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The Mercedes indicator stalk — a small detail done right

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567 views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  Rick_In_Tas  
#1 ·
Hi all,



I’ve been doing a bit of writing recently about the small details you notice once you’ve lived with a Mercedes for a while. The latest piece is about the indicator/combination stalk — and why Mercedes stuck with that one-hand, one-logic setup for so long.



It leans quite heavily on all SLKs, including
Font Mercedes-Benz Design Symbol Kit car

my R171 SLK and how it’s aged, so it felt relevant to share here.



Not a review or a buying guide — just an owner’s reflection.



If anyone’s interested, it’s here.

Apologies if this kind of post isn’t allowed. I can delete or move.



Alan
 
2006 Mercedes SLK200 owns
2006 Mercedes SLK200
R
#4 ·
Alan. What a beautifully written article. I did enjoy it.

It is true, Mercedes-Benz have now allowed accounting theory to dominate engineering practice and are so much poorer for it. I'm lucky that I am the age I am. I doubt whether I will ever buy a new car during what is left of my alloted time. Which is curious , because "just sell new cars" appears to have overtaken "The Best or Nothing" as Mercedes' modern credo.
 
#5 ·
Rick_In_Tas said:
Alan. What a beautifully written article. I did enjoy it.

It is true, Mercedes-Benz have now allowed accounting theory to dominate engineering practice and are so much poorer for it. I'm lucky that I am the age I am. I doubt whether I will ever buy a new car during what is left of my alloted time. Which is curious , because "just sell new cars" appears to have overtaken "The Best or Nothing" as Mercedes' modern credo.
Click to expand...
Thanks Rick — I appreciate that.



I agree it’s less about nostalgia and more about priorities shifting. Some of those older decisions feel like they were made by engineers who expected the car to be lived with for decades, not leased and replaced.



That’s partly why I enjoy the SLK so much — it still has enough of that thinking baked in to feel coherent, even now.



Glad you enjoyed the piece.
 
#6 ·
Once shareholders, managing for their own pockets took over, all was lost.

They legally cut corners, make customers become beta testers but then produce a steering wheel to send emojis whilst you drive.

They forgot the primary role(s) of owning a car.

Transport.
Be that commute, shopping, school run, holidays and liesure.

Now town planners are in on the act.
Car parking prices are being hiked whilst spaces are being reduced both in number and size.
Disabled bays have become EV charge points.
On street parking reducing, even for disabled badge holders.

Public transport is a joke.
No good for me and unreliable.
The number of times that Merseyrail Wirral line fails (rain, snow, snail on line) makes it a poor choice for a commuter.
Still, it only connects 3 key stops of urban and tourism need (Chester, Birkenhead and a small village…Liverpool).

When I buy a car, I don’t need bells and whistles, I don’t need a fridge to tell me there is no milk and why hasn’t somebody made a toaster with a radio or text service (tell me it’s overdone cos I won’t smell smoke.

Still, kicking the tyres on the latest SL will get somebody out of the office, me a coffee and biscuit before I order cheap parts.

MB has no service desk (you use a screen for pre booked servicing), an unlabelled bell to get stores to come out (eventually).

I cannot see me buying a new car, especially a merc.
 
#9 ·
Oooo, yes, I like your article, but like Myk, I'm biting my lip to stop a ten minute rant. What springs to mind on the SLK is how easy and good the cruise control stalk is. Just tap it and you're in cruise, rather than looking for the right button on the steering wheel. The one thing in all these "easy to operate" controls that foils everything though is left and right hand drive, changing which hand does what, a certain amount. You've got to feel a bit sorry for Airbus pilots as well though. depending if you're the skipper, or P2, the sidestick (controlling pitch and roll) is either on the left or right. :ROFLMAO:
Aviation Flight instruments Air travel Cockpit Aerospace Engineering
 
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R
#10 · (Edited)
That cockpit is actually quite clever though. It's "book matched", i.e. a mirror image, therefore your mind is naturally lead to the controls simply by looking at the screens above it. That's the way it should be, too. Notice that the captain and first officer have separate controls on the central console, but they too are "handed". So it's all very logical.

But talking of the cruise control, and talking of MB continuity. I love how the central panel indicates "limited to" or "cruise control" when you push in the stalk. The little orange tell-tale isn't always visible in the sun with the top down, so you have instant confirmation of the mode you select. However, as Alan pointed out, the controls are similar across the MB range, on my 2009 A-Class the speed control does NOT show a confirmation of the mode and does NOT confirm when you select "cruise"...you have to guess! It doesn't show the cruise speed set either, so from the lovely SLK control, it is a retrograde step to the 2009 model. I don't know what MB were thinking, but it's nowhere near as good in the A-Class.
 
J
#12 · (Edited)
Nicely written.

And then, there's more of it: SLK started as an engineers' car -of course, like any other generalist, its practical design was limited by the parts bin (possibly Porsche is the only big brand that takes this to its advantage: on one hand, Porsche of yore was a sports car-only brand, with parts bin going accordingly; on the other, while, say, SLK's parts bin came from C-Class, the parts bin for Boxster was 911 no less... but I digress)

You can see R170 being an engineers' car by those "invisible" details: on one hand, all the came from Merc-the-brand (yes, the indicator stalk, also the lights wheel, air con, etc.) but also design (minimal front overhang, square, full usable trunk, good visibility even under the A-pillar constrains coming from the folding roof, general ergonomy...). It happens R170 was a wild success so marketroid/bean counters payed attention. R171 not only was more of a designers' car (and a well-solved one at that) but also at the expense of engineering and ergonomics: trunk was not only reduced but also less convenient; the roof plastic protector was visually better but more complex while not more functional; those minimal details: the indicator stalk is just in a slightly higher position and it's no more a fool-proof "extend your finger and it's exactly there"; the match between the dashboard and the steering wheel diameter is also slightly off where on R170 was just perfect: I was unable to find the position between distance and angle that allows full view of the dashboard and I had to set the wheel just so slightly too high where it was perfect on R170, A-pillars and roof height are also so slightly more intrusive... and on, and on.

The only thing I felt poorly solved was the road light indicator: while the lights wheel itself is basically perfect (12 o'clock, off; one to the right, auto; all clock-wise, low beam; and then the lights stalker with its high-beam reassuring movement) the low beam led is down there hidden by the steering wheel; no indicator on dashboard and your only way to make sure is lowering off your head, and not by slight margin. Well, nobody's perfect, I guess.

So R171 was a transitional concept, still quite good but things went quickly downwards from there. When I saw the "the best or nothing" in latter years I just felt it was said with acid sarcasm.
 
J
#15 ·
Avel Du said:
R171 has bigger trunk capacity than R170.
Click to expand...
No, it doesn't. Not by a large margin. It does, however, give more capacity with roof retracted: R170 is 355/145 liters while R171 is 300/208. With the old R170 I never had to think about (madam's) luggage, but with my current R171, while quite nice space, that has become a consideration.

Avel Du said:
I do personally feel that the 170 is easier to make use of.

We could fit a wheelchair in the 170, but not the 171, despite more volume.
Click to expand...
It is: R170 is a large "cubic" chunk of space while R171 is not only shorter but also less usable because all these nooks and recesses it has.
 
#20 ·
AlMac74 said:
Hi all,



I’ve been doing a bit of writing recently about the small details you notice once you’ve lived with a Mercedes for a while. The latest piece is about the indicator/combination stalk — and why Mercedes stuck with that one-hand, one-logic setup for so long.



It leans quite heavily on all SLKs, including View attachment 662335
my R171 SLK and how it’s aged, so it felt relevant to share here.



Not a review or a buying guide — just an owner’s reflection.



If anyone’s interested, it’s here.

Apologies if this kind of post isn’t allowed. I can delete or move.



Alan
Click to expand...
An Ode to The Humble Stalk (keeping the literary style of this stream flowing!)

The humble stalk of the Mercedes-Benz
For years taken granted by those chosen few;
essential yet so functional
In its creative design,
like an extra finger on either hand.
This is not an ode to such a splendid addition
nor merely a simple yet respectful recognition,
of a designers ability to understand the needs of the driver's demands,
a clear and cohesive desigber's idea,
to provide a functional but multi faceted tool amongst all his other gear.
This noble arm that incorporates a myriad of needs,
welded into a simple arm of provision
of all those essential bits and pieces,
that make the experience of driving our SLKs,
one of such a personal feeling
of love and sheer joy - and sometimes, incredible awe.
 
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#21 ·
jeffers104 said:
An Ode to The Humble Stalk (keeping the literary style of this stream flowing!)

The humble stalk of the Mercedes-Benz
For years taken granted by those chosen few;
essential yet so functional
In its creative design,
like an extra finger on either hand.
This is not an ode to such a splendid addition
nor merely a simple yet respectful recognition,
of a designers ability to understand the needs of the driver's demands,
a clear and cohesive desigber's idea,
to provide a functional but multi faceted tool amongst all his other gear.
This noble arm that incorporates a myriad of needs,
welded into a simple arm of provision
of all those essential bits and pieces,
that make the experience of driving our SLKs,
one of such a personal feeling
of love and sheer joy - and sometimes, incredible awe.
Click to expand...
Bravo 👏🏻
 
#22 ·
AlMac74 said:
I’ve been doing a bit of writing recently about the small details you notice once you’ve lived with a Mercedes for a while. The latest piece is about the indicator/combination stalk — and why Mercedes stuck with that one-hand, one-logic setup for so long.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your article, although I have to disagree with your praise for the uni-stalk design.

Apart from the wash and single wipe functions, you have to take your hand off the steering wheel to adjust the wiper settings, which isn't the case with the more traditional dual stalk design, where the wiper settings can be changed using fingertips while the hand stays on the wheel.

jmnav said:
The only thing I felt poorly solved was the road light indicator: while the lights wheel itself is basically perfect (12 o'clock, off; one to the right, auto; all clock-wise, low beam; and then the lights stalker with its high-beam reassuring movement) the low beam led is down there hidden by the steering wheel; no indicator on dashboard and your only way to make sure is lowering off your head, and not by slight margin.
Click to expand...
I completely agree with this assessment. The indicator LED is both poorly positioned and too dim. Why they couldn't've included the standard green indicator lamp within the dials is a mystery to me.
 
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