Mercedes-Benz W210 E-Class. E430 T Estate 1998
Mercedes-Benz.
Once the clear producer of the finest automobiles, advertised under the marketing banner: 'The Best or Nothing' - a statement by one of the company's founders at the beginning of the firm's long history.
One of the core products of the Mercedes-Benz family is the mid-size 'family' car. Introduced post WWII with a unique series, chassis and body with the 1968 W114, and followed by the W123 of 1976, and W124 of 1985. In 1995 Mercedes-Benz released it's latest midsize model, the W210. In size and series it followed closely to the just supersedes W124 Series. Inline 4 cylinder petrol and diesel engines, inline 5-cylinder diesel engines, inline 6-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, and with an eye on both performance, and the US market, V8 petrol engines.
Whereas the W124 series V8 engined models were built in low volumes, many under the AMG performance sub-brand banner, the W210 series had been designed to accommodate V8s from the outset on the standard assembly lines. There were still specific AMG model, bearing higher-output V8s and 'enhanced' bodywork.
A major change occurred in 1997, with a switch from inline 6-cylinder engines to V6 engines for the first time. The new V6 units were of similar capacity to the engines they directly replaces (2.8 and 3.2 litres), but produced slightly higher maximum power figures and equal torque. A new introduction was the V6 of 2.4 litre capacity replacing the previous 4-cylinder inline engine of 2.3 litres capacity, a model of which had been fitted with a supercharger (kompressor). Another key change to the new V6 engines, which was reflected in new V8 engines introduced with a one year delay, was the cylinder head arrangement, now featuring 3 valves per cylinder instead of four.
The new bodies were of very similar dimensions to the earlier W124, with minor increases in length and width. Notably, the Coupe and Cabriolet bodystyles present in the W124 Series were now transferred to the smaller C-Class Platform under program code C208, though they were similar in size to the outgoing (shorter W124 wheelbase) models. The C208 Coupe and Cabriolet models featured many of the powertrain specifications introduced in the W210 Sedan and Estate models.
Unfortunately, one of the remaining core perceptions of the W210 E-Class Mid-size Mercedes-Benz, is that is represents the results in a change of philosophy of the great historic company, a shift from being 'Engineered like no other car', to 'Engineered for cost' with an accompanied reduction in engineering integrity and material quality. There are many documented quality failures, from paint, trim, electrical and mechanical failures. These failures were also seen first in the release of the W202 compact Mercedes-Benz, replacing the 190E-range in 1993, and the W220 Mercedes-Benz S-Class of 1998. Both these models, along with the W210 midrange, were to receive upgrades to address the early identified quality issues, though they never reached the standard achieved by their immediate predecessors, and contributed to the tarnishing of the once-revered 3-pointed star.
The replacement models, respectively the W203 C-Class, W211 E-Class and W221 S-Class all took actions during their development phases to reattain the hallowed quality mantle.
The purpose though, for this Lego miniland-scale Mercedes-Benz W210 E430 T estate car, is LUGNuts 70th Build Challenge - 'Redo and Redemption' - whereby the builder recreates a Lego model from their earlier building career, and redeems it to something worthy of their current skill level. In this case a blue E-Class Estate, which was modelled long ago, in 1995 or so, prior to the introduction of the internet, curvy parts, peer review and digital cameras.
www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3379261
This revised model incorporates opening four passenger doors, opening tailgate, opening bonnet (hood), lego technic piston Vee-engine, independent front and rear suspension, and rear-wheel drive. Some updated parts and styling round out the changes, and hopefully redeem this model to modern-day lego911 standards
Mercedes-Benz W210 E-Class. E430 T Estate 1998
Mercedes-Benz.
Once the clear producer of the finest automobiles, advertised under the marketing banner: 'The Best or Nothing' - a statement by one of the company's founders at the beginning of the firm's long history.
One of the core products of the Mercedes-Benz family is the mid-size 'family' car. Introduced post WWII with a unique series, chassis and body with the 1968 W114, and followed by the W123 of 1976, and W124 of 1985. In 1995 Mercedes-Benz released it's latest midsize model, the W210. In size and series it followed closely to the just supersedes W124 Series. Inline 4 cylinder petrol and diesel engines, inline 5-cylinder diesel engines, inline 6-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, and with an eye on both performance, and the US market, V8 petrol engines.
Whereas the W124 series V8 engined models were built in low volumes, many under the AMG performance sub-brand banner, the W210 series had been designed to accommodate V8s from the outset on the standard assembly lines. There were still specific AMG model, bearing higher-output V8s and 'enhanced' bodywork.
A major change occurred in 1997, with a switch from inline 6-cylinder engines to V6 engines for the first time. The new V6 units were of similar capacity to the engines they directly replaces (2.8 and 3.2 litres), but produced slightly higher maximum power figures and equal torque. A new introduction was the V6 of 2.4 litre capacity replacing the previous 4-cylinder inline engine of 2.3 litres capacity, a model of which had been fitted with a supercharger (kompressor). Another key change to the new V6 engines, which was reflected in new V8 engines introduced with a one year delay, was the cylinder head arrangement, now featuring 3 valves per cylinder instead of four.
The new bodies were of very similar dimensions to the earlier W124, with minor increases in length and width. Notably, the Coupe and Cabriolet bodystyles present in the W124 Series were now transferred to the smaller C-Class Platform under program code C208, though they were similar in size to the outgoing (shorter W124 wheelbase) models. The C208 Coupe and Cabriolet models featured many of the powertrain specifications introduced in the W210 Sedan and Estate models.
Unfortunately, one of the remaining core perceptions of the W210 E-Class Mid-size Mercedes-Benz, is that is represents the results in a change of philosophy of the great historic company, a shift from being 'Engineered like no other car', to 'Engineered for cost' with an accompanied reduction in engineering integrity and material quality. There are many documented quality failures, from paint, trim, electrical and mechanical failures. These failures were also seen first in the release of the W202 compact Mercedes-Benz, replacing the 190E-range in 1993, and the W220 Mercedes-Benz S-Class of 1998. Both these models, along with the W210 midrange, were to receive upgrades to address the early identified quality issues, though they never reached the standard achieved by their immediate predecessors, and contributed to the tarnishing of the once-revered 3-pointed star.
The replacement models, respectively the W203 C-Class, W211 E-Class and W221 S-Class all took actions during their development phases to reattain the hallowed quality mantle.
The purpose though, for this Lego miniland-scale Mercedes-Benz W210 E430 T estate car, is LUGNuts 70th Build Challenge - 'Redo and Redemption' - whereby the builder recreates a Lego model from their earlier building career, and redeems it to something worthy of their current skill level. In this case a blue E-Class Estate, which was modelled long ago, in 1995 or so, prior to the introduction of the internet, curvy parts, peer review and digital cameras.
www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3379261
This revised model incorporates opening four passenger doors, opening tailgate, opening bonnet (hood), lego technic piston Vee-engine, independent front and rear suspension, and rear-wheel drive. Some updated parts and styling round out the changes, and hopefully redeem this model to modern-day lego911 standards