The Mercedes Benz Experience

Though I have been living in the home-state of BMW, we recently ventured outside Bavarian borders to see how the rest of Germany engineer things. I'll give you a hint: it involves some pretty amazing robots.

While in Stuttgart, we checked out the Mercedes Benz Museum and were also lucky enough to get tickets to a factory tour. The museum is open seven days a week, but the factory tours only run on the weekdays, making it difficult to fit into a weekend trip. If you can make it work - it is worth it. The two-hour, incredibly polished factory tour was completely free. It has undoubtedly made me a Mercedes fan (now how to fit one in the budget??).
We took a tour of the Sindelfingen factory, which produces the C, E, and S Class Mercedes. The campus is pristine. We arrived early and enjoyed a delicious (and surprisingly reasonably priced) lunch in a quaint garden. It was easy to forget we were in a car factory. The tour started with a video that got us excited about what we were going to see. The English-speaking tour guide then took us on a bus to the S Class plant. I have a new respect for robots. It honestly seemed like the humans were simply there to assist the robots, which operate 24 hours a day. We were inches from the 20', incredibly nimble robots, and were able to see them use tools (yes - as in what distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom). The robots go straight from welding, to testing the joints, to gluing the pieces together. Then they pick up the frame, door, or trunk and toss it to the next assembly point. It was really amazing.

One of the first
Mercedes Benz cars

From there, we ventured to the E Class plant to watch the cars get their character: sunroofs, steering wheels, and dashboards were among a few of the things we saw assembled. At this stage, each car is built for a specific order, and there is no room for error. I was pleased to see a little more human labor put into this stage, though there was still no shortage of impressive robots. It's always nice to know that humans are still superior to machines.
No pictures are allowed on the factory tour, so you have two options: trust me, or go see it yourself. I definitely recommend the latter. If you want to book a tour, it is best to do so far in advance. Details can be found on this website. 

The Popemobile

For those who are unable to make it to the factory tour, the museum will still make anyone into a car enthusiast. The circular building spirals you down history, starting with the first ever Mercedes Benz (which was taken on its first drive by a woman!), and ending with future models. There is an exhibit dedicated solely to celebrity cars (Popemobile, Grace Kelly's 190SL, Bus for Germany's 1974 World Cup Champions team), one showcasing the green energy cars, and of course, a large exhibit with an impressive amount of winning race cars. It is a beautiful museum and worth the trip. 

Germany's 1974 World Cup
Championship Team Bus
(that's Patrick driving!)

Mercedes perpetuates its luxury brand during their factory tour and even in the tourist-heavy museum. We experienced nothing but amazing service and saw exactly zero hand prints in the beautifully buffed cars in both the factory and the museum. The only thing that would have enhanced our Mercedes Benz themed outing would be picking up our own Mercedes at the factory... I guess one can dream!