Advice needed desperately...Help!

[sailoratsea]

I had set myself on buying an E320CDi auto estate....but....having seen a few bad ones....and now found what looks like a super example...the owner effectively put me off with rather horrifying consumption figures...like mid 20's on short journeys and...maybe?..35 max on longer trips! Is there anyone out there who can...from their own experience....either confirm...or raise my hopes again? I'd be really grateful for some honest opinions. Thanks.

 

[renault12ts]

What year is it? I have seen 51 mpg on mine.

 

[ringway]

Welcome aboard Sailor.

A 320CDI Estate (S210/S211 depending on year of manufacture) should return around 36mpg around town and 45 - 50mpg on the motorway if it is running anywhere near its optimum.

 

[wemorgan]

quite a range of combined mpg figures here

Overview: Mercedes-Benz - E-Klasse

from what I've read mid 40s is achievable on long journeys, some get more though

 

[trapperjohn]

Welcome aboard. I dont really think they are that bad. He should be able to display his current MPG on speedo consol for you.
This could be the result of poor or no servicing. If in doubt walk away.

 

[davidjpowell]

This was my E320 W211 today.

Mixture of decent speed motorway together with traffic jams....

We find about 32 around our rural roads. But I am aware that our thermostat is stuck open meaning the car runs cold, and is more thirsty for it.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg259/davidjpowell/Mercedes/IMAG01041.jpg

 

[LTD]

Ask the seller to take you for a decent run in it. Ensure that the trip counters are reset to see what the result is.

I get 18 - 20 mpg in town from cold and nearly 30mpg on a run in my 5.0 V8 petrol .............

 

[christopherwk]

I think that's almost about right. Around town I'm in the high 20s, but around mid 30's on mediumish motorway trips, low 40's on longer runs.

Clicking on my signature will show some stats.

 

[christopherwk]

quite a range of combined mpg figures here

Ah, bear in mind that they may be towing (plus they also got autobahns over there!).

 

[mr. shr]

Hmm figures quoted by the OP sound about typical for my S211.
I've never seen the computer report figures into the 40's. On motorway runs I see late thirties and around town it's always late twenties. So how can I determine if somethng is wrong with my car.

Had it on a STAR machine and engie is running within tolerances.

 

[davidjpowell]

I'm pretty confident that into the 40's is possible after my day yesterday. 39.8 was not achieved by driving economically.

Mr.Shr does your car get up to temperature properly? I know that I need to replace my thermostat as it seems to be stuck open. This kills my fuel consumption when it's cold or on shortish journeys. Even on motorway journey's the result is the car runs colder due to the airflow.

 

[Druk]

Hmm figures quoted by the OP sound about typical for my S211.
I've never seen the computer report figures into the 40's. On motorway runs I see late thirties and around town it's always late twenties. So how can I determine if somethng is wrong with my car.

Had it on a STAR machine and engie is running within tolerances.

Maybe there's a metering or calculating fault? Just an idea really. I can see 40 easily at 75 - 80mph. 35mpg average.

 

[A210AMG]

My dads W211 320cdi estate does 40mpg on any journey and hes seen 60mpg on the way back from Dover to Cheshire with a space saver on... its run in though now on 120k

 

[prprandall51]

My car has never wavered from 36-37mpg since new. Mix of short and long journeys. Now on 65000 miles.

 

[christopherwk]

horrifying consumption figures...

I don't think the fuel consumption is that horrifying, considering it's a big, heavy car, with a engine which is using technology from 10 years ago (correct me, if I'm wrong).

Maybe compared to the latest Blueefficiency engines, but I think it's still pretty good.

Also, the E320CDi is not slow.

 

[GordonTarling]

I've now owned two E320cdi's - the first, an S210, would struggle to achieve 30mpg around town and to and from work, but I did see an indicated 46mpg on a long trip when driving in France a couple of years ago. I haven't had my S211 very long, but first indications are that it easily achieves over 30 mpg on the same around town trips, usually around 31 to 32 mpg. I haven't done any very long trips in it yet, but it achieved around 37mpg on a trip to see Olly and back (60 miles each way) the week before last. What kills the mpg most is using the performance, just like any other car.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I've seen my S class at 43mpg over a short motorway run and averages 36 to 38 in everyday use.

I've been trying a bit harder recently and reckon I can push this nearer to 40mpg with a it ofeffort.

Heavier than an E class.

 

[mr. shr]

I'm pretty confident that into the 40's is possible after my day yesterday. 39.8 was not achieved by driving economically.

Mr.Shr does your car get up to temperature properly? I know that I need to replace my thermostat as it seems to be stuck open. This kills my fuel consumption when it's cold or on shortish journeys. Even on motorway journey's the result is the car runs colder due to the airflow.

You mean the bargraph display on the RHS of the cluster? I believe that gets up to temp ok. (About 90 degrees I think).
So I assume that's ok?

Any way to check if temp is reading correctly?

 

[mr. shr]

Maybe there's a metering or calculating fault? Just an idea really. I can see 40 easily at 75 - 80mph. 35mpg average.

Is there a way to test or check this?

 

[corned]

This winter is the first time I have seen my short journey mpg drop into the 20's. Usually this is 32-33, but I know that I too have a thermostat problem exactly as David has.

I have blanked off some of the radiator with cardboard in an attempt to get the temperature up, which has helped to a degree (sorry!), but this won't help on short journeys where the thermostat isn't getting the engine warmed up as quickly as it should.

When I first got the car, the temp never moved from 80 (on the gauge) regardless of ambient temp, load, speed etc. Now I can't get it above 70 unless it has done some hard work for a reasonable period of time.

Mr Shr - I don't know if STAR can provide real-time info for the thermostat and the temperature sender, but the old-fashioned way to test both is with a pan of water, a stove, and a thermometer - and an ohmmeter for the sender. And a lot of messing about!

The only way I can think of to be sure about the sender is to measure the resistance across the terminals when the temp gauge is at a particular temperature, then remove the sender and put it in a pan of water heated to the same temperature, using a separate thermometer to take the measurements. Then measure the resistance across the terminals again and ensure it is the same value as before when it was on the car. But a lot of faffing about, as I said before!