Hello All,

Just got some pictures developped. Here are a couple that you guys might like. Last winter I was on the highway when I noticed a whiteout due to some blowing snow. I slowed down because you could not see through it. When I got close, I noticed the highway patrol stopping traffic due to numerous cars in the ditch, so I came to a stop behing the traffic. As I was slowing down, two cars went into the snow banks next to me. I came to a stop, and then..... BANG. I had been rear-ended.

My first thought was to get the f%@# out of there to not get hit again, so I drove off on the shoulder and stopped in a safer place. Luckily I didn't hit the car in front of me. I could see in my mirror the black car that hit me, it was a mangled mess. I was thinking "oh no, my poor TD..." I finally got out to look at my damage: broken backup lens and bracket, broken turn signal lens, bumper was off by 1/4 in. due to the telescopic shocks springing back unevenly, and tow hook bent forward. Not even a scratch on the bumper. I could not believe it.

I went to the other car to fill out the paperwork. The car was (and I mean WAS) a 2002 corolla. An accordeon up to the door seams, fluids on the road, wheel pushed back 6 inches, windshield kaput, both airbags deployed. I hear they scrapped the car. The guy did not even believe me that I am the guy he hit. He said that he hit me while braking and must have been going about 30 mph at the time.

In the end I drove off, got a very generous settlement from the insurance, and was glad I was the one in the mercedes.

Hats off to German engineers!!!

Could someone give me a hand on how to post pictures, this is my first time... I must be doing something wrong.

#1 they must be no larger than 68k in size
#2 they cannot be any bigger than 800x600.

You need to use something to shrink and to compress them. Odds are they are 600k or larger from your camera.

I personally use Corel Photopaint.

Both my pictures are smaller than 68K and less than 800 x 600. Still unable to post them. I am clicking the browse button and choosing the file. What am I forgetting?

Originally posted by Lars
Both my pictures are smaller than 68K and less than 800 x 600. Still unable to post them. I am clicking the browse button and choosing the file. What am I forgetting?
Are you trying to use "Preview Reply" to look at your post before using "Submit Reply"? I think using Preview drops the attachment, and one has to select the attachment again before using "Submit Reply".


-- eskimo

damage to my car:

damage to the corolla:

damn.. the thing's a beast!

Actually my diesel once got rear ended too.. by a brand new MB ;) a C-Class

welll guess which one fared better...

Aww your mean diesel smashed that poor little toyota.

good ridence to that cheap inport!! (toyota of course)

Originally posted by rg2098
good ridence to that cheap inport!! (toyota of course)

LOL! I'm 99% sure that Corolla was made the the good ol' USA though. ;)

By the looks of that second picture
there seem to be more fender benders
that happend in that area.


That Audi looks like it is trying to go off roading.

I hope everyone was OK?

Damage can be fixed, a persons life can not.

Just goes to show how thin the steel is that
makes up a car these days.

Ha, I can hear people say:"it is the crumple zones".
Well, the w123 MB's have them too.
Only difference is that the steel plate is thicker.
Oh, also the bumper is more robust and has the
struts.

Louis.

Speedy300Dturbo: It's 100%, not 99% :-)


All Honda Civic/Accord and Toyota Corolla/Camry are made in the USA. Of course their other models (except some) are also made here.

Eric

EEWWW. It looks extremely cold in those photos. I noticed you are in Canada- about how cold does it get up in your area?

Originally posted by 86560SEL
EEWWW. It looks extremely cold in those photos. I noticed you are in Canada- about how cold does it get up in your area?

In the late '80s I was in school in Burlington, Vermont; about 60 miles south of Montreal.

If you like daily highs of -5*F; your nosehairs freezing and it being TOO COLD FOR IT TO SNOW then that is where you want to be.

A few hours to the west is Watertown, NY. The Army has their extreem cold traning center there.....

Originally posted by 86560SEL
EEWWW. It looks extremely cold in those photos. I noticed you are in Canada- about how cold does it get up in your area?

I believe that was in the extreme cold spell we had in january. It was in the -20s to -30s for about two weeks straight. On average in january it is in the single digits. Quite a challenge to run a diesel in that kind of weather. But I can say with pride that I did not suffer a single non-start incident all winter, with help from the block heater and prolonged idling periods.

Originally posted by mb123mercedes
By the looks of that second picture
there seem to be more fender benders
that happend in that area.


That Audi looks like it is trying to go off roading.

I hope everyone was OK?

Damage can be fixed, a persons life can not.



Everyone was OK, including my dog Mandi riding in the back. Needless to say she crashed into the tailgate when I got hit. The occupants of the corolla didn't feel much of a shock at all, I guess those crumple zones absorbed it all. I had a slightly sore neck for a few days from the whiplash, very minor. I guess the crumple zones of a 123 start being effective in a collision with a tractor-trailer.

There were about a dozen cars in the snow banks in that incident, including a squad car that was rushing to the scene. The folks who hit me got out of their car too soon and almost got plowed down by a Protege 5 who plowed into the field to prevent running into that same corolla.

A friend was recently rear ended by a semi when the driver fell asleep. He and his family were in an 1984, 1 ton pickup towing a big travel trailer. The trailer acted like one big crumple zone and everyone was fine. I'm glad to have a MB so I don't have to tow a travel trailer around all the time :D

It's not the cold at Ft Drum, its those dam. lake effect snow storms...

Watertown is a tough place.

Spent a few days last week working on my new to me 83 300TD. While hauling myself out from under the car I grabbed the bottom of the bumper to pull mysellf up. Then I had to get right back down and LOOK at that massive bumper...that steel looks like it's 3/16" thick, serious stuff! It is the heavyest bumper of any car I've owned.

Yepper, I'd say if they hit your bumper, they wound up buying a new car! Glad you made out OK.

BTW, there is this place called South Texas and we OUTLAWED snow!

The pictures are incredible! What a tank! I drive a 1985 300TD and just bought a second one for my wife to drive the kids around in. She is on her way to Florida with her sister and our three children. I knew that the car was built solid because it weighs in at 3800lbs., but the photos confirm it for me. I will feel better about her driving around town now. Long live the S123's. Maybe the best station wagon ever built!

Someone posted side impact pics a while back of a w123 wagon. It was so impressive to see the cabin intact after such violent accident from the side. In general the cabins stay very much intact in our cars, what can kill us is the decelleration injuries/head-neuroaxis trauma, which have much less to do with build quality, unfortunately. It is always cool to see pics of a nice, safe outcome though. It is something we all appreciate.

Spent a few days last week working on my new to me 83 300TD. While hauling myself out from under the car I grabbed the bottom of the bumper to pull mysellf up. Then I had to get right back down and LOOK at that massive bumper...that steel looks like it's 3/16" thick, serious stuff! It is the heavyest bumper of any car I've owned.

Yepper, I'd say if they hit your bumper, they wound up buying a new car! Glad you made out OK.

BTW, there is this place called South Texas and we OUTLAWED snow!

Sorry to disappoint you but I'm sure they are fiberglass. If steel they would weigh a ton. I was fooled myself at first because the chrome plating is excellent. Sure wish they would still make those battering ram bumpers instead of the cheap foam they use now to absorb impacts.

The pics of the Corrolla are actually kind of funny. Jap cars except for trucks and some models Lexus and Infiniti always seemed kind of filmsy.

Sorry to disappoint you but I'm sure they are fiberglass. If steel they would weigh a ton. I was fooled myself at first because the chrome plating is excellent. Sure wish they would still make those battering ram bumpers instead of the cheap foam they use now to absorb impacts.

The pics of the Corrolla are actually kind of funny. Jap cars except for trucks and some models Lexus and Infiniti always seemed kind of filmsy.
I believe the bumper material is a cast aluminum alloy, fiberglass was only used in the doorhandles. Its the shocks that mount the bumper to the frame that has been lost forever! This was Mercedes 5MPH bumper system, and its more like a 15 MPH capable bumper