I was thinking of sb-modellbau.com when I posted that, although I am sure that there are others out there known to this community.



Yes, that is largely true for DC motors. In my professional experience they are mostly commoditized at this point for many generic applications, but the inexpensive motors that Märklin uses today are more prone to problems with poor running characteristics and premature failure. The running problems can largely be overcome with good quality decoders but their longevity remains suspect.

The problem is that for easy replacement the motors need to have the proper performance specs and almost the same form factor. That means buying from a high quality source such as SB Modellbau, which is always going to be expensive. I have a friend who buys new Märklin locos and gives them a test run to to see that they were working properly from the factory. Then he replaces the decoders with ESU decoders and the motors too if necessary with good quality ones from SB Modellbau. That way he has the positive features of a Märklin loco without the drawbacks. This is an extreme tactic though IMO and we really should not have to do that just to have a loco of acceptably high quality, especially at today's prices.

I find the newest Märklin decoders acceptable and I run the original motors as long as they work. But I usually do not buy another cheap replacement motor from them, but prefer to upgrade to a better component if it is available. I also take that into account when deciding to spend the money on a Märklin model at this point and more transparency about the quality of the motors they install would be a big help in that decision. I assume that is why they don't care to share that info with us.

When we talk about the 36xxx locomotives I accept they use cheap motors with cheap replacement posibility as long as they produce good results which seems to be the case for many of us.
When we talk about 39xxx locmotives, like for example the news 39880, 39150 and the all special (at least in price) 39520, that are by no means cheap, I think they must use really good motors and write in the specifications what motor the locomotive is using.
Unfortunately I don't think they will say what the motor is and also I don't think the motors of these more expensive models are from brands with a name like Faulhaber or Maxon. Probably they still use a Chinese motor with slightly better characteristics. The fact that the motor brand and model is hidden from is more or less the same as say/write it is Chinese (with all respect to the Chinese).
Of course there are good and bad products from China. Just we don't know if Märklin is using the good ones or the bad ones... Not specifying, again, makes us think...

Well, all MHI models have 5 year warranty. Non-MHI models have a shorter warranty AIUI.

I'll see if I can add anything valuable.

Wellknown. That's why I prefer longer sections of straight. But then, you have to turn around somewhere.

I know. So I took things into my own hands. I made a first prototype which already has been tested (used it in a loop) successfully.






Laurent