatisfied with the steering and the ensuing wander. Overall,the were rather lukewarm about the car.
Each year,I've been expecting mention of a change in specification-there's been none.
Does anyone recall this article?Has this issue been resolved?
I realize that a 99 is likely to have lower mileage than a 97. But if I find a 97 with low mileage and it is in good condition would that be good.
I guess I'm looking for things like options, production problems, etc that may not be obvious to someone who hasn't followed the E class line since being redone in 1996.
The resettable mpg is on a separate page.
Or read the owner manual.
Have yet to take my 430 over 85mph. wallowing could depend on surface or if road is graded for rain falloff. In that, some roads are tilted. I think AMG has different springs and stabil bars than standard set up. If so, reviews would not be relevent.
Used 97-98-99??? 98 got new engine, 99 electronics upgrade. Read Edmunds for each year to understand. low milage 99's with starmark are expensive, but value is individual choice. The right car at a higher price is better than the wrong car cheap, and then spending on repairs. Don't want aggrivation to dilute your motoring experience.
I too have noticed a delay in "kickdown" with the accelerator pedal. In fact, the shift from fifth to fourth is instantaneous--so quick you can miss it. It is the further kickdown to third or second that is slow. I talked to the dealer about it and they said that if I remained unhappy with it, they could take me for a drive and reprogram it with a laptop. My solution in the meanwhile is the terrific click-left-click-right manual mode. I'll probably try the reprogramming at the next service.
On the high-speed stability issue, I think there are three very distinct problems. When I took delivery of my car, I was horrified at the stability at even 60 mph. My previous '93 300E was on rails, and stability actually improved with speed as the car squatted on the suspension.
The first of these three issues is the steering: it is too quick and the center position is poorly defined. It's as if the front suspension lacks caster. So, some of the "instability" is simply too much driver input. Try driving the car with one finger on the wheel and stability will improve. You can then learn to drive with a normal grip. This problem seems aggravated by small body movements in response to crosswinds which actually do not upset the tracking of the car. Learn not to respond to these.
The second issue is the wheel-tire combination. Changing the stock wheels for an AMG 17" wheel and the stock MXV-4 205-55-16 for a YOKO DB 235-45-17 has improved the tracking to the point that it is impeccable. This is the reason, I believe, that the E430 never received this criticism. With this wheel/tire combination, the high speed stability and steering response are excellent. I imagine that the shorter sidewall is largely the issue here.
Finally, the year 2000 "facelift" of this car has passed unappreciated. Everything from the base of the windshield forward is new, including a lowering of the engine in the chassis by about 3/4". This was done to lower the center of gravity and allow changes in the bodywork to improve the aerodynamics and high speed stability. It worked. Unlike the pre-2000 cars, the later ones squat with increased speed and are fine. Too bad MB took this long to deal with the problem.
My only final recommendation on stability would be to slightly stiffen the shock dampening. This would reduce the body twitching (in response to wind gusts) and the impression of instability that comes from this. When Bilstein has the heavy duty aftermarket units for this car, I'll replace them.
I might consider bondo on an 81 Benz, but not an 01... Insist that the other guy's insurance company cover the new rear quarter...
Don't miss the weekly MB Tuesdays chat at 6-7pm Pacific/9-10pm Eastern! All MB fans/enthusists/owners/potential owners are welcome to participate. Hope to see you there!
Click on the link below to enter the chat at the times above. Note that the link to the chat is always near the top of this page, just under the discussion topic title:
http://www.edmunds.com/chat/mercedeschat.html
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
Then, about six weeks ago, I upgraded to 17" 5-spoke E Style MB alloys and Yoko AVS dB 235/45-17 tires. With this change, I agree wholeheartedly with walto. Everything improved dramatically, even the appearance of the car, but especially the driving feel! Someone in this forum said recently that the E-Class was probably designed for the 17" wheel/tire combo, and to differentiate from the more expensive E430, the E320 was given smaller wheels and tires. I believe it.
Bottom line -- if anyone is unhappy with the handling of an E320, go for the 17" wheel/tire upgrade. It will make a world of difference.
TOPIC: Tues., May 22nd "Road Rage. What's up with that???"
Gas mpg was 20.5 before heat came and kicked on A/C. Penalty seems about 1-2mpg with it on. 6500 on my odometer.
Dealer reprogrammed my speed sensitive volume control so it does not drop off at low speed at low volume. Thanks to whom ever mentioned to me it could be done.
great comment on upgrade to 2000 model. It was deciding factor on my purchase as previously E class was not on top of my list. With model comming to its close and lots of inventory, these are great cars at great prices. Im sure many will want new model, but price and dependability will make it very attractive. My plan is wait about two years till bugs worked out of new model (IF any....) and the first round of upgrades. MB seems to work in 2 year cycles.
Two grades of Bose?? I have the E-2 package, but always thought it was bose or no-bose?
The warning has also been issued and, like Jason, I can't find anything not working. After a few days it's disappeared. Further on humidity, I've associated this also with rainy weather and wet roads. This area near the wheels seems susceptible to wet roads.
Once it really worked when the same lamp on the passenger side needed to be replaced, but I delayed looking and changing it due to the "crying wolf" problem.
When the system asked for front brake pads (at about 35k of mostly city driving,) I brought this matter to the service advisor.
In their efficient manner, they changed the lamp and charged it back to MB. In the few weeks since, I've not had the warning and both wet conditions have happened. Who knows, but, at least, the issue is in my service history as I'm losing my MB warranty at the end of the year. Haven't decided on a third party extension - I'm not Starmarked (obviously;) it was about 18 months old when I bought it.
For the record, I beleived the system when it called for brake linings, and I confirmed its requests for oil, coolant and blue washer fluid as well as the valid lamp failure. Glad to have those warnings.
On the new model, I'd offer the following. The parts manager at my dealer is a good friend, and if you want to know what's going wrong with cars, he's the one to ask. It takes MB three or four years to really iron out a car. They are not good at innovation, but they do plug along until they get it right. Look at the part nummbers. The last two digits are the revision number. On my 2000 E320, many of these are up in the 20's and 30's.
On the 320 vs. 430, I thought about it a while too. I decided on the 320 because I like the sound of a six better, and because of the mileage. My car regularly shows 27-28 mpg on highway trips in the 80 mph range. That's hard to beat. And the six has enough power to kill you any day of the week, especially with the beautifully integrated transmission/control unit.
A friend has had a CL500 for almost a year, and the car is filled with bugs, including a lot of software problems. The bad one is the computer sensing a failure of the ABC and shutting it down. The car flops around like a dish rag. The engine has to be shut down restarted to reset this and he's taken to putting it in neutral and doing this at highway speeds. Scary!
On the stardard tires and inflation pressures, I ran my original Michelin MXV's at 38 pounds all around. The ride was supple and it made the car behave a little better. Look at the sidewall, which shows maximum cold pressure.
One final question, on your 17" set up, what pressures are you using front / rear.
Thanks