Does anyone know if the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart is open on Sundays? Or, does anyone know the URL to a website which may have information in English about the museum.

A spur of the moment trip to Stuttgart has come up and I have to leave Saturday for Stuttgart. Sunday will be available, so I have to come up with information fast.

Thanks for any help you can offer,

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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Folks,

Never mind, I just managed to find the info I was looking for with a simple search. Some time ago I couldn't find anything in English, but there's alot out there now.

Now if I just had a few days in old clothes, with my tools in a few Deutsche salvage yards while I'm there, I'd be set.

Thanks,
Larry

Hey, Larry. Maybe you can pick up some parts for my '84 500SEL EURO?!

Have a safe journey, my friend!

Have a PILSNER for me! :)

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FrankieZ
84 500SEL EURO 87K
85 300D 267K (and still goin' strong)

If you insist, I guess I'll have to have a Pilsner for you. Is there anyone else who will insist on me doing the same for them?

Larry

I would have sure liked your doing a parts run for me, too, but I no longer have the need as I traded my wonderful but problematic 300 TE 4-matic for a new ml 320. But definitely have a Pilsner for me and enjoy your trip!

OTOH, should you see any parts or a 928….

Bon voyage!

…tracy


[This message has been edited by tracy_leb (edited 06-07-2000).]

Larry:

Have an excellent trip. I was there in 1990 just as the Berlin wall was coming down (I still have pieces of the wall). I didn't get a chance to go to the MBZ Museum, but I did do the Mercedes Benz factory tour (in Sindelfingen). I also took a drive to the AMG factory in Affalterbach. They had to tape my jaw shut and hang a bucket around my neck to catch the drool :) That facility, as well as the vehicles I saw were/are AWESOME! Since I basically dropped in "unannounced", I was gladly given a personal tour by an english-speaking representative. I owned a 1984 190E AMG at the time and showed them a picture of it -- this may have helped. I got to tour their R&D shop and their race shop.

Larry -- if you can swing it, I'd HIGHLY recommend doing at least one of these tours.

Happy trails!

Brian

Larry:


If i remember, they are open on Sunday's but close early. But anyways, I see you got what you were looking for. Try to stop in Boblingen, pronounced (Booblingen)at MB headquarters. They have lots of salvage MB's and you can run in and ask for parts--dirt cheap. Its not too far from Stuttgart about 20 min drive.

Have a tall, ice cold Kronebacher for me, and have a safe trip my friend.

***remembering doing 150mph in a W140 down Highway 5 (Frankfurt-Stuttgart)*** :D


Agron
1989 300E (107k miles)

Agron80,

The thought of drinking German beer ice cold is just as repulsive to me as drinking American beer at room temperature.<g>

Thanks to everyone for the information, and I'll report back when I return.

Thanks,
Larry

Larry,
You can drink a room temperature pils for me. :)
Gute Reise!

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Dean
Santa Barbara, CA
ICQ #300030
1974 280C
1984 300SD

Larry, have a Spaten for me! Gotta be a great trip! Man, the land of real automobiles! Hope you have a great time!

Go to the dismantlers in good clothes if you have to, just keep your ReichPass (passport)handy, just in case. Try not to lift a stein for everyone at one sitting though, just do a few each time :D

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Mike Tangas
73 280 SEL 4.5

Enjoy Larry,

One of these months I have got to make it over there! :D :D

Spaten sounds good! Maybe you can find a W140 S350 Turbo Diesel for yourself while your looking :)

BTW, take ear plugs for the long flight, you'll feel so much more relaxed when you arrive! Have a safe trip!
Ross

Larry, if you find an internet cafe
post a note from Stuttgart.
p.s. Der freche Fischer isst
frischen Fische !
Try that 3-times FAST !
gute Reise.

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1979 300D
133K miles
1989 300SE
1995 C280

Well UNKL,

I didn't find an internet cafe, but I finally got a PAL connection back to our server in Richardson. I never managed to find a place in Germany, but I just got to Copenhagen and the hotel is more up to date.

I just had to report back to everyone who was kind enough to comment, wish me a good trip, and even to those of you who were so demanding as to force me to have a Pilsner for you.

I made it over to the museum and it was closed for the European holiday. Don't start feeling sorry for me though. I rented a stick shift C Class and drove it almost 300KM. I went into Stuttgart and then to Pforzheim, which is about 35KM away, and one of the places I was stationed 30 years ago. The barracks are abandoned, grown up and the windows broken by vandals.

Anyway, I had a reservation at the Monch' WaldHotel which is in a box canyon, in the Black Forest. The birds woke me up this morning.

I enjoyed every Klick I put on the C Class. I sure wish MBNA would sell me one of these things in the USA. For Germany, it's just big enough to feel like a Mercedes, and small enough to handle the extremely narrow German roads well.

Had a ball, I'll report much more later, probably more than anyone wants to hear.

I wish I had a digital camera, I could send pictures now, but I'll find a scanner and maybe post one when I get home, don't worry Bill, we can get out of the way soon. While I'm wishing for more, I guess I'll have to demand that the next time I get a free trip to Germany, that it not be on a German holiday.

I have to work the rest of the trip, so I probably won't be logging on until the weekend.

Aufweidersehn,
Larry

Well, I made it to the museum this trip. I was there last Tuesday, and it was worth the trip. The museum was fine, if you ever have a chance to go, take it. But the row of executives cars parked in front of the museum is something you don't want to miss either. There were big engined, E's, C's and S's with stick shifts. There was also an AMG.

I saw so many manual transmission MB's it made me sick. If MBNA were to ever stop turning their back on us stick shift drivers in the US, maybe I'll be a new car customer again.

Also, for those of you who have never driven in Germany before, you're really missing an experience. I drove about 54,000 miles in two years all over Germany about 30 years ago. But it was in a VW Bug. I drove about 1,500 KM this past week with about 1,000 of them in Germany. It was in a manual transmission Opel Astra. The car surprised me. It had reasonable power, and drove and handled remarkably well. Driving 180 to 190 K/hour is fun, the trucks don't change into your lane while you're moving along. Also on the country two lanes and even in the city, people move along well. When a light turns green they hit the gas and go. When the traffic slows down on the city AutoBahns, they slow down and move along well, instead of stopping and then running up to the bumper in front of them. It was much better than I remembered.

My hat is off to the German drivers. What could we do in this country to get everyone to drive like this?

I enjoyed couple of weeks working and vacationing in Europe. I'm glad to be back to MShop though.

Have a great day,

------------------
Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Welcome Back Larry,

Glad to here you enjoyed the Musuem, thats one more thing to add to my "Places to visit" list.

As far as what we can do to match the germans transportation system? Simple, start from scratch! I am usually not to worked up about the way our Goverment handles life, day to day, but the Highways on which we drive never fail to make me hot under the collar.

BTW, did you have all the beers we requested? :)

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Ross
96 C280, Greenish Black

Larry:

Im glad you enjoyed the museum and your "vacation". The astra is a real nice car, but if you would have moved up a notch to the vectra, it an even more powerful, agile car.

I have always been asking myself this question to about U.S drivers, and Germany (European) drivers. I have concluded that most U.S drivers dont really have any experience driving "hard". I mean--gimme a break, our DMV written and road tests are a joke compared to europe. I dont want to sound like a jackass, but literally handicapped people are allowed to get their drivers license's here in the U.S. Little 16 year old girls pass their exams, and their daddy leases them a new Civic coupe and they get behind the wheel really without any knowledge of how a car really works. I mean, lots of drivers here arent really up for the road. In Europe, especially Germany, minimum age to drive is 18, and they go through a vigorous road test which includes driving on the autobahn. One little mistake getting off a ramp to get on the autobahn, and the person fails the road test, in which they must go back for another 2 weeks of training. A way long back, when my father took his road test in former Yugoslavia, he had a 100 question written test, and the road test he told me was literally impossible. The road test examiner would put you on an incline, and make you come to a complete stop--if the car rolled back just an inch--you'd fail, mind you that this was in a manual transmission car. Just to state again, that European drivers are very experienced in stick shift driving. I've had tons of experience driving throughout Europe, and its pretty much a mission to drive a car there--especially at night, on a two-way narrow highway. I preferably like the French highways due to their great, smooth, roads, primarily because their privately owned. If you can drive a car throughout eastern europe, I think that your an expert behind the wheel. Their roads are horrible, narrow, and sometimes very dangerous. I have to give my hand to eastern european drivers.

Hopefully, all we can hope is that the U.S government makes stricter rules about getting your drivers license.

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Agron
1989 300E
Monotoned Smoke Silver
97 Style Replica E420 Rims 205/55/16
Euro Headlights
Clear Corners
20% Tint
12" Sub-enclosure

Larry, it sounds like you had a great time..I immediately became homesick, actually I am homesick right now...anyway the biggest downfall is that the rules that have been set for driving are not adhered to. Everybody here, I am quite sure, has at one time or another sursed the person in the left lane, not doing at damned thing....not slowing down, not speeding up, no nothing. You know in Germany this is not allowed...left lane is for passing. Over here there are people who think " hey, I am going to speed limit, I aint movin'" I for one don't give a damn what your doing, as long as you are passing, or getting out of the way. Occasionaly you will see pictures in car magazines of "linksfahrer" (leftdrivers), with a line of cars behind them (passing on right is NOT allowed). Hopefully someone will recognize the car and ridicule this type of ignorant, subversive, and dangerous behaviour. It is my belief that these type of people are the biggest contributors to "road rage". These people could drive with horseblinders on, it wouldn't make a difference-they'd be just as dangerous with or without them. No. I do not go driving down the freeway like a maniac, waiting till the last second to hit the brakes, so that I can read those little numbers on their license plate tags...I believe in safe driving, and that means following the rules. Yes, better testing is in order...starting with everyone, including myself. (that, and boy, would I like to see a fine for linksfahrer!...$50 would be ok...could really add up for some :D )

Larry, I apologize for venting on your welcome back, but I am sure that you can see the frustration, when you recall how well traffic can flow in Germany, and what kind of 'flow' we get here sometimes.

-Larry (driving in the right lane, unless he's passing...its the "right" thing to do)

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03/83 300D 184k
07/73 280 160k
-88 other 153k

I agree. The three things that contribute to our traffic problems are; inadequate training and testing, the wrong laws and regulations and then because the laws and rules are so crazy no one follows them, and they are not enforced.

I have been a frustrated driver in the US for the last 29 years. After driving in Germany, it makes me crazy when someone parks in the left lane and refuses to let anyone else by. Also if you are moving along quickly in the left lane, you may very well have a truck pull over in front of you.

Carrying this one step further, at least we are in better shape than the Italian road rules. I don't understand how there are any human beings left alive in Italy. They pay absolutely no attention to traffic lights, stop signs or lane designations.

Have a nice day,
Larry

P.S. For those concerned, I did fulfill my obligations to the German beer industry. LB

Several issues in this country make it different than Europe:
1) Gasoline is cheap - yes, I bitch as loudly as anyone at $2.00 per gallon, but it is still 1/3 the cost of europe, and our avg. family incomes are still higher than europe, so it is still very inexpensive as part of our weekly expenditures, and there is little incentive to conserve fuel by using good driving habits.
2) The country does not adequately use gas revenues to build alternatives to highways such as street cars, local rapid transit, etc. We build more roads and parking lots in a vain attempt to keep up with population growth (the USA is the ONLY developed nation with an expanding population)
3) The population in this country is much less densely packed than most of Europe and keeps expanding outward from urban centers, and "drives" longer distances to get to work or shopping.

Because of reasons like these, the attitude has grown in the various state legislatures that driving is a basic human right, rather than a skill and privilege. This attitude has taken on the force of law such that taking away a drivers license is reserved for the very worst of repeat offenders.

Being issued a California license is ridiculously easy - even if you bother with the tests. The going price for having an under-the-counter CA license issued to you BY EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES without proof of age, citizenship, or written or driving test is $50 - $500 according to local news papers and television reports. Just talk to one of the loiterers outside the DMV, or one of the "civil rights assistance lawyers" next door to the DMV. They will take your money, give you the loan of a distinctive ring or watch, and tell you which window to go to at the DMV. Instant license, no papers or questions.

Even if you are trying to obtain a legal license or renewal, don't worry about it. When our father died last year, my brothers and I quickly came to realize that our 85 year old mother was in the early stages of Alzheimers, and was running on autopilot. she was a menace behind the wheel. At the DMV she correctly answered 30% of the test questions!!! They told her it was OK, she was probably just nervous, and they would help her later! (all the while I am standing behind her violently shaking my head "no" and doing a thumbs down sign while pointing to my head!). On the vision test she couldn't see the wall chart,(!) so they had her look into a projection box with symbols instead of letters. The conversation went like this:
DMV - Which way is the arrow pointing?
Mom - Arrow?
DMV - Don't you see the arrow pointed to the right?
Mom - to the right?
DMV - Correct! see this isn't so hard!

I dragged her out of there and hid her license and car keys!

We aren't going to get better drivers (or citizens) until we re-introduce to ourselves and to our lawmakers/enforcers the concept of personal responsibility and consequenses, and until the legal and economic factors are changed.

Anyway, more than enough said. One of the problems with growing older is getting on the soap box more often, and staying on it longer! I've gotten a loooong way from the MB museum topic, so I think I'll do something constructive like finding a deserted twisty road and enjoying my Benz.

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JCE
87 300E, 65k miles
Smoke Silver

[This message has been edited by JCE (edited 07-09-2000).]