Newsletter No.090 2006 National Rally, new S class
Newsletter Number 90
8th July 2005
Welcome to the latest newsletter. In this edition we have the announcement of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz club rally, the new S class, confirmation of the new OZVETS forum, the hyphen explained and our usual line up of articles for you. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks John and Sandra Green.
2006 Australian National Rally of Mercedes-Benz Clubs in Canberra.
Every two years an exceptional experience comes around for lovers of the three pointed star. There are six Mercedes-Benz clubs in Australia that run a national rally on a rotational basis. The Mercedes-Benz clubs of the ACT and NSW are proud to announce that the 2006 national rally will be held in the national capital during Easter 2006. The rally is to be held in Canberra from the 14th to the17th of April 2006. This website is designed to help prospective participants by providing information on all aspects of the rally. As well you can find information on rally sponsors and supporters. M.B Spares & Service is one of the rally sponsors and host of the rally website.
Attendance of the rally is open to all members of a Mercedes-Benz club authorised by the parent club in Stuttgart, the Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Club International. If you are not a member please see the list on the website of authorised Australian clubs in the left margin
Also in the left margin you will find a list of links to help you navigate the site. The application form is available in .pdf format and plain text. Please use the .pdf format if possible. Also we would appreciate it if you could take the time to read the "Invitation to attend" first. I would strongly suggest that you book soon as this is bound to be a sell out event.
We will be updating the Rally program pages when the details come to hand. Please take the time to visit the rallies sponsors as without them the rally would not be possible.
If you would like to chat about the rally on line you can do so at the NSW club forum by clicking here.
New Forums.
The new OZVETS forum for Australian Classic Mercedes-Benz owners is now up and running at its new permanent home. The URL is http://forum.mbspares.com.au Here you will find a great community of like minded Mercedes-Benz fans to chat with. The forum is currently broken up into the various chassis styles so you can pick where you want post information to. Discussion is mainly aimed at models over 20 year old, however they have been known to discuss later model stuff as well. And as it is a forum you will only receive an e-mails to tell you about posts on topics you are interested in. To join the forum you will need to register by clicking here.
The NSW Mercedes-Benz club forum is also growing into a great asset for their club. You can link to it from their website main page. Once again you need to register to take part, however you do not need to be a member of the MBCNSW. The NSW club forum caters for anything and everything Mercedes-Benz.
Joke of the month.
A glossary of terms for 2005 - Essential additions for the workplace vocabulary:
BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.
SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.
CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles.
PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.
MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.
SITCOMS: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.
STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiney.
SWIPE OUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.
XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's work place
IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The O.J. trials were a prime example.
PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.
ADMINISPHERE: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to
the problems they were designed to solve
404: Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message "404 Not Found," meaning that the requested document could not be located
GENERICA: Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, subdivisions.
OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake
WOOFYS: Well Off Older Folks.
CROP DUSTING: Surreptitiously passing gas while passing thru a cube farm, then enjoying the sounds of dismay and disgust
New S Class.
Here is the press release from the new S class just released in Germany:
Generation-change at the pinnacle of automotive engineering: Mercedes-Benz presents the new S-Class. The new luxury saloon will be appearing in the showrooms of company-owned outlets and authorised dealerships as of spring 2006.
For more than five decades, the letter ‘S’ in the model designation of Mercedes cars has signified a special aura, intelligent technology and the highest quality. The new S-Class not only continues this tradition, but lends a new meaning to it. It is a technological pacemaker with its pioneering innovations for more safety, comfort and practicality, and like its predecessors it will influence the automotive development of the future. The saloon exudes this poise and assurance even at first glance. Its design emphasises the confident, powerful and elegant character of the new S-Class, which makes every journey an experience.
A dozen technical innovations are entering series production for the first time on board the new S-Class - from Brake Assist PLUS with radar sensors to seats with an extended massage function, from the night view assist system with the latest infra-red technology to the new COMAND system, and from preventive PRE-SAFE® occupant protection with additional functions to Parking Assist. The new flagship model by Mercedes-Benz is larger than its predecessor in every respect. There is a choice of two body lengths -- 5076 or 5206 mm - which is 33 and 43 mm, respectively, more than the previous S-Class. The wheelbase has increased by 70/80 mm to 3035 and 3165 mm, respectively. The body is also 16 mm wider and 29 mm higher than before.
New S-Class will launch in the UK with four engines - three petrol and one diesel - three of which are new developments by Mercedes-Benz. They generate up to 26 per cent more power and up to 15 per cent more torque. In addition to the 3.5-litre V6 engine with 272 hp (first seen in the SLK-Class), a new eight-cylinder unit developing 388 hp and a muscular 530 Nm of torque from 2800 rpm upwards will already be available. This new V8 will accelerate the S 500 from standstill to 62.5 mph in just 5.4 seconds.
The output of the 12-cylinder engine in the top-of-the-range S 600 has increased to 517 hp, while torque has increased by just under four per cent to a remarkable 830 Nm from 1900 rpm. As standard equipment, the V6 and V8 engines for the new S-Class are combined with the unique seven-speed automatic transmission 7G-TRONIC.
The new S-Class is replacing a successful series which has captured the top end of this market segment in every region of the world. Even in its last year of production the flagship saloon by Mercedes-Benz is the worldwide market leader among the world’s luxury saloons, with around 17,000 units sold world wide (as of May 2005).
Text/Photos: DaimlerChrysler
The hyphen?
Ever wondered why I type a hyphen between the word "Mercedes" and the word "Benz"? (ie: Mercedes-Benz) Well it is the official Mercedes-Benz way of doing things. There was a case a few years back of a high quality Paint and Panel shop getting a contract as an authorised Mercedes-Benz repairer and proudly ordering a new sign for the front of the shop at great expense. At the next visit from head office he was politely asked to pull it down as the sign writer had omitted the hyphen!
So does that mean that Daimler Chrysler has a hyphen?? No absolutely not! It is spelt with no space between the two words and a Capital for each so it is DaimlerChrysler!
Employment opportunity.
M.B Spares and Service is looking to employ another Automotive Technician (Mechanic) for our busy workshop. We are quite flexible as to how we employ someone, either an apprentice and a qualified tradesman, full time or part time. What is important however is the attitude of the person we employ. All the staff here at M.B Spares and Service are dedicated lovers of the three pointed star, in fact all but one of us drive a Mercedes-Benz! (and we are working on him!) If you love what you do and get enjoyment from it as well as a wage then everyone benefits. So if you or anybody that you know loves Benz's and would like to work with them please let me know. You can e-mail me direct or phone me on 0419 295 458 .
Cars for dismantling.
Recent arrivals for dismantling include the following:
W26 420SEL 1987 model, good mechanicals but a very poor interior, worse case of leather abuse I have ever seen. 15" alloys with two new tyres, all options.
W186 300b 1954 model, just a shell with chassis, no engine or drive train, all the glass and timber are intact. If you have a rusty 300b body this may be your answer as the body shell is one of the best I have seen for some time.
If you are interested in any parts from these cars please feel free to e-mail Murray Mules our Spares Manager or you can ring him on our toll free number 1300 787 300
Links of the month.
For all you amateur auto electricians out their, here is a link for you with all the official Bosch codes for a wiring loom. Or if you would like to save it here is a link to a zip files that will give you an excel spreadsheet with the same info. Thanks to the guys on the Vets mailing list for this one.
Want to squeeze a few extra horsepower out of your 350SLC or SL, or any other Mercedes-Benz for that matter?? It is a well known fact among engine tuners that engines run better on cold damp air. So sucking air from within the engine bay is not very efficient. Click here to see an example of one solution to this issue. The owner of the car is Greg Yates who is a long time member of the Mercedes-Benz club of NSW (currently Vice President) and very active member of there new forum. If you own a later model car you will see that Mercedes-Benz from about 1985 introduced this across the board to all models.
Ever wondered how many different Glanderwagons (G class) there are? Click on this link to find out.
Car sales have been brisk, the A160 and 300TD sold just as the last newsletter was posted, so sorry to those of you who enquired only to be told that they were sold. Diesel wagons are indeed popular but unfortunately we don't see many decent ones these days. Also sold is the 300SEL 3.5, the 300CE, the 89 model 260E, the 1994 E280 and we have taken a deposit on the 1959 300d limousine.
It is worth mentioning that the 300d will be staying here in Australia. We had a strong interest in this vehicle from overseas due to its amazing condition.
New cars into stock include a 2002 ML270 in Black with Black leather, pictures should be up in the next few days and a very neat W123 280E with plenty of options..
You will notice that there are no links to the cars that have been sold anymore! We have a system that when a car is sold where the page that advertised it is archived, not totally removed from the site. We can still access it but the general public can't. That way when we get a similar car it is just a matter of changing the pictures and some text rather than totally rewriting that page. However a change in the system has stopped us from showing you these archived pages and when you click on them you just get a blank page. We are working on restoring this function somehow so that you can see the cars that have been sold. This is an important function now that we have gone to a monthly newsletter as some times cars will be sold before the newsletter is published. Stay tuned!
You can check out all our cars for sale here:
New cars into stock:
Cars we have sold:
A160 1998 model
300TD 1981 model
300d Limousine 1959 model only 110000miles
260E 1989 model only 123000kms
E280 1994 model only 117000kms
300SEL 3.5 1972 model
Also in stock we have:
250 Long Wheel Base sedan 1982 model
So that's it for another newsletter. Hope you liked what you saw. If you have any ideas or want to contribute any articles, pictures or other material please e-mail me here. Also, don't forget that you can check out the old newsletters here
Thanks, John Green.