More Pictures, Mehr Bilder

The little things that need attention

No car is perfect, so here are a list of the little things that need to be fixed with the car...

• power rear shade - It works the odd time, but the plastic guide inside has snapped. This means it will go down easily but only up if things perfectly line up inside. I have yet to fix it which requires me pulling the back seat and parcel shelf out!! The shade is currently up and has been since last spring, so I think I'll leave it that way.

• rear passenger window switch - It works just fine, but doesn't light up anymore, small issue

• rough starting - often when the car starts, it runs rough for about three seconds, the revs increase to 1200 or so, it smoothes out and then is fine. Injectors, fuel pump, fuel filter?

• interior squeaks - the plastic, especially in the door panels squeaks like crazy. With mere acceleration and braking you can hear the panels creak.
  

• noisy fan - it's not a big deal, but on the high setting the fan makes a bit more noise than it should. Once it slows down its much quieter.

• head gasket - At this stage its more of an annoyance. A small leak at the back of the engine means I drip a small amount of oil from time to time. It requires a top up of oil every 5 months or so. The more annoying issue has to due with the smell. When stopped, the smell of burning oil makes its way into the interior. A replacement of the head gasket is approximately $2200 and several mechanics have advised me that it's not worth it to stop a little bit of oil leaking out.
  

Safety / Sicherheit

The 560SEL vs The Hybrid Part 2

Recently various governments have been enticing drivers to ditch their older gas guzzlers for new, more efficient and environmentally friendlier vehicles. Which is great if you actually must have a new car. However I'm one to believe sustainability is achieved not just through reducing air pollution. I do agree that global warming is a problem. I'm not running around waving my arms about over melting icecaps, but I realise something must be done. However, global warming is becoming trendy, and while it's great that others share my concern we tend to forget about other environmental issues.

The Hudson Bay Company, known to Canadians as simply the Bay department store, has been following the trendiness of global warming, using it with their current ad campaigns. Mannequins stand in the display windows with text behind featuring tips on how to be more friendly to the environment. You'll see sings like "don't idle" and such, but how about buying less? After all, their slogan years ago was "Shopping is Good". Of course, it is their best interest that you buy their products, but this new campaign promoting a greener way of living doesn't come off as being all too serious from a store that doesn't really promote sustainable products.

So how does that fit in with cars? Well sure, newer cars produce less harmful emissions, but think of what it took to create that car. The materials, the energy, the chemicals, land, not to mention the energy used to transport it from the factory on one continent to the buyer on another. This is where a proper old Mercedes becomes important. My car has been on the road for 18 years. I am one less person to build a new car for, simply because my current one is still in service and not littering a junk yard going to waste. I plan to drive my car at least for a decade. With my current amount of driving that will be about 50-80,000km. My car well then have well under 200,000km and just half way through the engine's life span despite being close to 30 years old. Where do you think a 2008 Prius will be in 30 years?

Mercedes looks at sustainability is other ways. Recently the German TÜV rated the current S-class as being more friendly to the environment than the Toyota Prius. So how could a large sedan with a 5.5 litre V8 beat what everyone falsely assumes is a green car? The TÜV were impressed with how cleanly it used its fuel, the amount of recycled material used in its construction and how ethically it had been made.

While during the life of a Prius little impact will be made on the environment, the birth and death of a hybrid creates some serious problems. The batteries contain nickel and while mining and smelting processes have improved, and they claim it isn't as bad as it used to be, a large amount of energy is required to mine and refine the material. However take note that more nickel is used for currency and stainless steel. Infact about 1% of the nickel that comes from Toyota's source, is actually purchased by Toyota, which is roughly 1000 tonnes. While this may be a drop in the bucket, you can't claim that the use of nickel in the battery is a good thing for the environment. Toyota does offer a recycling program when it's time to change the battery, which is good, if everyone actually follows it.

Overall a hybrid can be good in theory, but often in reality it's not quite as green as you'd think. What will really make a difference for sustainability is not getting everyone to discard their older cars, but finding a way to make the older cars more friendly to the environment.

The 560SEL vs The Hybrid Part 1

I've never been convinced by hybrids. While under ideal conditions, they can be rather efficient and positive for the environment. For a taxi they can be a good choice in stop and go traffic getting the most out of their batteries. For a driver like myself, few things could be worse for the environment. Over the next little while I'll be writing about how terrible the Toyota Prius can be.

This video clip from the BBC's Top Gear sums up just what is wrong with hybrids.

Pretty Pictures / Schöne Bilder

Here are just a few of the nice pictures that I've taken of the car

Hier sind einige schöne Bilder von meinem Auto.









































At the beach with downtown Vancouver in the background.
Am Strand mit Vacouver im Hintergrund.

23 litres per 100km, built for the city?

Currently most of my driving is done in the city and often for short distances. After putting in approximately 40 litres I drove 171km before my fuel light came on recently. That roughly means I've been consuming 23l/100km or getting 12mpg ( 10mpg US ). Luckily I don't have to drive great distances or all that often.

While the 560 can achieve reasonably acceptable fuel economy on the highway the figures for the city can be rather discouraging. You do have to look at is this way though, while the 560 is at home on the wide and open highway, the driver can be at home inside the 560 during the worst of city traffic. Why be in a hurry to get home and relax when you are already relaxed in the car? Typical drivers sprint from one intersection to another, while the S-class driver can glide from red light to red light in comfort and dignity and make it home in the same amount of time.

Gear changes can happen at rpms as low as 1500rpm, meaning the engine rarely does any real work. A topographical sensor knows when the car is on an incline and will stop you from rolling back the slightest amount when stopped on a steep incline. From a stand still second gear is used to start reducing wheel spin and offering smooth acceleration.

So all in all, you could argue that you don't get to enjoy the feel of a Mercedes at high speed, but low speed driving in a Mercedes can be equally as enjoyable. It gives you a moment to realise just how well the 560 SEL is put together and just how capable the car can be.