Dallas Mercedes Benz Dealer

The Mercedes E Guard is the latest addition to the Mercedes’ special protection vehicle series.

Though not as armored and as powerful as bigger brother, the S 600, the E Guards’ VR4 (formerly B4) level armor is capable of stopping 9mm, .357, and .44 Magnum rounds , 12 gauge shotgun slugs and hand grenade shrapnel.

The intended clientele are wealthy businessmen and celebrities who may have to fend off the occasional mugger, carjacker and/or overzealous paparazzi.

The new E Guard was intentionally designed to look almost exactly like its standard non-armored sibling so as not to give the bad guys a chance to plot against you.

Weighing in at a hefty 4717lbs, the E Guard is 860lbs heavier than the unarmored version.

To cope with the additional weight of the protection features, the suspension and brake system had to be redesigned.

The E Guard now comes with a special level II AIRMATIC air suspension system for the front axle and a multi-link independent suspension, anti-squat and anti-dive, stabilizer for the rear.

17 inch wheels with run flat tires are also standard. Electronic control and restraint systems designed to assist the driver in critical situations have also been recalibrated.

Aside from the above, the E Guard can also boast of hitech systems:

• Adaptive Brake - Replaced the reportedly unreliable SBC (Sensotronic Brake Control) system.

• Direct Control - Brings more driving comfort, accurate and easy steering manipulation.

• Intelligent Light System - The Intelligent Light System adapts itself to the weather and driving conditions and increases the visibility by up to 50 meters.

• NECK-PRO head restraints - This systems improves safety after a rear-end collision by moving the latter forward by 4 centimeters and 3 centimeters upwards.

• PRE-SAFE - The preventive emergency system called PRE-SAFE cooperates with the Brake Assist PLUS in order to warn the driver if the distance between him and a car in front gets critical.

This is possible thanks to radars installed on the front of the car.

The PRE-SAFE system also calculates the most effective braking, so even if the driver jams on the brakes, the car automatically uses as much brake power as required for safe deceleration.

If a crash is inevitable, the PRE-SAFE system tightens the seat belts, automatically closes windows, and the seats’ positions are adjusted in order to minimize the effect of the crash.

Imagine if you will an M1A2 Abrams main Battle Tank.

Now remove the 120 mm M256 smoothbore cannon then take out the road wheels and tank treads and put the three pointed star in front. Viola! The Mercedes S600 Guard.

Seriously, the S600 is Mercedes’ answer to VIP protection.

Heads of state, the rich and famous, dictators, despots, royalty, drug lords and the plain paranoid are but a few of their clientele.

In the past companies such as International Armoring Corporation and Armormax would take a brand new, fully assembled vehicle straight out of the lot, strip it down to its shell then retrofit the armor and protective equipment.

What Mercedes did instead was to include the armoring in the production process.

Speaking of armor, the S600 Guard has a Level IV or B7 protection rating.

This means that his majesty is safe from 9mm to 5.56mm to armor piercing 7.62 X 51 NATO rounds striking the car to grenade shrapnel and other explosive devices underneath the vehicle.

Also built in are Michelin PAX system Run-flat tires, an integrated fire-extinguishing system and a self-sealing fuel-tank.

Probably the biggest advantage one gets from factory installing the protection as opposed to aftermarket armorers is that Mercedes can fine tune the v12 512hp byturbo engine to handle the additional 3000 lbs without any discernible loss of comfort or handling.

Despite all the structural reinforcements and protection, what comes out at the end of the production line looks just like any other run of the mill S600.

That is until you open the doors and get a look at the roughly 3 inch thick polycarbonate glass that is.

“Is the volume swept by the piston(s) in a single movement. In the very familiar four-stroke piston engine (but also in the two stroke engine) this is the volume that is swept as the piston(s) move from top dead center to bottom dead center.”
In simple terms, displacement is the amount of gas or fuel that your engine can burn thus the maximum power output it can produce. There is a direct relationship between engine displacement and horsepower. Simply put, the bigger the engine displacement the bigger or higher the horsepower. Nowadays, engine displacement is generally used in the manufacturer’s nomenclature. For example, the 2009 Mercedes CLK550 Coupe. It has a 5.5 liter DOHC 32 valve V8 engine that produces 328 horsepower and can accelerate from 0-60 in 5.1 seconds. Next is the 2009 Mercedes CLK350 Coupe. The 350 has a 3.5 liter V6 engine that pumps out 268 hp. 0-60 in 6.4 seconds. As seen above, the 550 has an engine displacement of 5.5li and the 350, 3.5li . Based on acceleration alone the CLK 550 wins hands down. Though there are other factors that determine the cars performance/top speed such as curb weight, torque and such, engine displacement is one of the more visible indicators. This extra “oomph” does come at a price though in terms of fuel economy. The CLK 550 is at 15/22 mpg while the CLK 350 has a 17/25mpg rating.

Continued: I’m not much of a car enthusiast. I just want a vehicle for myself that looks nice, comfortable, performs well, safe and easy to maintain? I’m looking at Mercedes brand though.
Next we have the Coupes. Mercedes has 3 classes of coupes: the CLK, CLS and CL. In each class there are several body styles and each with its own makeup. The CLK series comes in either as a Coupe or Cabriolet. Fyi, Mercedes is one of the manufacturers that use engine displacement in the nomenclature.
• 350 series - 3.5L 268 hp V6 engine
• 550 series - 5.5L V8, 32 valve engine
• 7-speed driver-adaptive electronically controlled automatic transmission
It’s a rear wheel drive, 2 door 4 passenger car that’s classified as a subcompact by the EPA. Simply looking at both the 350 and 550, one can say that the 550 has a manly or sporty look to it whereas the 350 has an almost refined, cultured maybe even dainty look to it.
Looking in your eyes take in the active ventilated leather seats, the Harman Kardon seven-channel digital surround-sound stereo, the steering wheel mounted controls and the COMAND System with Hard Drive Navigation among other things. Tucked away are the Four side-impact airbags. The Coupes come with full-length side curtain airbags while the Cabriolets have front seat side impact airbags that provide head and thorax protection.

With a couple of weeks of vacation time on my hands I decided to go abroad and get out of this bad weather.
I’m currently in Hong Kong and I have to say it is COLD! Well maybe not as cold as back home-I was expecting since I’m in Asia it would be a pleasant change from the winter temperatures I just left but no. It is currently about 5C here. And no I didn’t bring a jacket.

I arrived 2 days ago. The MTR (Subway) station is about a block or two from the hotel where I’m going to be staying in.

Parked on the driveway were 3 black Mercedes Benz’s- 2 S550’s and a S600.
All apparently well maintained and polished, the sunlight bouncing off the hoods.

While checking in I found out that the 3 cars were the hotel limousines. I also found out that the 2 550’s were 4matics.

The manager didn’t know how much they cost here but back home it has an MSRP of $92,350 and the S600 $147,450.

Asked how Mercedes Benz is doing here and the lady says that the Mercedes Benz is one of the more popular brands of cars here especially for limousines.

She offered to chauffer me for the day in one of the 550’s.

The roads here aren’t as wide as those stateside but surprisingly there wasn’t any traffic to speak of but I guess you really wouldn’t mind not since you’re in a cabin which is just simply luxurious.

The 5.5 382hp V8 engine of the 550 was just purring even when accelerating.

The ride as expected was extremely quiet and smooth. More to follow.