The 2000 S-Class Showdown - YouTube

My comment is on the video, Acct1941. Sic your dogs on these
cheating Germans.

 

Great Vid! Do you think the blue jackets with the MB logo have something to do with the bias in it?

I've owned a '95 740IL and a 2003 s500 before the Jag. There is things I like about each one of these cars but the Benz was far from the best.

I liked the 740IL brakes way better, however the BAS system on the Benz saved my butt a few times.

 

Mercedes did have a nice suite of accidence avoidance equipment early on.

And they were very predictable cars - and ugly IMO.

 

What a load of S**t! I couldn't watch the whole thing because my laptop was actually beginning to smell like BS! I wonder how much money those guys were paid to shoot the Jag down so much? Honestly, the XJ8 is no where near as bad as they made it out to be, any Jag, even the XJ40, is better than any of the Taxis mercedes make.

And as for the Merc being the only one to offer a manual shift on the transmission, they obviously don't know what the J-Gate is.

I have driven my Jag in most conditions, had to stop on a sixpence and avoid debris in the road, and it did it with far more ability than that video made out.

As for acceleration, the Jag is faster than they made out. OK mine is tweeked a little so it is faster than standard, but even before that it was fast.

These Videos are made by companies like Merc who have no confidence in their products. Jaguar never need to do comparison tests, because they are Jaguar.

I hate Mercedes, I hate their drivers they are all the same. Mercedes are S**t.

Rant Over.

 

I'm really sorry to say this, but this video IS ABSOLUTE CRAP! It's said I have to comment such materials as I'm in the management of the local Mercedes-Benz Club, but there are a lot of obvious things in this video:
1. All the cars, except the S-class, are with 4.0 natural aspired engines, and the S-class is with 5.0... Excuse me, but since when 1 liter of engine size is not a big deal specially when comparing acceleration
2. All the cars, except the S-class, are models developed in the middle of 90' and the specific S-class is a year 2000 model. These are 3-5 very important years regarding the electronic stability systems!
3. The tires on the Lexus and the Jaguar seem to be smaller that those on the BMW and the Mercedes... after all - when you are practicing slalom or accident avoidance the tires are the most important factor!

And why they don't talk about other qualities... Why they don't mention luxury, design, comfort, style?!?! Why they doesn't talk about prices?! Or the most important - durability! I mean - how often these cars need repairs. Because, believe me, this S-class is like the Windows Millenium for Microsoft meaning the worst model ever (talking about quality of construction and parts).

 

the bmw is actually a 4.4l and they tested a S430 in this test, so they were all pretty similiar

 

MB reich paid these twerps. I'm with Stu - I hate everything about them. Once restored a 230SL pagoda at the behest of a female in the family - it's pagone. It took twice as long to do as an E Type, half the value, and the mechanical fuel injection was, well the same as an a Messerschmidt 109, crap, if it was any good they'd have won the Battle of Britain, right?
Merc reek of middle class, nouveau rich - that seek acknowledgement from their associates, poor dumb clowns.

Why didn't they throw an R at it with CATS? because it would have spanked it, just like a SPITFIRE....

At least they come to bits easy.

 

When I arrive at Madrid airport on Friday afternoon, I'll see if I can take a photo of the line of Taxis waiting outside. Almost all of them will be Mercedes of some description.

Put it this way, my boss has a 12 month old £42,000 Mercedes R class which sits in the company car park. When clients and customers arrive they are always rubbernecking at my XJ8 lurking in the Drivers Car Park.

 

I agree, the S-Class looks like a Euro-taxi. And they're so overpriced, and lose their value so quickly. They look pretty poor, I never cared for Mercedes when it took inspiration from jaguar (1995-2005ish) and copied the 4 headlights, making some ugly rubbish (W210). The CL isn't bad though.

Agreed with Stu and Sean... R class is about as eye-catching as a VW Golf. The X308 is more like a Quattroporte in terms of turning heads.

This Battle of Britain here would've been more fair were they to use an XJR, (same price as S500, Mercedes losers!) it would have been the Spitfire. The XJ8L is more like the Hawker Hurricane (a huge success, but without as much of the Spitfire's beauty), and the XJ Sport is the Typhoon.

In keeping with the Messerschmitt Bf-109 idea..., ironically, Stu, they were used by the Spanish Air Force until 1965! So, when you go to Spain, maybe you can get a ride from the airport in a 109.

 

I'm surprised Mercedes was so desperate and felt the need to make a video like this. It's funny how at around 6:40, they try to bash the Jag V8 and they claim it has "275hp". I guess it must be fun to make up random #s.

This video seems to take 30 mins to show what could have been shown in about 5 mins. However, it seems like the video was made for "low information" Mercedes salesmen who don't know the basics of cars. I couldn't watch this whole thing. It is soooo drawn out. I flipped through most of it.



164 ft to stop from 60mph? WTF? I have never seen the X308 with braking tests from 60mph that are longer than 130ft.

On the avoidence test, the driver clearly only attempts to counter steer the skid one time in the Jag. It's redic how before the traction circle test the editor randomly inserted a video of the Lexus LS400 spinning out of control from the avoidence test to give the illusion of the Lexus handling much worse than the others.

They never even showed the Jag in the slalom.

WHY did they say the Jag was the slowest in the group, but it was actually the 2nd fastest for acceleration.



Nice find btw Ian. I always find video reviews of the X308 interesting, esp since they are hard to find for the X308.

 

well I always been a fan of Mercedes.

The reality is that the last true S-Class was the w-140. After that, the w220, plastic all over the interior, lower quality materials, crazy problems with things as if they was never tested outside the factory, and the styling is nice but kind of blends in with everything else. Look at the MBZ of the 70s, one look and you could tell it wasa benz. Look at the w126 of the 80s, nothing looked like it on the road. Even the 90s w140, big, slightly obnoxious, vault like doors, thick leather, and wood interior that feels and look expensive for the day. The W220, meh, like an overpriced Honda with more issues. And like I said, I'm a fan of MBZ but that doesnt mean I'ma jump on any old crap they decide to build just because it is a Mercedes.
And thus, I bought a Jag. Old school and new at the same time, nice styling that probably wont go out of style and there is no mistaking the xj8 for anything else. Not to mention very good performance that will keep up with the big 7-series and S-class 5.0 very well but with better gas mileage to boot.

I'm not going to get started on the W210. I think it was an attempt to go retro styling of the benzes of the 50s and 60s but it didnt translate well. But yeah the CL is nice but the interior is bascially the same stuff in the S-class V-8s. The V-12 interior is nicer though but to me it still doesnt beat the base line XJ8 interior IMO.

 

Twelve years on does it all matter?
The Jag still looks like sex on wheels, the rest look old.

 

I must admit I never thought I'd own a jag because of all the nasty rumors about the problems that occur when owning one. When doing my luxury car search I always looked at the latest Mercedes s550 or BMW z whatevers but brothers the day I bumped up on my XKR 06' victory edition man the heavens must have been staring down on me. I tell you a mans automobile should fit his style, personality, and his mystery! Mines fit me like a tailored suit, sometimes this car draws too much attention like I'll come out from a restaurant to see my baby surrounded by onlookers. BMW and Merc may be household names but that's only because who's buying them. The Fake! Well I'd rather be in the club of the REFINED!!!!!!!

 

Ridiculous video. Do Mercedes under estimate the intelligence of their target customers that much? I made comments on that video under Marquis Rex. They echo what has already been covered in this thread

I'm not a Mercedes hater though. I bought a 1993 W124 400E for the wife.
It was the last of the solidly built Mercs, a totally different car to a Jaguar, far less distinguished and oppulent

 

The older mercs were well built. I used to own a 1987 190E 16V Cosworth. Great little car with a sweet engine with lots of potential. They raced them in the DTM.

 

WOW!!! What BS

They even stacked the deck in their favor before fudging the results. Is it just me or were they using the longer, heavier, and extra comfortable XJ8L. Maybe it was even a Vanden Plas. Even the BMW looked like it could have been an extended wheelbase model. Great plan MB, test your S class against the rival heavier limo models. They even lied about stability control. My 99 XJ8 came with it and I can vouch that it works great.

 

My Mercedes was far and away a better car than my Jag could have ever hoped to be. I had such high hopes for my VDP because look at all it had to offer. Instead all I got was the bitter and nearly no sweet. My Jag was a classy looking car but I couldn't trust it and if you can't do that what is a car for? I don't know why this video was made because a Benz sells itself. All cars have problems. Just look at MB's own folly with the bio degradable wiring harness fiasco in the 90's. That was just nuts but I'd still take a W140 over a Jag any day.

 

Here is an example of how Jaguars win over Mercedes every day.

My OLD boss from my OLD job drove Mercs, for years, hated Jags because his Dad liked them. I let him take my XJ8 for a spin once and I have learnt last week that he has now bought an XF, because after driving the Jaguar the mercedes seemed too clinical and ugly.

Plus Mercedes build quality leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Mercedes has been making nice cars since late 2000s , thankfully
This is why I ordered a W212 , one of the best looking cars ever made and not to mention quality after W210 crap

 

That's because they're re-badged Chrysler cars....