Which Books On Mercedes-Benz Do You Trust?

[J3Studio]

Which books on Mercedes-Benz do you trust?

 

I realize that's a big topic—if you asked me to get more specific, I'd say I'm most interested in post-war production cars sold in North America.

[edinmass]

AJ may have an answer for you.......

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Kime's Star and Laural covers postwar, I can check my copy if you have specific years, cars of interest. That book is downstairs but I think published in 86, and goes at least through yhe 1960s.

 

If your interested specifically in SL production, Olson's The SL Experience and Taylor 's Factory Original SL are both good guides on prod numbers and specs/features.

 

A lot of postwar MB books are very general with nice pictures but light on information.  I have a few of those as well but the three above I think are pretty good.

[J3Studio]

9 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Kime's Star and Laural covers postwar, I can check my copy if you have specific years, cars of interest. That book is downstairs but I think published in 86, and goes at least through yhe 1960s.

 

If your interested specifically in SL production, Olson's The SL Experience and Taylor 's Factory Original SL are both good guides on prod numbers and specs/features.

 

Thank you, Steve—very helpful.

Edited December 7, 2020 by J3Studio (see edit history)

[J3Studio]

10 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

A lot of postwar MB books are very general with nice pictures but light on information.  I have a few of those as well but the three above I think are pretty good.

 

True of so many automotive books.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Indeed!  Just dragged my lazy tail down to check out dates, it covers 1886 to 1986.  Kimes' style leans to detailed but holistic history.  If you want a deep look at a specific model or series though, you may need to look for something dedicated to that model.  I just ordered my third book specific to the R107 series, each author (Long, Noaks and a French gent whose book was just published in English) claiming to have the "definitive guide" to those cars. You can tell when interest in any car picks up a bit by books written and sold.  The 107 series cars will never be rare, but have a good sized following.

 

Just a fraction though, of what has been written on the Model A Ford... 🤔😁

Edited December 7, 2020 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[alsancle]

I can’t help you with post war.  Prewar, both volumes of Jan Melin are required for any serious collector.

[J3Studio]

43 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

You can tell when interest in any car picks up a bit by books written and sold.  The 107 series cars will never be rare, but have a good sized following.

 

You sure can—coverage goes from paltry to overkill, with little in between.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

1 hour ago, alsancle said:

I can’t help you with post war.  Prewar, both volumes of Jan Melin are required for any serious collector.

If they are postwar AJ can't tell them apart.. 😁

[alsancle]

2 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

If they are postwar AJ can't tell them apart.. 😁

 

Funny boy,  but you are right.  I can identify a 170s,  a 220, and sort of distinguish the 300's, the 300SL and the 190.   After that the company ceased to exist in my mind until I made the mistake of being one of 5 people in the United States to buy a R500.  After that mistake the company definitely stopped existing.

Edited December 8, 2020 by alsancle (see edit history)

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Still bitter about that R500... 

[alsancle]

47 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Still bitter about that R500... 

 

what was the tip off?

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I will say this in MB's defense recognizing full well they run like all the other major car companies.  As late as 2013-ish they were honoring warranty work on subframe faillures common on the pre 86 107 cars.  But  with little rhyme or reason, some dealerships would do the work, others would say pound sand.

 

The classic center parts program is pretty good also.

[padgett]

Used to have a Crossfire Coupe. Made in Germany on an R170 chassis, electrics all R170. Chrysler dealers no longer had the equipment to reset alarms and Mecedes dealers would not touch. Took in for an airbag recall. Fortunately could prove (photograph showing odo) it did not have SRS warning when brought in. Took four months to get reset.

[J3Studio]

16 minutes ago, padgett said:

Used to have a Crossfire Coupe. Made in Germany on an R170 chassis, electrics all R170. Chrysler dealers no longer had the equipment to reset alarms and Mercedes dealers would not touch. Took in for an airbag recall. Fortunately could prove (photograph showing odo) it did not have SRS warning when brought in. Took four months to get reset.

 

Those crossover cars have got to be tough. In our area, the best odds might be with an independent Mercedes specialist. But—agreed: aaargh!

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by J3Studio (see edit history)

[JACK M]

I recently inherited my first MB from my dads estate.

Its only a 2014 and is relatively low miles at just under 30K. I don't really much care for it as it is much smarter than me.

My oldest daughter gets it for combination 50th Bday and Christmas.

I suspect the 10 year old grandson (her nephew) will be in on the programing.

[J3Studio]

I ordered a few of the Mercedes-Benz books @Steve_Mack_CT suggested. With the mail being what it is, they have been slow to arrive. John Olson's The SL Experience came today, and I'm quite impressed. Olson really does cover the entire experience, divvying the 360-page book up into the actual cars (from 1954 to 2002), "Purchases and Ownership," "SLs Are For Driving," and "Art, Books and People."

 

Thanks again, Steve!

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Excellent J3!!  Glad you enjoy it, one of my favorites also!  Merry Christmas!!

[JACK M]

Probably the wrong place and its just an observation.

I recently inherited a 2014 MB Fourmatic. Lo grandpa miles, slightly banged up but in should be in good shape and maintained.

I gave it to my oldest daughter for her 50th birthday. She is STOKED.

Today she is driving it to her home in California.

So I only drove it around town here for a few weeks and rarely at that.

She points out that the oil temperature gauge looks high. (I never noticed)

So I  realized that I may not have even looked at any of the gauges except the gas gauge.

It wasn't oil temp but rather water temp (her concern was that it looked to be high on the gauge)

Yea, it was getting all the way up to a hundred.

I didn't worry about it, but I cant say that I had ever seen a coolant temp gauge read in Celsius in a car sold on the US market.

Tops out at 120 degrees.

 

That car is way to complicated for a guy like me, but she figured out how to get into the onboard settings by reading the novel that is in the glove box.

[TTR]

On 12/7/2020 at 11:17 AM, J3Studio said:

Which books on Mercedes-Benz do you trust?

 

I realize that's a big topic—if you asked me to get more specific, I'd say I'm most interested in post-war production cars sold in North America.

Factory issued owners & service manuals ?

[Steve_Mack_CT]

16 hours ago, TTR said:

Factory issued owners & service manuals ?

Yes in hot demand.  You won't likely find them in the $5 pile at your local swap meet.  It cost me $250 for these R107 specific manuals, but once OP gets his MB, a set like these and the Benzworld forum should set him up.  The Chilton Bentley books don't quite cut it.  Some aspects of these cars are simple and dated for the era and other areas are tricky.

[SC38dls]

Jack m, I have a 2011 MB Fourmatic, great car with 24-25 mpg at 80 mph for hours. Only problem is possible transmission problems. Hopefully by 2014 they had it fixed as it’s about a 6 grand cost to replace. I was lucky mine went bad before the warranty expired. Hope your daughter enjoys it as they are good road cars and I think are well built. 
 

TTR. The driver’s manual is a couple thick books. The onboard computer gives you a lot of info but you have to push a series of controls to get to all of it. 
 

it’s a good fun car to drive. 
dave s 

[TTR]

On 1/17/2021 at 6:38 AM, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Yes in hot demand.  You won't likely find them in the $5 pile at your local swap meet.  It cost me $250 for these R107 specific manuals, but once OP gets his MB, a set like these and the Benzworld forum should set him up.  The Chilton Bentley books don't quite cut it.  Some aspects of these cars are simple and dated for the era and other areas are tricky.

 

Although many have had significant errors or inaccuracies, in my 4+ decades in this hobby and regardless of makes/models of given vehicles, I've found factory issued manuals usually providing closest to accurate/useful/truthful(?) information regarding any vehicle.

 

OTOH, It's actually amazing how much inaccurate information manufacturers printed/released 40-50+ years ago and how much of it is still quoted or used as gospel-like reference today.

 

Any time I get a project of considerable magnitude which I've not worked on before and therefor don’t already have all available OEM manuals and/or parts books for it, first thing I do is acquire them, before touching the subject.

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by TTR (see edit history)