The Mercedes Benz Club Gazette....what a superb magazine !!!

[vijilants]

I just received the March issue of the Mercedes Benz Club Gazette.

What a truly high quality publication this is turning out to be !

It seems to be getting better and better every month, and the Technical Corner articles are of a very high standard.

The March edition has a 5 page article on "Five -speed automatic gearbox service and repair".

I suggest that any of you folks that have not joined the club should do so....the Gazette truly puts the Mercedes Enthusiast mag to shame.

Considering that membership to the club and what it brings costs less than the subscription of that fairly useless Mercedes Enthusiast magazine, it's well worth the money

 

[wobbly]

I save more than it cost to join the MB club on insurance discounts, and the Gazette is a great bonus.

 

[stats007]

The Technical team are really getting into their stride with articles of late. Well worth the subs - a shame the forum isn't used as much as it could be.

 

[vijilants]

a shame the forum isn't used as much as it could be.

Yeah....its "clunky" and having to remember a given password every month doesn't help. Shame really as it could be a lot better and there is a wealth of knowledge in there waiting to be unleashed

 

[manalishi]

I save more than it cost to join the MB club on insurance discounts, and the Gazette is a great bonus.

Tell me more. I was a member for 4 years when I had my first 190, but found the supposed insurance benefit was non-existent (can't remember the recommended broker, but he always gave non-competitive quotes).

Might rejoin if the magazine is getting better and the sub pays for itself.

 

[vijilants]

There is a lot more to this club than just insurance discount. There is the free technical advice, the discounts offered on parts and labour by dealers, hotels,etc, the discounts and sometimes free entry to events such as classic car shows.

They also organise some very good events, one of them being at MB World at Brooklands this summer over the entire weekend, and of course the Gazette. ( At the events they hold there you even get the chance to drive your own car around the test track there for a few laps at no extra charge)

Personally for what I pay on the subscription, I easily get it back on some of the above.

Its one of the very few subscriptions nowadays that really does offer you value for money

 

[Roger Jones]

For me the best of all is the free MB Classic magazine every quarter. A superb publication to the highest professional standards, apart from the occasional slight weakness in the use of English. It's the only mag I keep and I bought all the back-issues prior to its free distribution to MB Club members.

 

[wobbly]

There is a lot more to this club than just insurance discount. There is the free technical advice, the discounts offered on parts and labour by dealers, hotels,etc, the discounts and sometimes free entry to events such as classic car shows.

They also organise some very good events, one of them being at MB World at Brooklands this summer over the entire weekend, and of course the Gazette. ( At the events they hold there you even get the chance to drive your own car around the test track there for a few laps at no extra charge)

Personally for what I pay on the subscription, I easily get it back on some of the above.

Its one of the very few subscriptions nowadays that really does offer you value for money

The point I was making is that due to the insurance saving, everthing else is free.

I do attend some of the club events, and yes I have had the chance to drive my SL around the Brooklands test track.

So well worth the subscription.

 

[C43AMG]

Yes i have been a member for a few years now and as Andrew said it's a shame the forum is a bit lackadazicle.
The Gazette and the MB Classic magazine are certainly worth the subs.

 

[SilverSaloon]

Yes i have been a member for a few years now and as Andrew said it's a shame the forum is a bit lackadazicle.
The Gazette and the MB Classic magazine are certainly worth the subs.

agree with all the above. well worth it.

 

[neilrr]

The magazine, events & benefits of membership are legion & well know. It is the best Mercedes Club in the country. It is not the best Mercedes forum.

We've had the discussion over there on the reasons the official club forum is so quiet many times. It's bizarre to me that management would tolerate the situation where the only club in the country recognised & affiliated with MB has a forum less busy & useful than a forum founded a couple of years ago dedicated only to W201s & is hugely overshadowed by several other 'general' UK MB sites. Out of a PAID membership in the tens of thousands there are about 20 regular, active posters, many of whom also use this forum & others for their regular MB fix. I see names I used to see over there contributing regularly here.

Just as an example, there are 8 active users on the official forum & 96 on here right now.

I believe the reason is obvious - it's not a public, free forum - & have argued in favour of opening it up to one & all many, many times. Why some members, moderators & admins over there feel opening it up would be the ruination of the forum has never been explained properly to my satisfaction. Unless they think the sum knowledge of all things Mercedes (and many other subjects) is held by the 20 or so regualr posters the forum would only benefit from being open.

Being a very closed shop has established a cliquey tenor which has worked against it, driving new members away, including club member, W123 marque specialist & leading UK authority, regular Gazette columnist & event organiser Mark Cosovich. Quite a few of the senior bods of the official club are not active on the forum.

I know some of the mods & admins from there are active here & they must surely see that this forum is not the wild west & puts the sleepy official site to shame.

They are missing the boat in so many ways.

 

[manalishi]

The point I was making is that due to the insurance saving, everthing else is free.

I was after more info, because as I said above, the insurance benefit proved to be illusory when I was a member (for 4 years until approx 2004). If that has now changed, and the recommended broker/insurer really does give value for money compared to non-club insurers, I'd like to know.

 

[Smiley]

I was after more info, because as I said above, the insurance benefit proved to be illusory when I was a member (for 4 years until approx 2004). If that has now changed, and the recommended broker/insurer really does give value for money compared to non-club insurers, I'd like to know.

My experience was that there was no discount - the quotation from Peter Best (the broker at the time) was the same as available from the same insurance company - the difference was that it was 10 times harder to deal with Peter Best; everything had to be faxed and posted.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

No experience of insurance discounts relating to this club, but I've found that as with any aspect of insurance it will depend upon your personal circumstances, and maybe more of an influence your willingness to shop around.

I've never been able to get a cheaper quote from supposed discounts, whether by club membership, manufacturer-branded, or otherwise.

 

[Smiley]

The magazine, events & benefits of membership are legion & well know. It is the best Mercedes Club in the country. It is not the best Mercedes forum.

We've had the discussion over there on the reasons the official club forum is so quiet many times. It's bizarre to me that management would tolerate the situation where the only club in the country recognised & affiliated with MB has a forum less busy & useful than a forum founded a couple of years ago dedicated only to W201s & is hugely overshadowed by several other 'general' UK MB sites. Out of a PAID membership in the tens of thousands there are about 20 regular, active posters, many of whom also use this forum & others for their regular MB fix. I see names I used to see over there contributing regularly here.

Just as an example, there are 8 active users on the official forum & 96 on here right now.

I believe the reason is obvious - it's not a public, free forum - & have argued in favour of opening it up to one & all many, many times. Why some members, moderators & admins over there feel opening it up would be the ruination of the forum has never been explained properly to my satisfaction. Unless they think the sum knowledge of all things Mercedes (and many other subjects) is held by the 20 or so regualr posters the forum would only benefit from being open.

Being a very closed shop has established a cliquey tenor which has worked against it, driving new members away, including club member, W123 marque specialist & leading UK authority, regular Gazette columnist & event organiser Mark Cosovich. Quite a few of the senior bods of the official club are not active on the forum.

I know some of the mods & admins from there are active here & they must surely see that this forum is not the wild west & puts the sleepy official site to shame.

They are missing the boat in so many ways.

This is very accurate. I never understood the logic behind a closed set of doors on an Internet forum; good job those guys had nothing to do with setting up the Internet in the first place
The mag is fantastic; the forum is a cliquey disaster, shame.

 

[manalishi]

This is very accurate. I never understood the logic behind a closed set of doors on an Internet forum; good job those guys had nothing to do with setting up the Internet in the first place
The mag is fantastic; the forum is a cliquey disaster, shame.

Can't speak for them, but I wouldn't be surprised if the establishment are/were worried that an open and busy Internet forum might become the 'tail that wags the dog'.

A perfectly legitimate reason, IMHO.

 

[Roger Jones]

Alternatively, a forum open to non-members on a read-only basis could be a very effective shop window to increase the club's membership, but not if the cliquey quality referred to above persists.

 

[Smiley]

just mho, I suspect that any business or club that does not accept and work with the Internet model will gradually wither and become irrelevant over a long period of time - no matter how good their printed material is.

 

[Smarties]

Top Club, Magazine is great and the Classic MB publication every quarter is fantastic. Must be one of, if not the best owners cub anywhere.

 

[rf065]

Being a very closed shop has established a cliquey tenor which has worked against it, driving new members away,

I've found the Model Register Captains to be welcoming and friendly, but it does feel so cliquey, not like the other MB forums.

Some of the advice to problems is not as good as the other forums either, probably to do with less people being on the forum which will equate to less expertise & knowledge. Shame as it is the "official MB club forum".

Russ