STARTECH 2009   StarTech, hosted by 500 Section,Indianapolis, IN                                                                            May 1 – 3, 2009 Submitted by:  Nancy and Bob Rece   This was our first MBCA National Event; since it was just two hours from home, we knew we had to attend.  We stayed at the Crowne Plaza at the Indianapolis airport.  We were greeted by the 500 Section Board Members, along with our own Eric Goodrich, who helped with the event.   First on our agenda was the Director’s meeting.  It was great to put faces with the names and photos that appear in each Star Magazine.  There were discussions about an off-road event in Ouray, CO for 2011.  Much discussion centered on the need to build membership.  A Task Force has been established to study this.  The goal is to grow membership from 19,000 to 30,000 members in 5 years.  An outside agency has been chosen to help.  They believe the Star Magazine is a plus, but our web site “sucks” and needs various improvements to attract a younger base of members.  There is also a new group to evaluate the proper number of Regional Directors; currently 12 Regional and 7 Directors-at-Large.  The Board would like larger participation in the MBCA Car Raffle.   Saturday, May 2, had a great variety of technical sessions.  Topics included: MB Radio System Evolution; Troubleshooting and Tuning your Bosch Mechanical Fuel Injection Systems 1959-1972; Adjusting Automatic Transmissions; Wood Refinishing; History of MB Diesels from 1974-1999, to name a few. Highlights of the sessions we attended follow:   Complete Leather Restoration, Preservation and Basic Maintenance (George & Krysti Pavlisko, Company owners): Discussion and demo of Leatherique products Best thing to put on your dash is sunscreen Use a toothbrush with product to clean seams on seats Baby Wipes are great for emergency spills on leather Pebble Beach weekend (Concours d”Elegance, Monterey Historic Races, Motorsports at Quail, Concorso Italiano, classic car auctions) (John Kuhn Bleimaier, former Regional Director): Terrific slide show of display and auction cars Great cars everywhere, even in parking lots so you really don’t have to pay entry fee to see a good display of fine vehicles Celebrities to be seen as well The Future of Your Electronic Mercedes-Benz (George Murphy, MBCA Technical Director): Recommends Optima batteries.  His lasted 15 years; knows someone who got 8 years, returned the battery and got a new one free Carbon exhaust from EGR problem in diesels; keep clean by “running the hell out of it”, even in 3rd gear Dead battery can take out some modules.  Never jump or be jumped without disconnecting your batteries New dual battery cars should NOT do jump start On CDI vehicles ·        Lubricity of US diesel fuel is 25% less than European fuel ·        Have found metal filings in fuel pump ·        Some must be replaced ·        Recommends Lubricity additive ·        Use highest octane possible; preferably at truck stop with high turnover ·        Never use fuel from low volume “Mom & Pop” stores   Hybrid Technology (Bart Herring, MBUSA) BlueTEC is industry leader in diesel, invented technology in 1936 Hydrogen is the most available resource on Earth By 2011, government regulations state 27.3 mpg fleetwide Working on: Hybrid and BlueTEC hybrid Natural Gas (cleanest burning fossil fuel) Electric Range Extender Vehicles:  Blue Zero (< 1 liter engine) Electric:  E Drive (Smart & A Class) Fuel Cell (emission free on long journeys; short re-fueling times) MB in partnership with Toyota; one manufacturer cannot do on their own Tidbit we learned at lunch – Goodyear will be offering a rebate to MBCA members later this year; we’ll get more details when available.   We saw a 2010 E Class and learned a lot about these cars after our banquet dinner.   These cars will come in about $5,000 less than ’09 and include new features such as: ü      Attention Assist driver drowsiness monitor ü      Adaptive High beam Assist ü      PRE-Safe system ü      Lane monitoring system ü      Ambient lighting to enhance night driving ü      Parallel Parking Assist   We met some great MBCA club members from all over and had a wonderful time at this event.  Our hats are off to the 500 Section for hosting a great national event.  Check out photos here .