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Newsletter No.012 New W203 C-Class, Air conditioning, MBCNSW website.

Please note that some of the links in this Newsletter may no longer be active as we update this site regularly
M.B Spares & Service
14 Lyell st Fyshwick ACT 2609 Ph (02) 6239 1099
Supporting Australia's Classic Mercedes-Benz Owners 
 
 
Newsletter Number 12
 
 
This weeks newsletter is brought to you in-between breaks watching the FAI 1000. I wonder how an E55 given the same preparation as the HRT cars would go? The big news for the week is the Australian launch of the new W203 C class. The press launch was held here in Canberra on the 9th of November. Make sure you check out the new C class site.
 
Anybody who is waiting for an e-mail reply for a parts request sent before Friday last will have to send it again. On Saturday morning Eudora crashed and I have lost 12 months worth of incoming e-mails. Hopefully my computer Guru can sort it out on Monday.
 
Site of the week.
 
A non car site this time. Have a look at this site. Obviously someone had quite a bit of time on their hands when they came up with this site. Type in your favourite site and check out the results. If you use http://www.mbspares.com.au/  the heading "What model is your car" turns into "Whut in tarnation model is yer car....
 
The new C Class.
 
Daimler-Chrysler are definitely chasing the BMW 3 series market with their marketing campaign to launch the new C Class. I have attached a "Flash" program that was sent out to everybody who signed on for the new launch. This, combined with the current advertisements airing on the TV that show a young lady leaving a Tattoo parlour and driving off in her new C Class to rendezvous with her male friend, is a fairly dramatic departure from the traditional style marketing style.
 
The Australian Mercedes-Benz site has a link to the new C class site with lots of great info on the new range of cars. There is also a cool screen saver to download, and colour changing program to help you pick the colour of your new car.
 
Pricing for the new model starts at $54900.00 for the C180 and rises to $99900.00 for the awesome C320. As mentioned in past newsletters the new Coupe version has been released in Europe and will land on our shores early next year.


Cars for Sale
 
Same problem as last week, except it has got worse. The 230E and 280SE arrived as expected, but the 280SE has already been sold. We didn't even get a chance to detail it before somebody drove up from Albury, paid the right money and drove it away. The 450SL has been finished and registered. Here are the details of the only two cars we have at the moment.
 
230E 1986 W124 sedan. Australian delivered car with some strange options. It has electric front seats with memory on the drivers side. This was an option usually fitted to 560SEL's. Also has electric window, cruise, power steering, etc, etc. Diamond blue with grey MB-tex trim. Travelled 206000kms with service history. $16990.00
 
 
450SL 1974 W107 roadster. Great car with an interesting history, only two owners with the last owner for 22 years. Silver with black leather trim. Both in excellent condition.  Both soft and hard tops, soft top is only four years old. $24990.00.
 
 
 
Is your Air Cold?
 
Summer is with us again and the amount of Air Conditioning work in our workshop has increased dramatically in the last few weeks. Air Conditioning systems should be serviced every three years even if they are still working OK. There is a filter in the system (much like the oil filter in the engine) and this needs to be changed. Also on the later models there is a filter to clean the air that comes into the cabin from outside that needs to be checked and replaced as required.
 
Older systems (pre 1993) need to be converted to run on R134a the new "Environmentally friendly" gas when they are serviced. The following is from the R123a site:
 
"Production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs or R12 gas) has been phased out.  Environmentally acceptable replacement compounds are therefore needed for use in existing medium and low temperature refrigeration applications.  Refrigerant R134a or HFC-134a was developed to meet these needs.   Refrigerant R134a or HFC-134a is a commercially available hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant for use as a long-term replacement for R-12 in new equipment and for retrofitting medium temperature CFC-12 systems.(1)"
 
There are quite a few of these new style gases on the market but R143a is the only one approved my Mercedes-Benz for use by there dealers. the retrofitting process is quite simple and can usually be done in approx one hour. Cost is $350.00 in GST on most models. Ring or e-mail our service manager to make a booking if your air is either not cold or needs a service
 
Photo Competition.
 
Here are the entries in the competition from the last newsletter. I hope we got them all we have some hassles this week with a motherboard burn out followed by Eudora crashing................
 
"The January sales were again well patronised this year....." David Jones
 
"Plenty of space available in our Car Park" The Burkharts
 
"All care but no responsibility taken by our fully trained & accredited parking lot attendants !!!!" The Burkharts
 
"Each in its rightful place". Stuart Maxwell-Wright

 
Given that they mostly look like Italian cars, Stuart Maxwell-Wright's final comment is quite possibly the most appropriate. However, I still like Michael's comment. Annual meeting of Women Drivers. (apologies to the female members of the list)Michael wins the dash mat or headlamp protectors. If anybody else want to send in a photo please e-mail it to me.

 
MBCNSW.
 
Greg Yates e-mailed me to let us know that the Mercedes-Benz club of NSW has a new website. Have a look here. It is still under construction so bookmark it and check back later to see on their progress.  As far as I can tell, the counter does not work, so don't pay any attention to it.