Starting with the divine 300SL up to the newest model in 2012, the Mercedes-Benz SL and Hollywood have been inseparable for 60 years.Check out these automotive stars.

As part of you Spring car maintenance schedule, don't forget to take advantage of this special valid through March.

The new GLK 2012 was revealed at the New York Auto Show. Take a look at this amazing vehicle.

2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class at the 2012 New York Auto Show

• Competes with: BMW X3, Audi Q5, Cadillac SRX 
• Looks like: The new diesel option could make the GLK one of the most fuel-efficient luxury SUVs on the market 
• Drivetrain: 302-hp, 3.5-liter V-6; 190-hp, 2.1-liter inline-four diesel; seven-speed automatic transmission 
• Hits dealerships: This summer

 

For the 2013 model year, the Mercedes-Benz GLK compact luxury SUV gets a mild refresh that includes a restyled front end, a new dash and the addition of a diesel engine.

Starting with the biggest change, the GLK gets a 250 Bluetec trim for the model year. Mercedes says this four-cylinder diesel is the most powerful ever to reside in an SUV; the direct-injected 2.1-liter inline-four makes 190 horsepower and 369 pounds-feet of torque. The GLK250 Bluetec comes standard with permanent all-wheel drive.

The GLK350 uses the same 3.5-liter V-6 from three years ago, though now it produces 302 hp and 273 pounds-feet of torque (up from 268 hp and 258 pounds-feet of torque). The V-6 now comes with a stop/start system to improve gas mileage, and the trim is available with either rear- or all-wheel drive. Both engines are mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission.

Up front, the headlights, front bumper, diffuser, grille and hood are restyled. The model now comes standard with LED daytime running lights and LED accent lighting lower in the bumper. The rear remains pretty much unchanged, though there's more chrome garnish and new LED lighting patterns in the taillights. New 19-inch five-spoke alloy wheels come standard.

The cabin features a completely redesigned dashboard that looks more upscale than the former GLK's plastic-looking interior. The dash has a large burl walnut wood trim piece, redesigned radio and multimedia controls, and large chrome-ringed radial air vents. The transmission shifter has been moved from the center console to the steering-wheel column, a modern styling element seen on recent Mercedes vehicles. This frees up space for cupholders.

Newly available features include an automatic-self parking option and blind spot monitoring and lane departure warning systems. A drowsiness detection system is now standard.

The 2013 GLK350 goes on sale this summer, with the GLK250 Bluetec following in early 2013.

Source- Chicago Tribune.

mbrace2 Technology from Mercedes-Benz

Offering perhaps the most comprehensive capabilities of any telematics system on the road, mbrace2 brings together pioneering safety, customized infotainment, vehicle care and personal assistance in a technology suite seamlessly integrated into our automobiles — and accessible by computer and compatible smartphone.

Mercedes-Benz builds an 'invisible' car

Have you seen the Mercedez-Benz that runs on hydrogen?

 

The answer could be yes and no.

The German automaker has wrapped one of its F-Cell hydrogen fuel-cell powered cars with an “invisibility cloak” to highlight the small impact that it says the car has on the environment, as it emits only water vapor out of its exhaust.

To achieve the visual effect, one side of the F-Cell was covered with strips of LED lights to create a video display fed by images from cameras mounted on the other side, creating the illusion that you can see through the car, even when it’s moving. It’s a technology similar to that being tested for use on military vehicles.

The cloak reportedly cost about $250,000 to create and won’t be heading to showrooms anytime soon, but a small test fleet of the car underneath it is already on the road in Europe and California.

Essentially an electric car that replaces the heavy, slow to charge battery pack with a high-tech fuel cell that generates electricity through the chemical process of combining hydrogen and oxygen to create water, the F-Cell can be filled up from a hydrogen pump as quickly as a gasoline-powered car and has a range of 240 miles.

The F-Cell is available for lease only at a price of $850 per month, roughly the same as a $60,000 car would cost.

 

<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=htMDdvMzrkoko_7LQBKQ-o8525B9ApGi&deepLinkEmbedCode=htMDdvMzrkoko_7LQBKQ-o8525B9ApGi&width=480

Source: Fox News

2013 SL65 AMG Muscles In on SLS AMG Roadster

Though AMG, the in-house performance division at Mercedes-Benz, has been wringing triple-digit horsepower and torque gains from the German brand’s V-8 engines, its engineers have not wrenched on the automaker’s stout 6-liter V-12 in a few years.

Mercedes responded Tuesday with the 2013 SL65 AMG, equipped with a V-12 producing 621 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque. The roadster is expected in American showrooms in November and is scheduled to have its formal debut at the 2012 New York auto show, where press previews begin April 4.

The V-12 puts the roadster in rarified, if not exclusive, power territory for a production convertible. The 2012 Ford Shelby GT500 convertible generates 650 horsepower, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 produces 570 and the Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster, the brand’s de facto droptop supercar, is rated at 536.

 

About that $200,000 AMG product: Mercedes is positioning the SL65 as its autobahn-blasting convertible grand tourer, whereas the SLS AMG Roaster retains its track-day orientation and remains quicker than the SL65 in no small part to its 3,661-pound curb weight; the SL65 weighs 4,299 pounds. Even so, Mercedes expects the SL65 to accelerate from a stop to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds, just two-tenths of a second slower than the SLS.

Within its own range, however, the SL65 barely registers as a flagship. Introduced last month, the 2013 SL63 AMG, with its 590-horsepower 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine, might have seemed perfectly suited to top the revamped SL range. But as it did in the mid-2000s, Mercedes dusted off the 6-liter V-12, which also appeared in the S65 AMG sedan and CL65 AMG coupe, as well as the 57 and 62, those doomed land yachts from Maybach, the sister brand of Mercedes under Daimler.

Distinguishing the SL65 from the SL63 in the valet lot will be a hairsplitting affair, with V-12 Biturbo badging on the side vents among the few outward signifiers of the SL65’s 31-horsepower advantage over the SL63, and the extra tens of thousands of dollars spent by its owner.

Pricing for the 2013 SL65 AMG was not disclosed. The previous-generation SL65 carried a base price just under $200,000, nearly $60,000 more than the SL63 of the same generation. In the shadowy art of supercar equivalencies, that’s roughly the difference between one SL65 in the garage or an SL63 and, for slower errands, an SLK55.

Source: NY Times

Check out the mbrace2 Technology from Mercedes-Benz

Hamann-Tuned Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster Debuts

Is it possible to improve upon the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster? German tuner Hamann thinks so. The tuner just debuted its take on the topless autobahn rocket, and the result is interesting, to say the least.

Officially dubbed the Hamann Hawk Roadster, this custom SLS AMG Roadster is a follow-up to Hamann’s Hawk coupe. The SLS AMG Roadster gets a black and red exterior theme and unique body panels that Hamann says increases downforce and reduces aerodynamic drag. The new exterior bits include a new front bumper with larger air intakes, new sideskirts, a new rear bumper with a rear diffuser, a carbon fiber hood and wing, and black one-piece 21-inch wheels.

The black and red theme carries over into the interior, which Hamann describes as a “VIP lounge with motorsports characteristics.” Right. Aside from the red and black trim pieces, the biggest interior change is the redesigned steering wheel

Despite how much Hamann changed on the SLS AMG Roadster’s exterior and interior, the tuner only lightly breathed on the SLS’ 6.2-liter V-8. Thanks to a new stainless steel exhaust system, sports air filter, and ECU re-flash, Hamann’s drop-top SLS now produces 627-hp and 501 lb-ft of torque, up from the 563 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. Other performance modifications are limited to an adjustable coilover suspension that can lower the car 1.2 inches. Hamann expects a 0-62 mph time of 3.6 seconds, and a top speed of 198 mph.

Source: automobilemag

Inside Mercedes-Benz’s American Dream Factory

When I was little, my grandmother had a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 4.5 sedan. She bought it new, drove it about 100,000 miles, then parked it in a small barn behind her house. I'm not sure why. Dad remembers transmission trouble, but my grandmother always said she wanted something new but couldn't bear to part with the Mercedes. Funny how that works.

Almost two decades after parking the car, gram hauled it out and sent it to a restoration shop. They refreshed it and repainted if for roughly what you'd spend on a used C-Class. The result was a nearly new old car. I've driven it. It's a neat experience, one with pomp and circumstance coupled with the hewn-from-solid-confidence feeling that comes only in an old Mercedes. But part of me wishes it was sitting in that barn, because the possibility — a sleeping giant, a dust-covered relic — was exciting.

I was reminded of that car, and of that promise, at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine, California. It is where sleeping giants are awakened and dust-covered relics restored.

The Classics Center is Mercedes' restoration and classic-car service in America, and it occupies about 28,000 square feet near the intersection of Interstates 5 and 405. It's a magical place where history meets talent and what must be the world's deepest parts catalog.

The Center features a showroom (shown above), where many of the cars are for sale and all of them appear brand new. When I was there not too long ago, a silver 300 SL "Gullwing" was for sale and another was being reassembled in the back shop.

On its own, this is not unique. It happens in restoration shops the world over. But there is only one place in America where Mercedes-Benz will rebuild your car to the exact specifications and condition it was when it left the factory.

Let's step inside.

 

This is the window sticker of the silver 1956 300 SL that was for sale. The SL is sublime. I drove one a few years ago. It was amazing. For just $750,000, this piece of impossible German art could be yours. It once belonged to NBC orchestra leader Don Ricardo. It rode to Europe aboard the Queen Elizabeth. It is amazing and gorgeous and fast and gifted with beautiful upswung doors and a hundred thousand sins' worth of excellent.

Given all that, $750,000 seems pretty cheap, no?

Mercedes-Benz being German, everything at the Center is ruthlessly efficient. For example, platform lifts allow maximum storage in the two-story showroom. Here we have a 1964 220 SE sedan alongside a 1954 220 cabriolet. Many of the cars in this room are for sale, which means this might be the coolest Mercedes-Benz dealer on the planet.

In addition to vehicles, the Center keeps historical records, a small collection of artifacts and an extensive selection of frequently needed parts. This engine is the legendary M100, the monster V8 that propelled the 600 limousine, the 300 SEL 6.3 and the 450 SEL 6.9 of 1975 to 1981. The latter was known simply as "The 6.9" because no other mass-production Mercedes has featured a V8 approaching 7.0 liters. Big-block German oomph meets world, world says, "Oh, yes, that's right. That's what the fist of Angry Math God looks like."

This engine was cut open for display, presumably for auto show or training purposes. Note the multiple accessories and enormous fan. There's a V8 in there somewhere. Don't make it mad.

The Classic Center is one of just two such factory-sponsored Mercedes facilities worldwide. The other, located in Fellbach, Germany, performs similar work but with the added advantage of having the corporate mothership within spitting distance.

The Center's main showroom prominently displays a Penske PC-23. The racer used Mercedes-Benz power and was part of the firm's infamous "stock-block" assault on the Indianapolis 500.

This 300 SL "Gullwing" is getting what appears to be final finish work. Note the painted steel wheels in the foreground. Note the protective masking tape on the wheel arches and the blankets on the leather-covered door sills. Note the general air of 1950s space-ship awesomeness.

Much of the Center's work can be accomplished using off-the-shelf factory parts, but some items can't be had, even for the factory. One of the Center's more ambitious projects was the recent revival of a 1910 Mercedes-Benz Simplex originally owned by a founder of R.H. Macy & Co. The work involved fabricating a new water pump and radiator, as neither were available. Here, a technician works on a 280SE 3.5 W111 cabriolet.

A vintage "Pagoda" W113 SL (below) awaits reassembly following restoration work. Note the spotless floors. Note also the wire-cage parts carts in the background; each car gets a cart or series of carts devoted to it, and those carts follow the vehicle from project start to completion.

This is the Center's state-of-the-art paint booth, just past its main service and restoration bays. As is typical with workshops of this caliber, you could eat off the floor. Or the car that just popped out of (or is about to go into) the booth.

Fender covers, towels, protection everywhere. The attention to detail, and the care with which even routine procedures are carried out, is amazing.

A six-cylinder engine, beautifully restored. From the period-correct reproduction warning label to the correct yellow-cadmium plating on the various brackets, the worksmanship achieves a general air of perfection. It isn't overdone, but neither is careless.

Everywhere you look at the Center, you see history small and large. Small, as in an overhead-cam four-cylinder mounted on its subframe and front suspension. The drum brakes give away the age.

More interesting is the 600 "Grand" limousine behind the engine. The 600 was famously the car of dictators, kings, and legends. It is just slightly more complicated, and expensive, to repair than 100 space shuttles. Case in point: The windows, like just about everything else, are hydraulically operated. The switches cost $11,200. Each. Be that as it may, a 600 is the first thing any sane person should buy after making his first $5 million.

 

The Center also performs regular maintenance and repairs, which means you can drive your 50-year-old Mercedes to the people who made it and have them bring it up to snuff. The Center prides itself for its access to factory resources — chiefly, a Mercedes production data archive second to none — and using them to keep customer cars in tip-top condition.

Plus, there's a boutique. Clothing! Mercedes swag! Who doesn't love that?

This 300 SL roadster belongs to a person with unique tastes. In addition to being fitted with a rare hardtop, much of the trim and nearly everything in the engine bay was chromed after delivery from the factory.

Source: Wired.

Fans, check out the new Mercedes Benz SL TV-Commercial - "Voice Over." Let us know what you think of this classy car.

Lokey Motor Company = Luxury, comfort and impeccable service. Serving the Clearwater, FL area for 60 years!

The 2012 Mercedes-Benz E Class - defines you as a true Leader.

Get special rates and low down payments on Mercedes Benz cars.

Hurry offer ends soon. Click here for details.

Redesigned Mercedes-Benz A-Class Revealed: 2012 Geneva Auto Show.

Just the Facts:

• A complete makeover from top to bottom could transform the new A-Class into a world-class car.
• The redesign was telegraphed at auto shows last year in the Concept A-Class.
• The new A-Class goes on sale in Europe in September.

GENEVA — A complete makeover from top to bottom could transform the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class into a world-class car, while repositioning it to be more competitive in North America. Sales to European customers begin in September, while the first A-Class models could reach the U.S. in 2013.

Mercedes has given the compact A-Class a completely different character, replacing the old boxy profile with a sleek new coupelike silhouette, while dropping the ride height more than 7 inches. The new look was telegraphed at auto shows last year in the Concept A-Class. Mercedes says the new aerodynamic body, complete with roof spoiler, has a remarkably low drag coefficient of 0.26.

The automaker also turned its AMG tuning department loose on the car, resulting in the creation of the 208-horsepower A 250 Sport and the 168-hp A 220 CDI Sport. The gasoline and diesel variants get an AMG-tuned suspension, red brake calipers, 18-inch five-spoke wheels painted high-gloss black with 235/40R18 performance tires, plus black interior trim with red accents.

All the four-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines for the five-passenger A-Class feature turbocharging, direct injection and stop-start systems. Mercedes offers customers a choice of a six-speed manual gearbox or the 7G-DCT dual-clutch automatic.

Other technical highlights include a new four-link rear axle and revised electromechanical power steering, optional sport suspension with direct-steer system and a standard radar-based collision warning system with adaptive brake assist. In addition, a full range of safety systems is being offered as standard or optional, including PreSafe preventive occupant protection, attention assist, hill-start assist, Distronic Plus, adaptive high-beam assist, blind-spot assist, lane-keeping assist, speed limit assist and active parking assist.

Mercedes is offering a wide range of seat coverings, hardware and trim options so customers can almost infinitely personalize their vehicles. One notable option enables an iPhone to be fully integrated with the operating and display system, which can be controlled through a special smartphone app.

Courtesy of Inside Line.

Big thanks to the author of this great review.

"I have been to car dealerships before in the past. I must say this was the first time that I truly had an outstanding experience. I was treated well, the processs went quickly and the vehicle that I got was like it was right off the showroom floor. I have never seen a 4 year old car look that new; it was like no one ever touched it. The vehicle was very clean, had all the maintenance records, all the manuals, both keys and floor mats. I even got a warranty. I will tell anyone that resides in the Tampa area to make the drive to Lokey Motor Company. Even with today's gas prices its worth and the construction on the way, its worth the drive to Clearwater." - Nayelique.

Click here to read more reviews.

Mercedes-Benz integrates iPhone, Siri into all-new A-Class

The paradigm has shifted. Normally an automaker's range-topper gets the latest and greatest technology, but with the introduction of the all-new A-Class, Mercedes-Benz is flipping that order on its head.

At next month's Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes will show off the next A-Class and with it, its updated COMAND infotainment system. The user interface has undergone a complete overhaul, ditching the black and beige color scheme for a sharp, modern, three-dimensional design and a range of new features and functions, nearly all of which are centered on the iPhone 4S.

The new Digital DriveStyle app allows drivers to stream AUPEO! radio (Europe's equivalent to Pandora), connect with Facebook and Twitter to read out status updates, find your car in a crowded parking lot and get real-time traffic data and point-of-interest searches through a new Garmin navigation system. All of which is available with the entry-level "Audio 20" setup.

More intriguingly, Mercedes is the first automaker to support and integrate Apple's Siri voice-recognition technology, allowing users to make appointments, send text messages and emails, get weather status and access all their songs through voice commands.

While all these features will be limited to the Euro-only A-Class at first, Mercedes says that the iPhone-integrated COMAND Online suite of services will be coming to the B-, C- and E-Class models this fall. Hit the jump for the full details.

Courtsey of Autoblog