The steering system on the older 335i was so tactile and precision-feel you could virtually steer the car blindfolded. And the ride was almost luxury-car smooth even with the Sport-Package 35-series low-profile tires. I was amazed on the test-drive.

I agree the Germans, in those days, didn't place a lot of emphasis on things like cupholders and entertainment features. That reflected the primary thinking of the designers...a car is to DRIVE, not serve as a rolling coffee-lounge or video-arcade. That line of thinking, of course, began to change when Chris Bangle's BMWs were introduced with the new I-Drive system.

 

I think motorcycles are even greater examples that show the difference between German, Japanese and US designs. Take the three most iconic tourers from Harley, Honda and BMW - they compete directly against each other, but couldn't be more different.

 

Is BMW the only German bike? It's the only one I know of.

 

Currently, I think so, and it has inspired a lot of Russian motorcycles. The modern Russian Ural motorcycles are as close as you can get to the WWII era BMW motorcycles, and they are actually somewhat popular here in the US. There are dealerships in most states, and I see a lot of them in upstate NY and even in NYC.

 

How big is the battery?

 

It is important to realize that the European and the US automakers started roughly at the same time, and for the majority of their existence they had very different approaches to design and engineering. The Japanese joined at a later time, and borrowed from both, while also being unique in their own way. Also, lets not forget that automakers greatly differentiate designs for specific markets, so in the US we don't really get the "genuine" Japanese designs, such as say Toyota Century.

 

It's always amusing to see the discrepancy between what the JDM market got compared to what was imported, especially in the 90s and early 2000s.

 

I mean this is a bit on the obscure point, but I would say it is a good point in the general topic/theme of this thread. In general, I do think that German cars are engineered in a way that goes above and beyond, while Asian carmakers, while design things to last forever, tend to take shortcuts in areas that they think are not as important.

This battery layout is found on all mercedes vehicles, not just the S class.

I have a problem with those mocking C class owners as drying a poor mans Benz but the same engineering practices follow through from S to C.

1) auto unlocking all doors a few seconds after a crash so that paramedics can access the doors
2) when rain sensing wipers are on, brake pads will intermittently clamp down on the disc automatically, just enough to dry them off, to keep optimal braking performance
3) interior trunk unlock on Lexus models still is that terrible plastic pull, once that got recalled for snapping in half on the GS. On Mercedes, its a big, green, blinking button that stays blinking for 30 minutes after trunk closes. Arguably, a feature that is never used.

There are many others, I just dont remember off the top of my head.

 

Those bike pics are great

I saw it when the trunk was disassembled for the subwoofer install, its like 10 inches tall maybe, and width wise it takes up half the space of that back area, I would say its at least the width of one of the outbound rear seat cushions

 

Where I work Dodge Caravans are used extensively and I've never seen an obvious grounding point or a separate positive point, so this might be on Pacifica or later model much newer Caravans. On the Caravans, at least, the postive battery terminal is marked with a red plastic cap. On most cars it will also be the larger post.

I too have had to boost and tried boosting by positive to positive and negative to a grounding point on the dead vehicle rather than the negative post, and it didn't generate enough voltage. So had to do a direct connection. Where possible I too prefer a static boost with the boosting vehicle running for a while to charge the dead battery but actually turned off for the actual start.

The German cars have had their batteries in the trunk or under the rear seat from since well back in the 1980s. My Toyota and Honda both have very obvious positive terminals easily accessible and marked with red plastic caps. That's all you need.

 

Thats kind of the point I was trying to make. Safety items especially seem to get a lot more focus from the Germans And you are right about those practices carrying through from S to C. When you buy a C Class, you are buying a full fledged Mercedes-Benz, same is true if BMW and the 3 Series.

Another thing I have noticed living with my S Class is jack points. On the Lexus you have to get up underneath to find the jack points, on the Mercedes they are clearly demarkated. Every Mercedes has the mounts hidden behind little flush doors on the roof for a roof rack is another example. Lots of little things like that.

 

The issue with simply the red cap is that terminals have gotten a lot bigger, and we struggled on the Odyssey to get the clamp to stay safely on the terminal, and the clamps even wide open were not wide enough to clamp over the terminal and connection. At one point my brother in law suggested he should just hold it, to which I told him no and to go stand over there lol. In the Pacifica and the S560 that was a non issue because there were dedicated posts that were placed there just for the purpose of jump starting.

The design in the Odyssey is exactly what is used in Toyotas and Lexus vehicles, which is no design or thought whatsoever. Just cram it on the terminal and find a unpainted bolt if you can. I was impressed by the S560, and then BLOWN AWAY that the Pacifica was almost as well designed compared to the Odyssey.

 

Even with their well-known emphasis on safety, I don't think Mercedes does this any more, because the world has just gotten too big, but, at one time, if possible, they used to send a team of factory engineers to each reported crash involving fatalities in an M-B product, no matter where it occurred. The engineers, with the permission of civil authorities, law-enforcement and medical-units, would examine the wreckage of the Mercedes vehicle, find out what worked properly and what didn't, where the designs helped and where they didn't, and note the type and severity of the injuries or death involved. They would prepare a report, take it back to Stuttgart with them, and work on addressing those shortcomings. It is one reason why both Mercedes and Volvo got such a reputation for safety.

It was decades go, but a couple of times, I've actually seen some of those Mercedes teams at the scene of fatal crashes on our D.C. Beltway....a road notorious for mishaps. They wore white and/or blue lab-coats for identification.

Probably the most well-known Mercedes case was the 1997 accident, in Paris, with the S-Class Princess Diana and her boyfriend were riding in...both of them were killed. It was determined they were not wearing their belts. The only survivor, her bodyguard, WAS wearing his.

 

Yeah, I've had that problem too with cable clamps that simply do not want to stay attached - in the pitch black and minus 25C. It's only 12V but no, I would never hold onto any kind of live voltage cable ends on a boost. I make sure I separate the two ends completely until ready to carefully hook everything together.

I guess considering the other problems of Pacificas, maybe they had to give you that. I agree that on some things the German design/engineering is so much more logical and well thought out. But then again - your S560 is meant to be looked at by service techs and they don't like wasting time. Making things easier for them is smart.

 

Yeah I can guarantee that doesnt happen anymore lol

Yeah even if it doesn't electrocute you, it can burn you pretty good.

Yeah seriously!