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Monthly Newsletter of the Pikes Peak Section of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America.
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Welcome new members!
Inside this issue:
View From the Peak 2
Bugs Bunny 3
February Fun Run 3
MBUSA Sales VP 3
March Fun Run 4
Magic of the West 4
Springs Rally 5
DIY Tech Session 5
Monument Trifecta 5
MHS Events 5
PPS Shirts 6 Mesa Verde Regional 6
Der Marktplatz 7
Click 7
Congrats Broncos 8
P3 Update 8
S-400 Coupe 9
Keep Tinkering 9
E-Class Auto Driving 10
Kirkland Baxter
Newsletter of the PIKES PEAK SECTION
FEBRUARY 2016
‘ROUND THE BENZ
Valentine’s Day DinnerSaturday, 14 February 2016
5:30 p.m.Take your special some-one to Mimi’s Cafe, 7133 N. Academy, for a spe-cially planned Valentine’s
Day dinner. For only $30 a person, we’ve arranged a 3-course meal to include your selection from a menu chosen just for us. The menu will offer a choice of soup or salad and a main course of beef, fish, chicken, or pasta. A signature dessert, coffee, or tea will top off the meal. No need to make your selections ahead of time - decide at the restaurant. A no-host bar will be available. Meet and greet at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:00 p.m.
Please complete the form below and mail it, along with payment to Mary Bixler. We need to receive payment no later than Monday, 8 February. Please direct any questions to Mary at [email protected] or give her a call at 719-597-1281.
The Best or Nothing!
View From the Peak by Andrew NelsonSection OfficersPresident:Andrew [email protected]
Vice President:Judy [email protected]
Secretary:Mary [email protected]
Treasurer:Julie [email protected]
Directors:Stan [email protected]
Glenn [email protected]
Henry [email protected] Sylvia [email protected]
Dave [email protected]
Webmaster:Robert [email protected]
Editor:Judy [email protected]
Regional Director:Michael [email protected]
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‘Round the BENZ is published monthly by the Pikes Peak Section of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America (MBCA), Inc. Articles and ideas are the opinions of the writers and no authentication is implied as to the validity of any infor-mation contained therein. Explicit permission to republish any article with proper attribution is given to all sections of MBCA, Inc. Articles for publication consideration should be mailed to Pikes Peak Section, MBCA, Attn: Editor, 4335 Penhurst Place, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 or, whenever possible, emailed to: [email protected]. Deadline for receipt is the 18th of the month prior to the month of issue.
Pikes Peak Section members are encouraged to support the advertisers in our newsletter. They help to make this publication possible.
‘ROUND THE BENZ
It was great to read the articles about “The Trucks of Daimler-Benz” in the two most re-cent issues of The STAR magazine. It brought back a lot of memories
about my own experiences with Mer-cedes-Benz trucks.
Thirty years ago, in February 1986, I would likely have been driving one some-where in the country to a power plant. Back in the day, I worked for a power plant maintenance company that had a contract with General Electric to provide high-pressure water cleaning of the lube oil piping systems of GE steam turbine/generator units at power plants all over the U.S., and overseas plants as well.
The owner of the company was German, and one of the main tanker/water pump trucks we used was a 1982 L 1419 Mer-cedes-Benz truck. As explained in the articles in The STAR, since 1963 all M-B trucks have used an alphanumeric sys-tem to classify trucks. L is for Lastwa-gen, the German word for truck. The first two numbers, 14, designate the gross vehicle weight in metric tons (metric ton = 1,000 Kg, or approximately 2,200 lbs.). The last two numbers, 19, indicate the horsepower divided by 10: 190 PS (Pferdestärke, German for horsepower). The actual output of the 400 series V-6 diesel engine was 192 PS.
From 1983 through 1991, I drove this truck to power plants all over America. The truck was bulletproof—the only repairs in all those years was to wear items like the exhaust system (rusted out and replaced several times), tires, trailer hitch, etc. One wear item that needed to be replaced a couple of times was the very large M-B star on the front grille that had been stolen or vandalized.
For a relatively short-wheelbase truck towing a heavy trailer, it rode surpris-ingly well, with a firm but well-controlled suspension. The truck completely fulfilled the well-earned reputation of M-B trucks: well built, robust and totally reliable. We drove and worked that truck hard through all road and weather conditions, and it never let us down.
Mercedes-Benz trucks, like their cars, still continue to fulfill Gottlieb Daimler’s original saying, “Das Beste oder Nichts” (The Best or Nothing). This remains the reason we love the vehicles with the three-pointed Star.
As always, drive safe, and I will see you down the road.
Andrew
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“...a nice, re-
laxing way to
end the work-
week....”
February Fun Run Saturday, 20 February 2016
9:00 a.m. The weather outside remains frightful, or at least the possibility is there. Winter is upon us and that makes driving our Star cars sometimes problematic. So, we’re going to be spontaneous with our Fun Run for February and see what the weather does.
If it’s nice, we’ll do a drive; maybe to points
of interest or another interesting destina-tion. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll enjoy a nice meal in the company of good friends and the opportunity to catch up on what’s been going on with everyone.
Come on out to The Egg & I restaurant at Citadel Crossing at 9:00 a.m. We order from the menu, as much or as little as we like. Andrew provides a recap of upcoming events and happenings within the Club. It’s a nice, relaxing way to end the workweek.
Friday, 5 February 20165:00 a.m.
Bugs Bunny at the Symphony celebrates Looney Tunes and its legendary stars! See everyone’s favorites—Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Wile E. Coy-ote, Road Runner and more—projected on the big screen while the Colorado Springs Philharmonic performs the extraordinary original scores live.
This concert has thrilled audiences around the world, spotlighting classics like What’s Opera, Doc?, The Rabbit of Seville, Rhap-sody Rabbit, and Baton Bunny.
We are planning to attend the performance on Friday, 5 February at 7:30 p.m. at the Pikes Peak Center in Colorado Springs. Seats in the balcony are $33 per adult and
$13 per student. It’s late, but we may still be able to get addi-tional seats for this performance.
We are also plan-ning a pre-concert dinner at an ex-cellent seafood restaurant, English Dockside, 1201 W. Colorado. Dinner is at 5:00 p.m.; order from the menu.
Please give Julie Nelson a call at 719-634-7522 or 719-271-9454; or email her at [email protected] if you would like to join us.
Bugs Bunny at the Symphony
Mercedes-Benz USA today named Adam Chamberlain, 42, as its vice president of sales, effective April 1. In his new role, Chamberlain is responsible for sales, vol-ume planning and distribution operations in the U.S. He will report directly to Dietmar Exler, the new CEO of MBUSA. Chamber-lain, who is British, previously was sales director of passenger cars for Mercedes-Benz UK.
Chamberlain joined Mercedes-Benz in 2013 as United Kingdom sales chief. Mer-cedes touted his strong relationship with
the dealer network in the UK, plus the sig-nificant growth in retail new and pre-owned car sales during his tenure. Chamberlain also led a team tasked with improving the customer retail experience.
He started in the industry with Volkswagen AG in 1994. He held various management positions in Volkswagen’s retail and sales units in the UK through 2009. He was then promoted to head of sales and marketing for Volkswagen Ireland and three years after that became managing director for Seat in Ireland.
MBUSA Gets a New Sales Chief
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Call Ken today!
March is known to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. We have no idea what it’ll do in the middle. But we’ll find out on Saturday, the 19th at 9:00 a.m., when we gather for breakfast and a possible fun run
to follow.
We’re open to any and all ideas. Got any new and unique locations you’ve been hankering to visit? Let’s go!
“...something
new and
completely
different....”
March Breakfast & Fun Run - 19 March 2016
Magic of the West Tour by Ken SheehanOver the past couple of years, we have held a Star Party in June. This year we are planning something new and completely different for the third weekend of Septem-ber (16-18 Septem-ber). We will visit the South Dakota landmarks, Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. The trip will continue to the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. Because this is such a long trip, we need to make several choices. I would like to get input from our members before we proceed with the planning.
1. Should this be a 4-day venture? Drive up on Friday, visit Rushmore and Crazy Horse on Saturday, leave for Devils Tower on Sunday, stay overnight in Wyoming, then return to the Springs on Monday.
2. Drive up on Friday, visit Rushmore and Crazy Horse on Saturday, drive to Dev-ils Tower on Sunday then return to the Springs, arriving late Sunday night.
Watch the newsletter each month for up-dates. As we continue to plan, we will ask for your opinions. After all this is your trip too.
In addition to the above choices, I would like to get a feel for how many people will be interested in this venture. If you’ve never been on a road trip, like the recent visit to Taos, New Mexico, then you owe it to yourselves to join us on this chance to visit the Black Hills, Badlands of South Dakota and the wilds of Wyoming.
Sci-fi lovers will remember the Devil’s Tower was featured in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Vintage movie lovers will remember Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in “North by Northwest,” where the climax of the movie was
filmed at Mount Rushmore. We also have the Old West city of Deadwood to visit. This will be an historical, fun trip, and, yes, there will be plenty of time to shop (for you shoppers).
Please give me a call at 719 433-9025 or email me at [email protected] so we can discuss options.
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PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS!
‘ROUND THE BENZ
Restaurant WeekDate: 4 Feb 2016Location: Elway’s/The FortCost: Event pricing TBDContact: Natalie Mashburn, 303-888-2710
TheaterDate: TBD 2016Location: TBDCost: TBDContact: Natalie Mashburn, 303-888-2710
Mile High Section EventsFor more information, visit the MHS website at http://www.milehighmbca.org
President Andrew is cooking up another fun day on the road for the annual Spring Rally. This time, he’s giving new meaning to the term “springs.” Could be about our hometown, could be seasonal, could be hardware, could be liquid. Given that it’s Andrew’s
brain that’s coming up with the clues, the possibilities are endless.
Come on out for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, 16 April and find out what he has in store for us. Or meet us in the parking lot at The Egg & I at 10:30 a.m. to join the fun.
“Springs” Rally & Breakfast - 16 April 2016
“Don’t let this
opportunity
pass you by..”
Plan to attend our Spring Do-It-Yourself Tech Session on Sunday, 24 April at Mercedes-Benz of Colorado Springs at 730 Automotive Drive. We start out the morning with coffee and doughnuts, cour-tesy of Dave Williamson, and then head to the lifts where we change our wiper blades, oil, and tires just in time for the Spring thaw and resulting slush alerts. We can also tend to other minor repairs. Cost
is only $10 per car and all proceeds go to the Section. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.
Give Dave a call at 719-575-7976 to reserve your lift and discuss your project. Time to save some big $$ people; remem-ber, it’s one week after the IRS puts a dent in your wallet. Call Dave Williamson at 719-575-7976 for details.
D-I-Y Tech Session - 24 April 2016
March Breakfast & Fun Run - 19 March 2016
Magic of the West Tour by Ken Sheehan
Monument Trifecta - 21 May 2016Do you know what a trifecta is? Miriam-Webster defines it as “a bet in which the person betting forecasts the first three fin-ishers in a race in the correct order.” Well, Pikes Peak Section, you are all going to be winners in this race because we’re going to Monument to finish one-two-three with beer, wine, and whiskey. You guessed it - we will be visiting a local brewery, winery, and distillery for tastings and a late lunch.
Join us for our monthly breakfast at The Egg & I at Academy Crossing and then we’ll take off on a leisurely drive through
the countryside, wending our way north to the bustling and picturesque little town of Monument, CO. If the weather cooperates, it’ll be an ideal opportunity for an outing for the roadsters in our group - tops down, wind in our hair, and adult beverages at the end of the drive. What’s not to like?
Mark the date on your calendar and watch your newsletter for more details. Con-tact Dan Kerbs for more information at [email protected] or give him a call at 719-594-6017. Bottoms up!
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Pikes Peak Section ShirtsTime to show your MBCA spirit, Pikes Peak Section. We’ve found some new shirts that look spectacular - light blue for the ladies and darker blue for the gents.
Your choice of cotton pique or polyester. For more details, please contact Judy Ben-nett at [email protected] or 719-576-9737. The order form is below.
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Der MarktplatzWanted. C36 or C43 sedan. 300SEL 6.3 sedan. Call Pete at 719-599-7100 or email [email protected]
Running Board Trade. I have a 2012 ML 350 that needs running boards. I’m looking for someone with a 3rd generation
ML who has running boards but really wants rocker panel covers. Let’s trade. It’s not a hard job to do and we’ll each save over $1000. Contact Dave Car-penter at 719-532-0257 or [email protected]
Roof Box Cargo Carrier. Price reduced! $300 cash only or make an offer. Contact John or Hilda at 548-8322 or [email protected]
2000 SL-500 hardtop (black and perfect) with stor-age stand for $1,000. Plus I’m interested in pur-chasing a ‘04/’05 SL-500, Black on Black or Black on Gray, the usual stuff - perfect and low mileage for around $20,000 - $25,000. Call Rick Palmer 597-5241.
Mercedes CD Changer – 6 disk, $80, 002 820 5989, with frame-holder and velcro cover. Call Har-vey at 331-1212.
This just in from the latest edition of the MBCA e-newsletter, Click, a quick wrap-up of news, dis-counts & special events:
Announcing StarFest® 2016! Wednesday August 3rd- Saturday August 6th, 2016. The Minuteman Section invites you to New Eng-land for 2016 StarFest®! StarFest® 2016 will take place in Connecticut’s “Quiet Corner” with lush green val-leys and picturesque hilltop farms, it’s also know as the Antique Capital of Connecticut. From the seashore near the host hotel, to the lush greenery near the host track, the two are linked by a short trip on I-395. Spectacular scenery and iconic New England towns await your discovery. Registration for StarFest® is open now. For more information, visit MBCA.org.
2016 Germany Tours. Travelers will enjoy guided
tours of the Carl Benz Museum in Ladenburg; the Daimler Workshop in Bad Cannstatt; AMG facili-ties in Affalterbach; the Mercedes-Benz Museum and Brand Center in Unterturkheim; the Technical Museum in Sinsheim; the Bad Cannstatt Engine Assembly Plant; the Classic Center in Fellbach and the Sindelfingen assembly plant that covers more ground than the entire principality of Monaco. This trip is $2,500 U.S. per person plus airfare.
For more information please contact Jim O’Sullivan at 843.671.2079 or [email protected]
Cars & Coffee at Amelia Island. For a third year, Mercedes-Benz Club of America members have been invited to display their Mercedes-Benz ve-hicles on the fairways of the Golf Club at Amelia Island during the Cars and Coffee at the Concours on Saturday March 12, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sub-mittals should be submitted in digital
form; mailed or hard copy nominations will not be accepted. Submit your nomination to William Hop-per, [email protected].
Page 8
Congratulations to the Denver Broncos2015 AFC Champions!
Paved Peaks & Passes UpdateThe Paved Peaks & Passes program is alive an well. As you saw at the Pot Luck, our teams are relentless in their pursuit of those prized passport stamps. Julie & An-drew Nelson completed their Phase I pass-port just last month, reaching the magical number of 30 passes and getting their jacket patch. Congratulations, Andrew & Julie. They’re still working on the POIs as well, as you can see below.
For Phase II, we had 5 teams complete the passport by the end of January with 2 more closing in fast. Too bad the weather didn’t
cooperate. But congratulations to the Absh-ers, Bennetts, Bixlers, Croaks, and Rus-sells on driving to 40 points of interest. And special congratulations to Clark & Karen Absher, proud hosts to our own traveling gnome, the Platinum Posterior Award for the longest drive in 2015.
Judy & Charlie are busy working on Phase III for 2016 so stay tuned to see where we’ll be driving this summer. Passports should be available by 30 April 2016. Contact Judy for more information at [email protected] or give her a call at 719-576-9737.
“GO BRONCOS!”
Wallners at USAFA POI Nelsons at Guffey Nelsons at Como
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‘ROUND THE BENZ
People have been customizing cars al-most since the car was invented, but these days that often means playing with the soft-ware that controls many vehicle systems. That’s not something automakers want people to do, though, and for the past few months they’ve lobbied to make it illegal.
The 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) protects copyrighted materials like movies from being pirated, but automak-ers argued that their own software should be protected by the law as well. Effectively arguing that consumers don’t own the soft-ware in their vehicles, they claimed modern cars have gotten too complex for shade-tree mechanics to tinker with. But the Feds didn’t see things that way, and recently exempted automotive software from the DMCA.
That means owners can access software for vehicle repairs and modification with-out fear of prosecution. It also potentially means that research like the study that uncovered Volkswagen’s emissions cheat-ing can continue.
There are some restrictions, though. The exemption does not include software relat-ed to a vehicle’s telematics or entertainment systems, and it does not allow third parties that might engage in diagnosis, repair, or modification on behalf of the owner. That would require new legislation from Con-gress, officials said.
Speaking of Congress, there is already a bill being drafted that would make access-ing automotive software illegal. Introduced in the House of Representatives, it includes language saying it “shall be unlawful for any person to access, without authorization, an electronic control unit or critical system of a motor vehicle.”
If that bill doesn’t pass, though, the DMCA exemption granted by the Copyright Office means owners will remain free to modify software as well as hardware. Of course, they’ll still be responsible for any modifica-tions that void a car’s warranty, or run afoul of safety or emissions rules.
You Can Continue to Tinker by Stephen Edelstein
S-400 is Here by V. VijayenthiranMercedes-Benz is expanding its S-Class Coupe range to include a new entry-level model: the S400 4Matic Coupe. It joins existing S-Class Coupe models such as the S550 as well as Mercedes-AMG’s S63 and S65 high-performance duo, though we should note that the car is yet to be con-firmed for sale in the United States.
The S400 4Matic Coupe is powered by the same twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine found in a number of Mercedes models, and in the big coupe the output has been tuned to match the 362 horsepower the en-gine produces in several of the AMG sport models as well as the 2017 SL450. Peak torque, meanwhile, registers at 369 pound-feet.
The standard transmission is a seven-speed automatic and drive is to all four wheels via Mercedes’ 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. Other standard goodies include
LED headlights, air suspension, parking as-sist, autonomous braking and the COMAND infotainment system.
The current entry-level S-Class Coupe, the S550 4Matic Coupe, is priced from just over $120k, with shipping. We’re waiting to hear back from Mercedes whether the S400 4Matic Coupe will be offered in the States. If offered here, it’s likely the S400 4Ma-tic Coupe will see the price of entry head lower.
“That’s not
something
automakers
want people
to do....”
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“...take full
control of
the braking,
accelerating,
and steering.”
Mercedes-Benz revealed last month that the 2017 E-Class will have an autonomous driving feature called Drive Pilot that will make it the most advanced autonomous driving vehicle in the brand’s portfolio.
The story follows Michael Kelz, chief en-gineer for the E-Class, CLS-Class and GLC-Class, as he drives from Las Vegas to Los Angeles in an E-Class prototype. It
says that Drive Pilot allows the car to drive almost completely by itself. The driver can take his/her hands off the wheel, and the car will take full control of the braking, ac-celerating, and steering.
The car will flash an indication that the driver should take back the wheel every so often, but the driver must then only swipe one of the two touch controls on the steer-ing wheel to allow the car to continue to drive by itself. Mercedes models equipped with the current autonomous driving suite, Intelligent Drive, require that the driver take back the wheel after 10 seconds. It sounds like Drive Pilot will allow the driver to have his/her hands off the wheel for longer inter-vals.
In fact, the story says that if it weren’t cur-rently illegal to do so, the driver could use the time with his/her hands off the wheel to catch up on emails. In the future it will
be possible to adapt the driver assistance system to the local regulations.
Various anecdotes in the story highlight different capabilities of Drive Pilot. For instance, it will give the car the ability to complete an autonomous passing maneu-ver, including performing the steering and acceleration. The driver will only have to tap an indicator. The car will also park itself
remotely. In other words, the driver won’t have to be in the car to allow the car to park itself.
In the city, the E-Class will brake for pedestrians or crossing traffic, and an Evasive Steering Assist feature will help avoid a colli-sion once the driver begins
the steering input. There is no more expla-nation of how it works, but we can hazard a guess. Like brake assist applies full brak-ing power when the driver begins to hit the brakes when an imminent collision is detected, once the driver begins steering, Evasive Steering Assist will move the steer-ing wheel, possibly using the car’s radar and cameras to find the safest direction to go while avoiding the accident.
Finally, the next E-Class will offer car-to-X communication, allowing it to inform other cars of danger spots, accidents, and traffic backups. This will be enabled by a central Daimler server, and only other Mercedes models will be able to tap into it initially. However, other vehicles with the capability will be brought on board over time.
The story offers two other tidbits about the 2017 E-Class. First, it will offer multi-beam LED headlamps, and second it will be up to 154 pounds lighter than the outgoing car.
E-Class Autonomous Driving by Kirk Bell
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2 February 2016Board Meeting - 6:00 p.m.Andrew Nelson 719-634-7522
5 February 2016Bugs Bunny @ the Symphony - 7:30 p.m.Julie Nelson 719-634-7522
14 February 2016Valentine’s Dinner - 5:30 p.m.Stan & Mary Bixler 719-597-1281
20 February 2016Breakfast & Fun Run - 9:00 a.m.Andrew Nelson 719-634-7522
1 March 2016Board Meeting - 6:00 p.m.Andrew Nelson 719-634-7522
19 March 2016Monthly Breakfast & Fun Run - 9:00 a.m.Andrew Nelson 719-634-7522
5 April 2016Board Meeting - 6:00 p.m.Andrew Nelson 719-634-7522
16 April 2016Breakfast & Springs Rally - 9:00 a.m.Andrew Nelson 719-634-7522
24 April 2016D-I-Y Tech Sessaion - 10:00 a.m.Dave Williamson 719-575-7976
3 May 2016Board Meeting - 6:00 p.m.Andrew Nelson 719-634-7522
Calendar of Upcoming Events
The Pikes Peak Section Board of Directors meets the First Tuesday of Each Month at Mercedes-Benz of Colorado Springs, 730 Automotive Drive. Meetings start at 6:00 p.m.
All Section members are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Return Service Requested
On the Web at www.mbca.org/pikes_
peak/
To:
‘ROUND THE BENZ
‘Round the BenzEditor
4335 Penhurst Place
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
MBCA Pikes Peak Section
Happy Valentine’s
Day
