When Benz bought Chrysler, I hoped the german quality would rub off on the crappy US cars. Apparently the opposite happened. Most German products tend to be overly engineered and complicated. They had the same trouble with their tanks in WW2. Far superior to the competition, (at least after the Panther and Tiger were introduced to counter the T-34), but if they break down every few miles, they're useless except as pillboxes.
I'm not sure that MB ever deserved their reputation. When I heard of the Chrysler merger, I thought "a match made in heaven."
In general, I agree, but I dearly love my Grohe "Lady-Lux Plus" pullout kitchen faucet. It's beautiful both to the eye and from an engineering standpoint. The "action" is a pleasure to the fingers.