You are currently viewing eMercedesBenz' past articles published in October, 2005.  Our latest stories can be found here.

DaimlerChrysler and Sirius have announced today that they will be extending their exclusive relationship until September of 2012.  The agreement between the two companies extends to all Mercedes-Benz vehicles, all Chrysler Group vehicles, and Freightliner trucks.

Needless to say, I'm not excited about the announcement - I think giving customers only one option in radios is ridiculous.  I won't bore you with another rant on the same subject, but if you want to hear my opinion on the topic, you can do so here...

Keep Reading "DaimlerChrysler And Sirius Extend Exclusive Relationship"

And now it's time for everyone's favorite - spy photos.  Our friends over at Autoblog.nl uncovered these photos of what appears to be an S-Class AMG.  Despite the markings on the vehicle, I would have to wager a guess that these are photos of either an S55 or an S63, as opposed to the S600 AMG markings seen on the back of the vehicle in the photo.

My reasoning behind this belief is that both the S500... excuse me, the S550, and the S600 both feature two single exhausts, as seen in actual photos below.  However, as has been the case on previous S55 and S63 models, the vehicle in the spy photos features two dual exhausts, which leads to believe this is one of those two models...

Keep Reading "Spy Photos Of S-Class AMG"

Welcome everyone, how was  your weekend?  I was lucky enough to take a two day vacation, and I have to tell you, it was magnificent.

While I was sitting back, sipping piña coladas and watching a few NFL games, I received an email from Left Lane News pointing me to a recent article published by Forbes.

In short, the article deals with the topic of brands having multiple personality disorders.  One example the writer gave was Coke, who thirty years ago only offered Coke, but now offers sixteen different variations, such as Coca-Cola with Splenda, Coca-Cola Zero, and Coca-Cola C2. According to Jack Trout, the author of the article (pictured above), "It's no wonder Coke has lost its fizz."  He's a witty bastard, isn't he?

Jack then went on to discuss Mercedes. According to Jack, "Once upon a time, it [Mercedes] was a high-quality, highly engineered, prestigious car."  He then goes on to say that in Europe, if you walk into a Mercedes dealership, you're faced with a model range priced from $20,000 to $200,000.  As a result, "...in Europe, Mercedes Benz is not listed as the top brand. The Audi A8, BMW, Maserati and Jaguar have taken over this position."

I have to admit, when I first read old Jack's article, I almost fell off my chair in laughter.  Are you kidding me?  I might not have attended Harvard Business School, but I do know when I read something that is utterly absurd...

Keep Reading "Does Mercedes Have Schizophrenia?"

As any true aftermarket Mercedes connoisseur knows, the beginning of November means only one thing - twenty plus inch rims, multiple flat screen televisions, and scantily-clad women.  That's right ladies and gentlemen, the SEMA show is almost upon us.

Although I personally am not fortunate enough to be attending the show this year, we will have a few spies on hand to capture more custom Mercedes than you can shake your iced-out wrist at...

Keep Reading "It's That Time Of Year Again"

Smart gmbh and the Mitsubishi Motor Corporation have signed an agreement today stating that Mitsubishi will supply engines for a future smart model.

The natural aspirated and turbo-charged engines are the same engines Mitsubishi is using in their "i" model, a compact minicar they're set to launch in January of 2006.  They will be produced at Mitsubishi's powertain production facility in Mizushima, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, and will make their debut on the smart fortwo successor model...

Keep Reading "Mitsubishi To Supply Engines For Smart Car"

A while back, we brought you a story about Mercedes unveiling the CLS 55 AMG "IWC Ingenieur" Edition.  At the time the story was originally published, we weren't quite as well known, so you may not have read our initial story.  Because of this fact, and also because the CLS Ingenieur recently made headlines again, I thought it would be the perfect time to re-acquaint you with the most beautiful CLS ever to grace the planet earth.

The Mercedes CLS Ingenieur is the product of a collaboration between Mercedes and IWC, or the International Watch Company. It features a host of cosmetic enhancements, including exclusive dark titanium-grey metallic paint, a custom interior featuring piano-lacquer black accents, and a new AMG instrument cluster custom designed to match IWC's AMG watch...

Keep Reading "Mercedes CLS 55 AMG IWC Ingenieur Sells Out In Australia"

Mercedes has published a press release today showcasing their construction vehicle lineup.

Although I personally am not in the market for a construction vehicle right now (I must admit there's been a few times in Chicago's rush hour traffic that I wish I was driving one, so that I could plow throught the sea of stationary vehicles in front of me), it's a great resource for anyone intersted in Mercedes' latest big truck offerings...

Keep Reading "The Mercedes Construction Vehicle Lineup"

It's been twenty-five years since Mercedes first implemented the airbag in a standard production S-Class, and our noggins haven't been the same since.

It all started in 1967, when Mercedes first entered into airbag research. Thanks to several key inventions, including a sensor system and gas generator capable of deploying the airbag in just 30 milliseconds, tear resistant fabric, and making the airbag small enough to fit in an impact-absorbing steering wheel, Mercedes engineers were able to turn the vision of an airbag into a reality...

Keep Reading "Mercedes Celebrates 25 Years Of The Airbag"

A while back we brought you a complaint we had with Mercedes not offering iPod integration in all of their models (you can find our long-winded rant here).

Our complaint was based on the fact that although Mercedes offers iPod integration in many of their vehicles, several models, including the S-Class, SL-Class, and CL-Class, do not offer this feature.

Mercedes has taken an extremely small step in the right direction today, announcing that they will extend iPod integration to the 2006 CLK coupes.  To kick off the event, the first 2,300 model year 2006 CLK350 and CLK500 coupes that Mercedes produces will have iPod integration and a silver iPod mini added, at no additional cost...

Keep Reading "Mercedes Adds iPod Integration To CLK Models"

It's been a slow morning for Mercedes news, so I thought I'd take a second to lighten the mood a bit.

Yesterday while browsing Autoblog, I read an article linking to some pretty funny comics that all address the topic of rising fuel costs.  If you haven't read them yet, you can find them all on Paultan.org here...

Keep Reading "Jokes For The Day"

Warning:  monotonous financial information ahead.  Read at your own risk.

DaimlerChrysler noted an especially strong operating profit this quarter, recording a profit of EUR 1,838 million, compared to EUR 1,332 million in the third quarter of 2004.  Ultimately, DaimlerChrysler reported group revenues of EUR 38.2 billion, up 9% from last year, but reported a net income of EUR 755 million, down EUR 196 million from 2004.

DaimlerChrysler attributes the increases in operating profit and group revenues to all automotive divisions, including the success of new products from both the Mercedes Car Group and the Chrysler Group...

Keep Reading "DaimlerChrysler Reports Significant Increase In Third-Quarter Operating Profit"

A few days ago, we posted the first photo of ASMA-Design's new tuner S-Class. Today, we received additional  photos of the ASMA's latest creation, all available for your viewing pleasure.

Check out all the photos after the jump.

Keep Reading "More Photo's Of ASMA-Design's 2007 S-Class"

The AMG-Mercedes DTM racing team had a banner day in Hockenheim yesterday, dominating the final race of the season and finishing in the top three positions.

Bernd Schneider of Vodafone AMG-Mercedes took first, followed by Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes' Jamie Green. But the real story of the day was Gary Paffett, who finished in third position and in doing so, captured the 2005 DTM championship. His rival, Audi's Mattias Ekström, finished the race in seventh position, despite a poor qualifying round which forced him to start from fifteenth.  This race marked the eighth time in DTM's eighteen year history that the championship came down to the final race of the season...

Keep Reading "AMG-Mercedes Dominates In Hockenheim"

Over the weekend, there was talk of Mercededes renaming their flagship S500 model the S550.

"Bah," I thought. Why would Mercedes change their trademark S500 name?

Today, Mercedes has confirmed the speculation, officially replacing the S500 moniker that we've all come to love with the S550.

I have to say, I don't like it; I don't like it one bit. OK, so the new S features Mercedes' new 5.5-Liter V8, as opposed to the 5.0-Liter found in the current models.  Who cares...

Keep Reading "Mercedes To Rename S500"

Mercedes has announced today that both the E 280 CDI and the E 320 CDI willl be available with the permanent all-wheel drive 4MATIC system. With the addition of these models, Mercedes now offers customers a choice of 10 all-wheel drive E-Class variants, and 37 all-wheel drive models total.

If you're unfamiliar with 4MATIC, it's Mercedes' all wheel drive system that transmits power continuously to both the front and rear axles at a ratio of 40 to 60%.  Mercedes' has also added an Electronic Traction System (4ETS), which operates without conventional differential locks.  Instead, 4ETS applies controlled amounts of braking pressure to spinning wheels and simultaneously increases the amount of power sent to the wheels with good traction...

Keep Reading "New 4Matic Models Available"