M-B's are overpriced rip-offs

Theres a comment around the car enthusiast community and on the AF forums "Cheap, reliable, or high performance. pick 2, thats all you get" well in my opinion, most Mercedes-Benz cars don't even have one of the 3 qualities listed in that comment. They are extremely expensive, have a history of not being very reliable, and while there are some high performance Mercedes out there, good luck finding a new one for under 50-60 grand or so. I think M-B cars are total rip-offs, and I'm sure some of you Mercedes fans out there will rip on me for this post.just my opinion though

What are your personal experiences with these vehicles?

That post also sounds very ironic coming from somebody with the name "Bavarian Boy M3". :rolleyes:

Well I'm not against you or anything Barvarian Boy M3. But BMWs are pretty expensive too. The price of a low-end BMW 3 series is 28,500. A low end C-Class is around the same price too. Beside the only Mercedes I know that have problems are the C-class and M-class. Besides the M-Class is made in the United States in Alabama. Thats all I have to say.

Well I'm not against you or anything Barvarian Boy M3. But BMWs are pretty expensive too. The price of a low-end BMW 3 series is 28,500. A low end C-Class is around the same price too. Beside the only Mercedes I know that have problems are the C-class and M-class. Besides the M-Class is made in the United States in Alabama. Thats all I have to say.


While the 3 series and C class are both similairly priced, I think most would agree that the 3 series is more of a fun drive than the C class, and much more reliable to boot.

As a Mercedes employee with friends in both BMW and MB service professions, I can tell you from listening to the stories that there's not a lot of difference in truth! Both groups of techs swap stories about the problems and design flaws of their own marques. Maybe it's the fact that all the euro cars share a lot of technology in the fact that the same manufacturers supply each of the marques with outsourced computer, electronic, and to some extent mechanical subsystems. Bosch's design parameters for a computer chip or computer subsystem are going to be the same, with the same percentage of acceptable failure, no matter whose logo is on the part when it leaves the factory. Ditto for almost any supplier in the world.
Now-the automakers do a huge job of spin to each make their own cars look good against the competition. They also rely on the avid fans overlooking their own shortfalls to "put one over" on the public. If you simply believe what you want to hear and ignore the rest, you'll be no better off than the race horse with the blinders on.

At least they aren't as ugly as the new BM's
Have you seen the 5 & 7 series makes you want to puke & the i-drive system. A good way to make some easy task really complicated.

I have a couple of mercs. one has 200,000 miles on it 1987 model and have no problems.

the other car is a bit older but has 600,000 miles and only major repairs was a head recondition 10 years ago.

to say they aren't reliable is a gross understatement.

The problem is the new cars are now built to a budget and more of the mass market. They aren't all built in Germany either more are being built in the US and the US has a bit of a reputation for building poor quality cars.

Speaking of the i drive- an associate of mine recently came over from BMW. He told me at the dealers they assist customers in what they term assisted tradein allowances. Everyone else calls these buy backs under the lemon laws. Again, it goes back to the electronics being supplied by an outside vendor. They need to make these bulletproof by doing real world testing instead of simulated testing.

I too have owned mercedes for over 45 years. I still have a classic 230SL Pagoda that I purchased in 1964. It has never once broken down, and had almost 300'000 miles on the clock before I decided to have the engine re-conditioned. I keep it alongside and 300SL gullwing that I bought in 1984, which has only failed to start twice, not bad for a 50 year old car!

My new mercs are the best cars I have ever had. I gave back a 745i because I couldn't handle the stupid I-drive, but both my S600 and SL600 feature radar distance control, sat nav, tv's, GSM phone, voice activatiobn, trip computers etc etc, and both are far more simple to use than the BMW.

The boxy style of the 3 series is un-imaginative and leaves a lot to be desired. and as for the Bangal BMW's...

The new SL, and SLK are nearly as beutiful and well proportioned as the Pagoda and Gullwing, and while I realise that some people will have bad experiences with mercedes, there will be the same ammount of people who have a problem with Audi, Jaguar, Lexus and so on. I just feel that mercedes are more pasionate about the design of their cars, that BM's, and there is a Merc to equal or better the performance of any M series.

Of course you're gunna get ripped on, but you knew that. I've owned quite a few cars, more than I can remember, and worked on quite a few more. Btw; I owned BMW before I had ever driven a MB. I’d put MB in a class of their own above all others. My second choice would be Acura or Lexus. At the bottom, just above Yugo is where you would find Mopar, GM, Ford and BMW.
After all the cars and miles I’ve driven, I choose MB for almost all of my driving. If I wanted a car that feels and performs like a 3 series, I’d just buy a Camero. It used to be BMW had an advantage because they are not only nice looking, but a bit rare. Now, at least where I live, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one.

That is the truth. Out of 12 houses in our little community, 10 of them have at least 1 BMW, 8 of them have 2 or more! One guy still thinks that his ageing Z8 is better than my wifes brand new DB9 Volante. Its the big headedness of BMW drivers that really gets me.

PS, I like the dead cat method of relaying your feelings, I never was a fan of the feline... Ha ha.

Well, after yet another part fell off my girlfriends '00 328Ci, she has finally decided the BMW "look" that she was after is not so sweet and certainly not worth it after all. It's going up for sale asap and being replaced by a MB this month. Thank God, I have better things to do with my time than fix that damn car yet again.

Well, after yet another part fell off my girlfriends '00 328Ci, she has finally decided the BMW "look" that she was after is not so sweet and certainly not worth it after all. It's going up for sale asap and being replaced by a MB this month. Thank God, I have better things to do with my time than fix that damn car yet again.

You just proved that the current BMWs are no better than the current MBs in reliability.

You just proved that the current BMWs are no better than the current MBs in reliability.

Sorry, you seem to have misunderstood me. I'm saying that it dosn't matter what car you buy, some people will have problems with them.

As for your point, and quoting me, I said and ment nothing about reliability in that post. Read more carefully next time...

Sorry, you seem to have misunderstood me. I'm saying that it dosn't matter what car you buy, some people will have problems with them.

As for your point, and quoting me, I said and ment nothing about reliability in that post. Read more carefully next time...


Oh darn. I quoted the wrong post. I fixed it now.

well said sumoboy

I am a car guy, not an educated technition but have made a living and supplemented other incomes by fixing all types and brands of cars for about 36 years. I have learned that they ALL come up with crappy cars from time to time, some great cars with bad hardware from time to time, some great cars with bad electronics ie ; Jag with their horrible forever failing "lucas" electrical crap. Chevrolet new trucks have their stupid "fall apart" parking brake issue. Ford has all of their 6.0 problems. Did you ever see a newer Caddillac that the doors and hood actually fit ? I havent yet. O I almost forgot !! Jap cars like Nissan and their forever failing EGR valves. All Hondas, Accuras share a common AC issue It simply is not adequate enough to cool the car off on a normal Texas summer day. The cost of repairs ? most Mercedes parts I have found are about 1/2 the cost of Jap parts Porsche parts are a bit higher. Mercedes and Porsches are easy repairs most of the time. I'll rave on a bit more to say not to forget that todays Jap car technology came from American designers that could simply make a better living over there. If you drive by any car Brand dealerships repair bays you will see them FULL of cars with Quality Control problems. :banghead:

baveran boy know a little something about mercedes and learn there great long lasting performance cars that 0WN lost of cars in the list of racing performance and relibility and most of all LONG LASTING. thanks :D

Mercedes Benz pre-Damiler-Benz takeover of the Chrysler Corporation are fantastic cars built to a standard and among the most reliable in the world.

After that, they're just over-priced, unreliable, stodgy, characterless cars (That's how I see the current C Class)

The A Class and M Class are both made from old lunchboxes and fall to bits accordingly.


Yet BMW remain near the top of the reliability surveys. With (Shock) The 3 series proving the most reliable. Every maker makes a lemon every now and then. Ever since Merc built the cars to a cost, the lemons have become standard....

hey bavarian boy m3, i cant change the way you think, i can tell you that you know little or nothing about mercedes other than there price, i have a 15 year old mercedes and it dirves and feels like the day it was made, paint job is unbeliveable and its one of the safest cars on the road. It takes corners at 50 or 60 mph soo soo good and its a privlage to drive them, they are king of the highway cruisers and at 115 mph (not max speed) they feel so smooth to drive, there not rip offs there just not for poor weak insignifagant people like you thats all. they will remain better that BMW "beamers" for all time and you know what? unless u get hired by mercedes and work for them they will always be the best cars, trust me, i enjoi towing my freinds hondas (hon-duh), mitsubities (wow i cant spell), toyotas, camarys, and BMW's to the car pound. and nothing you say to me will be true or change these facts, so move along sir.

A man after my own heart. I've owned one for 39 years, and its still showroom condition. I enter it at shows and things, and its a real stunner. And theres no BMW to compare in the slightest to my new SL. The 7 series was shockingly bad, so I had the S class. Ive never had any big reliability problems, and they always make me happy when I drive one of them, be it the '56 Gullwing, or the '04 65 AMG.