Taking A Trip Down Memory Lane: The Collaboration Between Porsche And Mercedes-Benz

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Mercedes Benz 500 E impressed the public at the Paris Motor Show in 1990, which later went on sale in the spring of 1991. The vehicle was a notable collaboration between then Daimler-Benz AG and Porsche. Now, two of the team involved in its creation from the Porsche Museum take a journey to discover how it was created. 

The two members are Michael Hölscher and Michael Mönig, the Project Manager Development and Prototype Management, respectively - which last sat in the vehicle almost three decades ago.

“Looking at the car today, it’s almost impossible to believe that the design could be so perfect 30 years ago without CAD data. I have enormous respect for my colleagues in the body shop and especially their vision,” says Hölscher.

Porsche AG was awarded the development contract by Daimler-Benz AG in Untertürkheim, an outer district of Stuttgart. The technical specification outlined the criteria for "base type W124 design and experimental series development.” Equipped with the five-litre V8 four-valve engine from the 500 SL, about 10,479 examples had been built by April 1995, which were all four-seaters. 

Alongside a four-speed, automatic gearbox, the 500 E (depending on model year) completed a century sprint in 6.1 seconds with 321 hp and 480 Nm and a top speed of 250 km/h. 

From 1990 onwards, the bodies were manufactured in the Reutter building of Werk 2 in Zuffenhausen due to the building being empty at the time. The process was easy: Mercedes-Benz supplied body parts from Sindelfingen to Zuffenhausen while the Porsche team assembled the body with components and parts manufactured in house at the Werk 2. The bodies will then travel back to Sindelfingen, where they are painted. The vehicle will finally be completed in the ROssle Bau in Zuffenhassen, where final assembly and engine installations took place.

Production processes took around 18 days, and each 500 E went from Zuffenhausen to Sindelfingen twice. “From a logistical point of view, sending the vehicle parts back and forth was a big challenge. After all, the relevant parts had to arrive at the right place at the right time,” explains Hölscher. 

Later at the end of the 1980s, Daimler-Benz AG commissioned Porsche as the development service provider as its production line for the 124 series in Sindelfingen was too small. The model was also renamed the E 500 as part of its update, which spotted a wider body - 56 millimetres wider and 23 millimetres lower, to be exact. On a side note, the 500 E also had the working title of “Project 2758” at Porsche.

“Thirty years have passed, and a lot has happened in the automotive industry in this time, yet even today, the 500 E has nothing to hide. Its handling is magnificent. The longitudinal acceleration is excellent, the brakes are outstanding, and it’s a pleasure to drive this car with its dynamic character. I really enjoy the beautiful and unobtrusive sound of the eight-cylinder engine.” added Mönig, who was responsible for building the 500 E prototype. 

The journey then continued at Weissach in the late 1980s, where Mönig’s team converted the first 14 base vehicles by hand. Building 1 was used for assembly starting with the 15th vehicle, using newly designed body shells and revised series parts. Thanks to the production of demonstration vehicles, Mercedes-Benz could make decisions going forward with series production.

“The collaboration with colleagues at Mercedes-Benz was very respectful, focused and on equal terms and was based on a great desire for success,” Mönig remembers.