2015 East Coast E500E Spring GTG: May 2nd & 3rd

[AMGTesTDriverNJ]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who organized our GTG and to everyone who attended. It was a pleasure to meet and talk with all of you, I really had a great time! Dinner was very nice and everyone's cars were beyond awesome. I regret not bringing my 500E and upon arriving back in NJ on Sunday evening immediately took it out and gave it a proper wash and took it for a nice drive Look forward to getting together with everyone again soon!

 

[Trae]

Great to meet both of you and hope to see you at the next GTG!

Here are some photos from the Gathering.

 

[autoworrks]

I Got home around 10 last night after dropping Adam off. It was a great drive home with zero incidents or issues. Longest single trip with my 500e since I've had it. Car really shines on drives like this. It was great meeting everyone and the local VA guys did an amazing job setting everything up for us visitors. I would like to thank them for all of their efforts.

 

[gerryvz]

Trae's photos from the Gathering are up & posted above !!!

 

[Ntrepid]

All in all, it was fun planning and attending the events. Terry, Greg, Wayne, and Gerry were fantastic partners in crime.

It was great meeting people in the group and getting to know them. I truly enjoyed meeting and talking with everyone. I hope to do it again in the DC area again as well as attend one remotely.


Robert

 

[ShaneR]

Thanks again for organizing this event, I am sad that I could not participate in more then just the DM Concours. It was very exciting to see so many 500Es at one time! I got an email form the folks who help out with the Star and they gave me some instructions for how to submit photos and a write up, see below:

Shane,

You can let the powers that be in the 500E Board world, that they should just post on our website to get info into The Star.

In talking with Gary, who Edits and produced The Star, here is what he has stated the 500E Board folks should do.

Whom ever is the liaison with MBCA and a MBCA member can then go into and submit a story and info online.

Have them log into their mbca.org account (Members get a that info, if they do not have it, have them contact the NBO in Colorado 800.637.2360

Have them submit an event notice http://mbca.org/node/add/event-notice

And a follow up http://mbca.org/node/add/event-report

Photos get the most attention, good quality ones very much get Gary's attention.

WWH
William West Hopper
Director-At-Large, MBCA National Treasurer
Chairman, MBCA STAR & Technology Committee
Mercedes-Benz Club of America
5455 Broad Branch Rd NW | Washington, DC 20015-1753 | 202.365.0672 | http://www.mbca.org

I am happy to help out in any way and once we get everything submitted I will keep pushing my friends to get it in there!

 

[gerryvz]

I'll take the lead on this as I know the MBCA system for doing submissions from when I was Houston chapter prez.

If anyone has any super great photos that haven't already been posted, please e-mail a few to me at gerry (at) vanzandt.us

Thanks !

 

[jhodg5ck]

I'll ping Gary too..Known him since i was 2, dad's known him longer then I've been alive..

that much aside, got home last night (monday) after stopping off @ Mom and Dad's in Lexington. Per the others who had opportunity to write before me, the w/e was a Most enjoyable one! Sorry we didn't make it to dinner, gods conspired against us...:-/

Car worked flawlessly...decided two days before I was scheduled to get on the road that installing the Wavetrac, Feind rear bar & links, adjustable camber arms & RDM Tek camber plates would be a good idea.. Ran into a bearing issue which pushed my time table back about 18 hours but it was Worth it. That bar FLAT Rocks...! Even with my camber settings set to highway (-1.0 front, -1.5 rear) she still Stuck Beautifully. Never a hint of understeer even when Pushing through various on/off ramps.

Coupled with the diff it really is a perfect package. I left the ASR disabled for the entirety and unless I utterly Abused the car in 1st gear hair pins I couldn't get the back end to hang out on 275/30 19 PSS's. These cars are So much more fun when electronics don't step in!...

I uploaded all the pics/snap chats I took off my phone to a picassa gallery is anyone would like to take a looksie..
https://picasaweb.google.com/104360546679321103093/500EGTG52015?noredirect=1

There are a bunch from my folks place, but for me that was all part of the trip..

Again, thanks Everyone for putting together a kick ass GTG. If this becomes a Regular thing count me in!

 

[Hollybrook]

It has been a pleasure planning this event with my partners in crime -- vatc5637, Ntrepid, 8899 and gerryvz. What a great group to work with and I think the event showcased their excellent planning and execution!

I really enjoyed meeting all of the participants, and we had some great conversations, not all of which were about cars to my wife's great relief. Of course, not only did we have a sizeable gathering of E500E cars, but there were many unique ones that I was drooling over compared to my relatively common version.

And I have to applaud the driving skills of those who went on the scenic drive. The Washington DC area is known for a myriad of traffic issues, and we went on a 3-hour, 70 mile drive with many traffic lights and turns on a beautiful Saturday morning with lots of tourists on the road. I had nightmares about leading the drive, knowing how easy it would be to lose one of our out of town guests. Not once was I concerned that the group was falling apart or somebody was getting lost. That is just phenomenal in my opinion, and I have to give a big thanks to Jono and Steven for playing tail-end-Charlie and keeping the group together from the back. Of course, there is a SLIGHT possibility that the performance of our cars MAY have helped with this. My only regret is that there were not any real opportunities to stretch the legs of our cars.

Thanks to Gerry for a fine evening of conversation, where we rarely talked about cars. As a bonus, I got to see his Rocky Carroll boots (http://www.500eboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79&page=3&p=63426&viewfull=1#post63426) and I can attest they are even nicer that he described and without a doubt, the finest boots that have ever touched my hands. I enjoyed getting to know you and hope we cross paths in person again!

 

[8899]

Last, but not least, members of the 2015 500eBoard East Coast GTG organizing committee. Hollybrook and ntrepid.

Unfortunately, our other member who helped organize this GTG, 8899, had a last minute family matter which precluded him from joining us. Also a big shout out to classiccarsallday who recruited a photographer (Sam) to take a lot of high-res group and individual pictures, which I am really looking forward to seeing. Lastly, a big thank you to Honch for first inspiring us to host this GTG and then traveling a long way (red-eye from Cali) to join us.

Hopefully everyone has made it home safely. Thank you to our visitors and participants for bringing the good weather with them! It was a beautiful weekend. Now we look forward to seeing pictures from the next 500eBoard GTG, wherever that may be.

As I'm sure you all can imagine...I am incredibly dissappointed that I had to miss this event....an event held quite literally in my backyard. I missed a great opportunity to reacquaint myself with local members (Chris, Shane, Wayne, Robert, and Aaron) and also meet the rest of the crew in attendance.

The Deutsche Marque is a fabulous, annual event (thank you Omar!) and one that I hope attracts many E500E owners in the future. Let's do this again!

 

[8899]

There are a bunch from my folks place, but for me that was all part of the trip..

Gorgeous....that's where I want to live. And, their garden rocks!

 

[jhodg5ck]

Gorgeous....that's where I want to live. And, their garden rocks!

Thanks..... Took M&D 10 years to find that spot. It was worth the hunt IMHO. I'll never sell it/plan on retiring there myself when the time comes!

Mom has always had a garden....she can grow enough to keep all her friend in veggies And freeze enough to last the winter..it's a Very productive piece of dirt. Fertilized by the horses to boot.100% organic..

They're in Fairfield exit 200 if you head south on 81, 195 in you are coming north to be precise..!

jono

 

[Hollybrook]

Jono, we used to live 25 miles from there. It is truly a beautiful and peaceful area to live.

 

[ShaneR]

Hi Guys,

Here is a link to some photos that Greg the photographer for the star sent me:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/44280527@N03/65nK14

 

[vatc5637]

Hi Guys,

Here is a link to some photos that Greg the photographer for the star sent me:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/44280527@N03/65nK14

 

[sheward]

Thanks for the pictures. A great collection of 036s in unique colors. Shame about the wires in that last pic, I think it's one of the best that I've seen. All early models except one?

drew

 

[vatc5637]

All early models except one?

drew

Yes, except for one 040 E500, the rest were "92's or '93's.

 

[vatc5637]

These pictures were taken by Sam, who is the proprietor of Insamnia. I believe they are among the last pictures that we will be posting from the GTG. Enjoy!

 

[s4cruiser]

Yes, except for one 040 E500, the rest were "92's or '93's.

Mine is actually a 93 but facelifted in the front...so all '92 or '93s!

 

[gsxr]

If there's ever a Boise GTG, I can promise a minimum of two 94's present...

 

[Maui]

If there's ever a Boise GTG, I can promise a minimum of two 94's present...

You could have a mini GTG.

 

[gsxr]

You could have a mini GTG.

We have one about every other weekend at the track with at least two, sometimes three 036's. Same two people though.

 

[Glen]

Love seeing all the .036's together but three cars really stand out for me.
Jono's Brumos car with the Monolites...yes, I'm biased.
Jeff's red car with the 18" EvoII-style wheels...MB should have made 18s!
And finally, I don't know the owner, but that dark blue color is stunning. Is it Azurite?

 

[8899]

And finally, I don't know the owner, but that dark blue color is stunning. Is it Azurite?

ShaneR's car is Nautical Blue. It is stunning indeed.

 

[bing]

Who's the one with recaro c's ?

Nice gtg guys !

 

[vatc5637]

Love seeing all the .036's together but three cars really stand out for me.
Jono's Brumos car with the Monolites...yes, I'm biased.
Jeff's red car with the 18" EvoII-style wheels...MB should have made 18s!
And finally, I don't know the owner, but that dark blue color is stunning. Is it Azurite?

The dark blue car belongs to ShaneR. I don't know the exact paint code, perhaps Shane would be willing to share the VIN # which would(?) tell us the precise MB paint code (or perhaps Gerry can confirm the paint code if Shane's car is already in his database.) IMHO, the color and car are even more stunning in person. It's garaged and has been well cared for.

 

[vatc5637]

Who's the one with recaro c's ?

Nice gtg guys !

That car belongs to s4cruiser. With the seats and steering wheel, an interior to drool (figuratively of course) over.

 

[Glen]

Wow, ShaneR's car is 1 of 7 in the U.S. according to the paint code wiki!

 

[gsxr]

ShaneR's car in Nautical Blue. It is stunning indeed.

Correct - Nautical Blue, code 929. I believe Shane bought it a few years ago when it was advertised on AutoTrader. Beautiful color...

 

[Glen]

With all the pictures of owners and their cars in this thread, I took the opportunity to update the Paint Codes wiki (http://www.500eboard.com/forums/wiki_index.php?title=500E-Paint-Codes) with links to member's cars. I only did a few but if you'd like to add yours, feel free to edit the wiki or if you prefer, send me a PM with a link to the picture you want to add.

 

[jhodg5ck]

With all the pictures of owners and their cars in this thread, I took the opportunity to update the Paint Codes wiki (http://www.500eboard.com/forums/wiki_index.php?title=500E-Paint-Codes) with links to member's cars. I only did a few but if you'd like to add yours, feel free to edit the wiki or if you prefer, send me a PM with a link to the picture you want to add.

Awwww...no 799....;-)

 

[jhodg5ck]

I have a brain like a sieve...who was it that was interested in locking lugs? I've got 4 Very nice ones on my desk replete with Key...long neck version @ that...;-)

Jono

OH...and more pictures courtesy of Stephen...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wde56yar618lnwc/AABvW8tOed6n-yLJ1L6OgMV0a?dl=0#/

 

[Ntrepid]

memememememememememe meeeeeeeeeeeee!

Don't want my EVOs to grow legs ;-)

Robert

 

[jeff0093]

Jono great pictures, I forgot about these on the drive really sweet.

Thanks Jeff-

 

[Allgonquin]

Could it be possible that I just hit overload on pictures from the GTG and drive? NAAAAAAH. JUST KIDDING! Great addition Jono!

 

[vatc5637]

A small sample of selected photos of the scenic drive from Stephen/Jono's dropbox file.

 

[Maui]

Great pictures guys. Looks like a good time was had by all.

 

[jhodg5ck]

You forgot the one where I had the rear end jacked up checking for an imbalance in the rear wheels!

 

[gsxr]

Kinda like this?

 

[jhodg5ck]

just like that!

 

[maw1124]

just like that!

I'm guessing that's Jono near the top of 3rd gear and Dave near the top of 4th. But I could be wrong.

Great pics!!! Nice plate Drew, and gorgeous use of yellow, Jono.

Cheers,

maw

 

[gsxr]

I'm guessing that's Jono near the top of 3rd gear and Dave near the top of 4th. But I could be wrong.

A different time in the same car, the speedo was pegged and the tach was on the south side of the 6000 line. Fresh tires would have bumped vMax by 2-3mph due to increased circumference.

 

[Allgonquin]

Did y'all see that El Jefe and Shane got a mention in the latest edition of the Star magazine? A short paragraph on the Deutsche Marque Concours. It was in the "President's Message" on page 9. Only one pic of the event (p.92) which was not the 500E group photo. Maybe in a future issue?

 

[8899]

Some good coverage of the 500Eboard's participation at the Duetsche Marque in the attached MBCA Greater Washington Section summer newsletter.

 

[Melville]

There's a picture here as well:

http://www.mbca.org/event-report/2015-05-03/2015-deutsche-marque-concours-delegance

Also, our own Robert and June Platz were awarded the Star of Excellence for their 500E! Congrats!