I was wondering what folks here on the forum think about the complexity of the newer MBZ models.

A friend just bought a 2004 S430, absolutely gorgeous, but wow -- the console and dash looks like something out of Star Trek! So many gadgets; he and his wife are totally confused as to what all the controls and displays mean. And they've been buying Benzes for over 30 years.

That got me thinking about how complex and gadgety the new MBZ's seem to have gotten. Seems strange that MBZ now includes so many complex features and gadgets when historically European cars have been built like tanks, very high quality, but rather austere inside. The gadgets, bells and whistles were touted by other manufacturers.

Thoughts?

 

Magicians call it misdirection. They direct your attention away from something important with something dazzling. MB has trouble building the same reliable, well-built cars they used to build, so they fill the cars with cheap electronic gizmos to make it seem better. In order to build cars like they used to, they'd have to price the cars out of the market they've spent decades developing. They've been building nothing but expensive Chevrolets lately. It's not a problem unique to MB, however. All car manufacturers are falling victim to the bean counters and modern global economics that abandon imagination and innovation in favor of a few almighty bucks.