New E-Class W212 is 25 percent cheaper to produce

You're surprised? Daimler bought Chrysler to learn how to build cars cheap with pop rivets and unrepairable designs so they could compete with Lexus.

JD

Copy that to the Chrysler NG!

DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"

I hoped they reduced the electronic stuff... that would account for a ton of the cost... sticking to the basic would work alot beter for Mercedes... High quality... less electronics...

From what I have read, it is going to have even more gee-whiz safety electronics.

Exactly! That's why I'll keep maintaining my '92 300D until I'm too old to drive. I figure I can get 30 years out of it easily enough.

JD

On the Mercedes the "electronics" use light cable. I can't imagine what repairs would be after warranty.....on anything. At least it doesn't rattle, you can't hear the wind, everything fits, there is no orange peel paint, and it will outrun most everything but one that Detroit and stay on the road. The C230 has become a Detroit piece of junk. Lots of plastic and "leather trim" and thoroughly Wall Street designed. They'll lose their shirt if they tun into a Ford GM or Chrysler bean counter specials.

Without the electronics they could not sell a single car. It would not pass existing emission rules amongst others.

I'm afraid you don't have a lot of experience about the new electronics if you mean money is no object but you still prefer a -92 car over the 2009 model.

If money were no object I'd still prefer an older diesel. The inability of Mercedes to produce a car whose electronics are as reliable as the rest of the car makes the entire point of owning one a pointless exercise in conspicuous consumption. Speaking as one with a background in aerospace engineering I appreciate the role electronics can play *but* unlike Boeing and Airbus, Mercedes doesn't build in the kind of reliability that's required in aircraft.

JD