are merc cdi's known for 'bad' mpg

[gIzzE]

I don't find the W212 sport harsh at all, in fact I couldn't tell the difference between the ride on the Sport or the Avantgarde on anything other than raised ironworks and those nasty little speed bumps, then it was just down to tyre profile as far as I could tell.
But found the sport pretty compliant in todays world of 'rock hard ride just in case you want to track it every weekend' that most people seem to go for.

The F10 5 series se feels like the old E39 sport on 17s, which was almost a perfect balance of sportiness and comfort.
My Avantgarde W211 is a little bit softer, just a smidge and I like it like that most of the time, but the W212 certainly feels tighter all round and that is a nice thing.

One thin the dealer said to me when taking the W212 sport out was 'It's not on runflats.' I presumed that he meant because BMWs are, but do Mercs now come on them too??

 

[Jonathan_T]

Having just re built a 270cdi engine we find that on the motorway at 75mph with the limiter and cruise set we get 55mpg. :bannana::bannana:

Is that what the computer is telling you? I've calculated mine manually and am getting 40.3mpg on even mix of A roads and Motorway but the computer is telling me 48......

I also do a steady 75 on the motorway

 

[Rory]

I sure hope so otherwise he'll be collecting other cars paint, given that Rory hasn't asked re good bodyshops from memories makes me think he has got this off to a fine art.

Cutting roundabouts and straight lining bends, etc is good driving. Its less wear on the tyres, brakes, offers you more visibility etc. So long as it does not upset someone else then you should be doing it.

I try and take 2 lane roundabouts at 30-40mph where I can, maybe a bit more if its clear. Its also a lot of fun!!!

There's one on the outskirts of our village (so I use it a lot) that is wide enough for two lanes but doesn't have lane markings. Nevertheless, most drivers who are going straight on carefully drive around the very outside circumference, and it actually make it a pretty tight turn to get off the roundabout to the straight ahead lane. Then they've got to accellerate up a fairly steep hill. Bonkers.

One wouldn't normally be cutting up drivers by straight-lining the way I do it - it's most unlikely that a driver turning right would be carrying more speed than me! (I do check though). A general advanced driving point is that you never allow yourself to be sat next to somebody on a roundabout anyway - leave a "safety cell" of space, and they can't barge into you.

 

[snoop51]

There's one on the outskirts of our village (so I use it a lot) that is wide enough for two lanes but doesn't have lane markings. Nevertheless, most drivers who are going straight on carefully drive around the very outside circumference, and it actually make it a pretty tight turn to get off the roundabout to the straight ahead lane. Then they've got to accellerate up a fairly steep hill. Bonkers.

One wouldn't normally be cutting up drivers by straight-lining the way I do it - it's most unlikely that a driver turning right would be carrying more speed than me! (I do check though). A general advanced driving point is that you never allow yourself to be sat next to somebody on a roundabout anyway - leave a "safety cell" of space, and they can't barge into you.

Apologies Rory I forgot to check where you live. You obviously still have space on the roads around you. Advance driving techniques or not, in the South space is a luxury most don't get to see very often at least on the roads anyway.
Driving down here most people in the R/H lane of a 2 lane r/about are still trying to turn left anyway or at best go straight on.

 

[John]

Is that what the computer is telling you? I've calculated mine manually and am getting 40.3mpg on even mix of A roads and Motorway but the computer is telling me 48......

I also do a steady 75 on the motorway

This is my point - pictures of dash boards are only accurate if they've been substantiated...

 

[rf065]

This is my point - pictures of dash boards are only accurate if they've been substantiated...

As said in my earlier post, my brim to brim figures always show more mpg than the computer does.

Russ

 

[Rory]

Have found slightly increasing tyre pressure makes a big difference

I run my rears a couple of pounds under minimum pressure, otherwise they wear in the centre.

You'd think low tyre pressure would make a difference, but it's not supported by economy tests - even way under-pressure tyres hardly makes any difference to MPG.

I also wonder what the trade-off is between tyre wear and MPG - on the first set of tyres I had, there was still 4mm at the edges when the centres were close to bald. They'd have had considerably longer life if they'd worn evenly

 

[x332race]

I run my rears a couple of pounds under minimum pressure, otherwise they wear in the centre.

You'd think low tyre pressure would make a difference, but it's not supported by economy tests - even way under-pressure tyres hardly makes any difference to MPG.

I also wonder what the trade-off is between tyre wear and MPG - on the first set of tyres I had, there was still 4mm at the edges when the centres were close to bald. They'd have had considerably longer life if they'd worn evenly

Well all I can say is that, in the past, I have run my car at the recommended pressure for light loads and got a max figure on the computer of 50mpg....I have recently increased the pressure by a couple of Bar (still under the recommended pressure for a full car) and have been getting 60mpg on the computer (both on long runs) so slightly increased tyre pressure seems to help (my tyre gauge has been checked for accuracy as well) (I have a C270 estate)

I think I am getting about 10% extra economy. with fuel at around £70 per tank it will not take long to "save" the cost of new tyres. Falkens for my car cost not much more than a tank of fuel.

 

[saorbust]

I will say with merc diesels I've owned the mpg does improve a lot after the 1st and 2nd service. I think the engined are very tight at first, and as they loosen up and bed in the mpg gets better - particularly with new oil.