Hello folks.

Another new one to your forum. I live in the UK, and look forward to the summer as is the usual story for this time of year.

The Mercedes-Benz 500SL has been cleaned up, Zymol'd and serviced - ready for my weekly spin around the country lanes. Can't wait, all I need now is some Sun. (My SL doesn't go out in the rain - ever!).

It's a 1991 model, Almandine Red with Black Leather. I've had it for nearly 9 years, and doubt if I will ever sell it. I only sold my last 500SL (107 model) because it didn't have a power roof. That too was a great car. My current SL is immaculate and with your technical advice (and I suspect the occasional visit to the Merc' garage) I hope to maintain it that way for years to come.

regards.

 

You certainly take great care of your car. I'm sure it's the shiniest in town. We should all treat each other that good (No, I'm not asking him to give me a bath, so shut up , you idjits out there. Think clean thoughts. hehe).

I used to plan to do that no-rain thing with my toying around cars. What I found is that I couldn't take them on any road trips if I weren't willing to let them get baptized. It's almost impossible to go 500 miles or more without getting at least sprinkled on, unless you're an obessive-compulsive weather checking lunatic, I guess.

The mountain roads are my favorite. In the best mountains in my vicinity, it will begin to rain with no notice at all. The skies will be all clear, then all of a sudden there's a clap of thunder and the sky falls. Even the weather forecasters can't see it coming. Where I grew up in the northern Utah mountains, it could start snowing any day of the year, even during mid-summer when it was warm outside.

Which Zymol do you use? Is it that concourse stuff that all but a few can afford?

 

Graham I wonder a little bit too since the UK, especially London, is known for the fog and the rain...Is there any reliable day you can drive with this philosohpy ?
Beside my German cars I also have a very British Car (guess guys which brand) and I mostly try to follow your rule (only nice weather and not being in a hurry but just enjoying to ride the car) but I agree with Lugnut: Sometimes I take a long weekend to go to some nice place a couple hundred miles riding and sometime I get some sprinkles and I have to return if it rains or not. The car needs to be cleaned after that but a car should be able to survive some rain without any damage.....

 

I use the standard Zymol, "Carbon". I don't use that stuff that's sold for thousands... for thousands of ££££, I would want more than just wax in that tub... I would like some rather tasty brunette with lar.....

No, I'd better not go there! Don't want to drag down the standard of this forum with only my 3rd post!

I don't need to spend a stack on car stuff, as the vehicle is in the garage for 6 months of the year and doesn't get winter road grime on it.

The rain is quite easy to avoid: In England during the winter it rains and rains and rains. Therefore, car stays in garage. In the summer, it does rain occasionally but the weather forecasting is very reliable so the rain is easily avoided. And as time goes by, we get less rain in the summer. For us, global warming is a pleasure!

I don't wish to be patronising, but the idea that England is always wet is something of a misconception. As for fog, well that was a bad problem in the 1950's - not an issue now. Technically, our weather should be like Eastern Europe. That is, very warm summers and very cold winters. We don't get the extremes because of the Gulf Stream. Thanks to this, we have a good mean temperature. Unfortunately, this also means it doesn't get very hot here. Flip side is, we don't get Russian winters i.e. -30 degrees. It has also meant that historically we have had quite a lot of rain. However, as I mentioned before global warming is serving us well! Do yourselves a favour guys, get over to the UK in the summer and see what we have to offer! Tell you, country pubs, drive through the lanes, massive cigar in hand - there is nothing like it - with one exception, but that involves mentioning that tasty brunette again...

"Horsepower", I like your selection of vehicles. The SL is obviously fantastic, but the S430 is an interesting choice. I too have a German limo as a "throw the family in" type car - it's a BMW 750iL. Monster car, with 5.4 litres of V12 power. Very comfortable, fast and loads of gadgets, but I must say that it is not as good as a Mercedes. It was my first BMW, and it will be my last. They are just not as well built or reliable as MB. For me, the next saloon will be either an E430 or E55 AMG. As long as it has a V8, I don't really care!