Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Drive train, fuel, suspension, steering & brakes => Topic started by: rocketman1 on August 07, 2012, 01:31:20
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Good Evening Gentleman (Ladies Too)
Hey whats the status of some of you folks, that sent a deposit to the ZF Company in Germany last year for a reto
transmission. Has anyone got one????
I read a report april 2012, from the Classic Car group of MB in Germany that said," We are taking over the responsibility for sales, spare parts, and(no kidding) refurbishing of the S 5-20 Old Timer- tranmissions !!!!
I jumped all over that e-mai,l and sent my request for spare parts into them Three times. Nothing has come back from MB Germany.
When you call Irving, Ca. they don't have a clue what I'm talking about.
Does anybody have any current information??
Best Regards
David Lewandos
AKA:Rocketman1
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The last letter I got from them stated that there had been some technical difficulties in part of the manufacture and production was stopped until they had resolved the problem. That was at the start of the year. Nothing since, but that is very typical of Z.
Lots of others have tried to get answers to questions from them with only limited success.
Garry
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David et al,
If you need spare parts for the ZF S5-20 you can contact the following individual:
Christopher A. Magiera
Automotive Technology Group - Inside Sales
ZF Services North America, LLC
777 Hickory Hill Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061 Phone 847/478-6851, Fax 847/478-6843 chris.magiera@zf.com
After a lot of emailing around I was finally able to get someone in ZF--Chris--who was able to get me a part I had been inquiring about for quite a long time. Not sure what ZF's problem is but dealing with their corporate in Germany was a non-starter. In spite of all the advertising they have done regarding the S5-20 their respsnse to any inquiries regarding it or the spare parts has been dismal.
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Thanks George for the info with Chris.
Has anyone else seen the advertising from the MB (Germany) factory/assembly plant about them starting to sell the ZF's???
David
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Here it is
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... Has anyone else seen the advertising from the MB (Germany) factory/assembly plant about them starting to sell the ZF's???
David,
the announcement that MB was selling the transmission appeared on the German Merceded-Benz Clubs web site and was written by Karin Eisele from the Classic Center. See:
http://forum.mercedes-benz-clubs.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=26768#p140356
Similar announcements in the past about other oldtimer parts turned out to be more wishful thinking than reality. I believe the Classic Center, being part of the Daimler PR department, needs to create the impression that they do something for the MB fan but mostly it is all window dressing.
Anyway since it clearly states that one can order ZF transmissions from MB Classic (Das Getriebe kann mit der Teilenummer 113 260 09 04 bei Mercedes-Benz Classic bestellt werden.) I wrote to the three honchos listed as contacts
(http://www.mercedes-benz-classic.com/content/classic/mpc/mpc_classic_website/en/mpc_home/mbc/home/classic/classic_center/about_us.0003.html)
asking for more details about the ordering process.
Here is the translated reply from Mr. Hosch:
We have only ordered a few transmissions from the ZF company, those are already reserved for clients.
Please contact ZF directly since distribution is handled by them directly.
See this link: http://www.zf.com/corporate/de/company/tradition/tradition.html
Kind regards ....
Clearly another documentation that the MB Classic is nothing but a PR enterprise dressed up in oldtimer clothes.
Feel free to write and ask him how one can get on their special client list! ;)
{.....,
wir haben nur ein paar Getriebe von der Fa. ZF abgenommen. diese sind
bereits für Kunden reserviert.
Bitte wenden sie sich hierfür direkt an ZF, da der Vertrieb direkt über
diese geht.
siehe Link
http://www.zf.com/corporate/de/company/tradition/tradition.html
Mit freundlichen Grüßen /Kind regards
Daimler AG
Andreas Hosch
Mercedes-Benz Cars
Brand Communications Classic
Mercedes-Benz Classic Center
000/R051 BC/FC
70546 Stuttgart
phone +49 7 11 17-8 40 40
fax +49 7 11 17-8 34 56
e-mail: classic.center@daimler.com}
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I've expressed my disappointment in dealing with ZF many times. Based on my experiences regarding the ZF S5-20, in my opinion, when it comes to customer relations they are one of the world's worse to deal with. It is interesting that they heralded the reproduction of the S5-20 with a full page advertisement on their website and touted the availability of the spare parts, but whenever you try to get more information such as availability or a price list, it appears to just fall on deaf ears. As indicated above, I was finally able to get a part I had been looking for for quite a long time, but I can't tell you how many emails I had to send out to finally get a response from of all places but an address in Switzerland that led to three or four other addresses in the US including the one for Chris above. My sense is the S5-20 project may have been undertaken by a couple of enthusiasts within ZF, perhaps not with the full "blessing" of the leadership and is a low priority within ZF. The supposed "transfer" of the project over to the Classic Center may have been done in an effort to get out from under the multiple inquires they've been getting at ZF who again, in my opinion, does not appear to have much interest in doing that. Perhaps someone who works at ZF and the Classic Center or deals with them directly can set the record straight on where both these organizations stand regarding the S5-20 project.
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I'd like to order, from ZF, the ancillary parts for a 5-speed ZF conversion. The conversion instructions (thanks Hans) provide an email contact but he doesn't reply. Can anyone - perhaps those of you on the S5-20 order list - provide an email address of someone within ZF who can help? Given George's experiences this may not be as simple as it should be. I should probably call instead of email.
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Dave,
see Garry's reply #25 here:
http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=17926.0
Perhaps he can help.
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Thanks, I'll try that.