Luck getting worse

[450SE]

The 450SE is in the panel shop being repaired after somebody hit it in the wee hours of the morning a few weeks back. After speaking to the panelbeater this morning, I am not holding my breath to have the car back before Friday 10/7, at the very earliest. Considering it went in 22/6, I hope they are doing a super job...

I'm down to the 380SL & the CLS350 in the meantime. Well, that was until this afternoon!
The 380SL was sideswiped in the local high street.
The pysical damage isn't terrible, but it does look a bit of a mess - a shallowish dent running the length of the passenger door & the panelwork between the door & wheel arch, replacement of door & body rub strips required, but it will require a respray along 3/4 of the length of the passengers side (door, rear guard). Although, the silver paint does look good in contrast to the Diamond Blue. NOT.

Worst of all, the dog of a woman driving the other car drove off!! (Just like the 450SE!!) Her registration was noted & it is now in the hands of the police.
Photos to come sometime tonight...

Thank God the CLS is still sitting in the garage, fuelled up & ready to go! LOL

 

[Styria]

The 450SE is in the panel shop being repaired after somebody hit it in the wee hours of the morning a few weeks back. After speaking to the panelbeater this morning, I am not holding my breath to have the car back before Friday 10/7, at the very earliest. Considering it went in 22/6, I hope they are doing a super job...

I'm down to the 380SL & the CLS350 in the meantime. Well, that was until this afternoon!
The 380SL was sideswiped in the local high street.
The pysical damage isn't terrible, but it does look a bit of a mess - a shallowish dent running the length of the passenger door & the panelwork between the door & wheel arch, replacement of door & body rub strips required, but it will require a respray along 3/4 of the length of the passengers side (door, rear guard). Although, the silver paint does look good in contrast to the Diamond Blue. NOT.

Worst of all, the dog of a woman driving the other car drove off!! (Just like the 450SE!!) Her registration was noted & it is now in the hands of the police.
Photos to come sometime tonight...

Thank God the CLS is still sitting in the garage, fuelled up & ready to go! LOL

Thank God the CLS is still sitting in the garage, fuelled up & ready to go! LOL

With your luck being what it is, it may well be best to leave the CLS350 in the garage. Mind you, bring it to Sydney Town, and I am sure we can find the odd bod' to look after it for you ! Regards Styria

 

[Styria]

....and BTW 450SE, trim strips for the 107's are an arm and the odd leg or two. From your description, $4k. would not be an unreasonable price to put the 'baby' back to the condition prior to the accident.

Just as a matter of interest, has anyone managed to pin a guilty party to the accident with your 450 ? It is obviously being repaired, so I assume you have managed to come up with some sort of compromise/deal. If you do not wish to elaboarate, I'd fully understand. Regards Styria

 

[450SE]

You know Styria, the 450 has truly surprised me.
I've wanted one for as long as I can remember & since picking it up, the CLS may as well have become a large paperweight in my garage. Although the CLS is superior in virtually every respect (technology, safety, ease of driving etc) to the 380 & 450, I get such a joy from driving those older cars that the factors of aged related inferiorities pale into insignificance. I can't help but feel at times that the CLS was designed, engineered & built by computers without a fraction of human input.

For that reason, the 380 was the chariot of choice yesterday afternoon.
Only earlier in the day, the 450's panelbeater tried to chastise me for daring to use that car on a semi-regular basis - in case it was involved in a frontal impact, in which case a relatively minor impact could see it written off due to cost to repair.
I could see & understand his point, but my theory is that if you have a nice dinner set, you ought to use it & get enjoyment from it. If it happens that one day a bowl or saucer breaks, you find a replacement & move on...

Unfortunately, my theory was put to the test yesterday afternoon & I found myself awake late last night when I should have been asleep, wondering if the 380 & 450 should, indeed, be wrapped in cotton wool & only brought out on special occasions or nice, sunny weekend afternoons...



Thoughts, opinions or experiences, anybody??

 

[B13]

I drive my 6.9 daily. Your panel beater would freak out.

Its been mentioned here before and on various other MB sites, these cars need to be driven regularly. The more complex the car to more important to keep it on the move.

Just my 2c worth.

I.

 

[Lukas]

Sorry to hear about your now 2 crumpled old Mercs.

My registered 6.9 is on H plates, so I can't use it as a daily driver (not that I use a daily driver), but when I do take it out I have no issues with traffic, rain, dirt roads, etc. I figure that stupid drivers are everywhere, so if they're going to get you, then they're going to get you - the best you can do (apart from Shannons) is try to avoid them. Being a 6.9, the loud pedal is another avoidance mechanism

The point for driving the cars is to enjoy them, so if you can't enjoy them you may as well sell them.

My only real concern is leaving the cars parked in dubious areas - as they lack immobilisers and only have basic manual door locks and ignitions, stealing one would be easy.

 

[SELfor50]

Show us some photos of this stuff dude!!

Man, tell me where you live and park your cars??
I need a re-spray on the 69.. well don't 'need', but I need a respray.

Same here with how much action my best gets. I drive it nearly every day. Can't resist having the torque on tap. The best part is just feeding it in.... not even tramping it, just feeding it in and doing it in class... s-klasse..

 

[450SE]

Sorry for the quality of the first two images.

http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww315/450SE/iPhonedownload549.jpg
The scrape continues down the length of the passenger door, with a shallow dent also running the length.
It's a bit hard to make out, but the section between the door & the wheel arch is dented.
Out of frame, the bumperbar rubber is damaged, as is the door & body rub strips.

http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww315/450SE/iPhonedownload550.jpg
Poor quality photo taken at night on the iPhone. Again, damage isn't so evident (thankfully)

http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww315/450SE/iPhonedownload217.jpg
At the last car club run I went to (March?)

http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww315/450SE/iPhonedownload555.jpg
In better times. Taken about a month ago.