2006 R500: Idles Like a Truck

It's probably not much different from many other engine bays these days.
 
I was at our county fair last month, and they had an antique car display there. Opening the hood of a car 30, 50, or 70 years old sure is a wake-up call as to (A) how complex cars have gotten over the years, and (B) how hard it is to work on them today.
 
There must be a "Murphy's Law" about the more complex things get, the more engineers "engineer-out" repair ease...

Old cars needed the engine room because they needed maintenance and repair all the time!
  
Erin, turn up the radio. :-)

Even better, just turn off the ignition and help the environment and the effort to lessen our nation's dependency on oil.

I've seen plenty of short hoods/engine bays (my brother has an xB), but never one with a large longitudinal engine stuffed deep into it! I don't think you could even change the frontmost sparkplugs without dropping the engine.

Odly enough this rough idle sounds kind of neat. Almost boosts the feel of power of a car, like a muscle car. I've always considered mercedes the bavarian equivilent of the US muscle cars. high displacement high power high high torque engines, and that rough idle sort of adds to the aura. The car seems very refined, but a rough idle sort of adds a little beast to the beauty. Just a thought.
 
-Spargo