C350 CDI fuel consumption

[st4]

I have to take my hat off to you for your economy-driving skills. I have covered 5,000 miles in my 350CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and only once achieved 41 mpg on a gentle motorway run (coming back, the figure stuck stubbornly at 38 - must have been a headwind). MB claims 49.6 for extra-urban - nowhere near!

In my ML 320CDI (with 30,000 plus on the clock), I could rarely push the figure, on a predominantly motorway trip, past 30 (MB claim 35.3).

Perhaps the figures would have been better at 50 mph - but that's not the real world is it?

Like FordGT40, I wonder if we're comparing the same engines. If anyone can drive fast and still beat the claimed figures, then I am obviously missing something...

At 30,000 its still very new, mine is closing on 70,000 miles and I expect by 100,000 miles it will be doing even better.

I will achieve 55mpg from this car, it will never in a month of Sundays do 60mpg even doing 50mph on flat A roads.

Extra urban for my car is 47mpg and I have seen 52mpg and on a run/brim test I verified another run at over 50mpg, and Scotland is very hilly. Getting combined when I better extra urban MPG would have required a consistant 90mph cruise, not a 56mpg cruise which is what I did to obtain it.

It does take some doing to better the extra urban MPG. I also have lower rolling resistance tyres on the front of my car and the figures were not done using low rolling resistance tyres, but BE cars were measured with these tyres so you should be half way between the combined figure and your extra urban on a gentle motorway run.

Try obeying all the speedlimits and if you get less than 38mpg on a a good length of A/B and Mway run, and giving some thought to being ecomical, but dont be shy of the odd kickdown.

 

[st4]

At 52mpg, or even 46mpg you would be getting 750 miles on a single tank.

Yep, I verified a 46mpg run as well and also my weekly averages it would appear 0.5mpg out, the comp over reading.

I am aiming for a 800mile tank. Ideally if it had a larger tank, 1000 miles would be possible which would get me to Ollies and back on 1 fill, although I shall be cruising at 70mph so only 44-46mpg.

Oh, I got 43mpg coming back from trapperjohns and was raging, but did travel at some lick, but you can tell from rebrimming and the way the gauge moves, that this is one economical car. Without trying, I did York and back on £50 worth of fuel, over 500 miles when fuel was £1.20 or so IIRC. Over half a tank I recall, but not by much,

I do drive very sympathetically, my tyres are on 4mm at rear and when I got the car they were pretty much new, and I have done just over 25k miles. The fronts were also new, but one got replaced and its on 5mm after just over 25k miles.

Most go through a set after 20k miles so assume down to 2mm and I have 2mm left. I will see maybe 35k miles/set tyres which would back me up I drive it with care and consideration for economy as well as the whole car. And I dont mess about speed wise, either and have the odd indulgence of RWD moments.

I recall a member saying they got 15k miles from rears, from the less powerful 280cdi...

 

[gIzzE]

Extra Urban is an average speed of 39mph over 4.5 miles with the car reaching 75mph once.
It is hardly real world and can achieve pretty good figures, it is NOT what you would expect to get driving out of town as the title suggests.

 

[st4]

Extra Urban is an average speed of 39mph over 4.5 miles with the car reaching 75mph once.
It is hardly real world and can achieve pretty good figures, it is what you would expect to get driving out of town as the title suggests.

I would say to get an accurate OBC reading on the trip, the car needs driven for 20+ miles.

I would not expect the car to achieve that over that criteria no, but I use the extra urban figure as a target to see what I can do when I purely focus on economy mainly out of town driving.

My car is quoted 37mpg. I had to drive through Glasgow city centre, and on DCW 70mph and on A roads 60mph and it would go much higher, I had to pin the throttle on a long straight for 3 miles without lifitng to force the MPG back to combined 37mpg. And yes, the car hit the speed limiter. Itwas a 90 mile run, and to me, thats not a long drive and maybe thats why my car does better, it seldom used for short runs, and is ran a reasonable distance every day.

In practice driving moderately briskly on A/B roads and you should beat it. On 80mph cruise you should just pip it with a 320cdi. Driving back from Weybridge to Helensburgh, mainly uphill I got over 39mpg and the weather was very very cold and I still beat combined, 80mph from South of London to North of Glasgow at 80mph/2000rpm mainly uphill with stereo, heat seaters and climate all blaring.

The figures for the C350cdi are not drastically improved on my own car, namely as the DPF regeneration will drop the figures quite substancially, but I better the figures on a still not that high miles E320cdi, so I see no reason if I had a C350cdi I would not do the same once it bedded in.

I suspect thats the crux of the matter, the cars are very new and owners are needlessly over zelous with the go pedal, as the V6cdi is an amusing bundle of joy. It day to day driving, you never need to rev it above 2k rpm to make suitable progress.

I had a newish CLS350cdi on loan, and I wish I paid more attention to the economy, which I recal was not special, but then I drove it as hard as a physically could and it seemed on par with what mine did when it was driven hard.

 

[gIzzE]

Looking up my car with the right tyres it seems my figures are...

Fuel Consumption Imperial (miles per gallon)
Urban 25.70 MPG
Extra-Urban 42.20 MPG
Combined 34.90 MPG

So I guess what I get is about right, do get around 29 purely round town, 34 is my average and 42 is just about achievable.

 

[gIzzE]

So if I went and bought the rather nice looking E350cdi S212 Avantgarde tomorrow that Robinsons have sat there, would I get.....

Fuel Consumption Imperial (miles per gallon)
Urban 31.00 MPG
Extra-Urban 46.30 MPG
Combined 39.20 MPG

 

[gIzzE]

What about an E250cdi??


Urban 37.70 MPG
Extra-Urban 58.90 MPG
Combined 48.70 MPG

I just can't see that happening in the slightest. I took one out and really, really nannied it, and I struggled to get past 36mpg, that was 4 miles out the city, along the ring road for 6 miles at 75mph and then back down a B road at 50mph and back to the dealership.

 

[st4]

Looking up my car with the right tyres it seems my figures are...

Fuel Consumption Imperial (miles per gallon)
Urban 25.70 MPG
Extra-Urban 42.20 MPG
Combined 34.90 MPG

So I guess what I get is about right, do get around 29 purely round town, 34 is my average and 42 is just about achievable.

Combined 34 eek, the estates are quite a bit sorer on the fuel and I would quite like developers brabus D6 one once he is done. Mine is combined 37mpg. I should be kinder on your figures and posts re economy, I did not release an esate was worse on fuel to that extent. I thought it might be better yours as a non sport narrower wheels

So if I went and bought the rather nice looking E350cdi S212 Avantgarde tomorrow that Robinsons have sat there, would I get.....

Fuel Consumption Imperial (miles per gallon)
Urban 31.00 MPG
Extra-Urban 46.30 MPG
Combined 39.20 MPG

Easily in my book see 39.2mpg. Someone got one they want to lend me

What about an E250cdi??


Urban 37.70 MPG
Extra-Urban 58.90 MPG
Combined 48.70 MPG

I just can't see that happening in the slightest. I took one out and really, really nannied it, and I struggled to get past 36mpg, that was 4 miles out the city, along the ring road for 6 miles at 75mph and then back down a B road at 50mph and back to the dealership.

I found I got 43.6mpg from an E220cdi BE saloon 212 without trying, which was ok but only 3mpg worse than my car but not suprised as I had an E220cdi 211 and could beat the 44.8mpg combined, but it took a fair bit more effort than beating the 37mpg combined in "the shed". However the BE car had a DPF and was split new, I bet a nice 70k mile lump would be a lot more frugal

It, the e220cdi I owned, had a 57mpg extra urban and whislt deploying hypermiling techniques on a 37mile run I saw 54mpg and would get 50mpg from it quite easily and late 40s mpg on 65-70mph motorway runs and after 10 miles taking it very easy it would register over 50mpg.

On the supposed more economic and less strained engine 250cdi, I would want mid 50's from it taking it easy, but think nigh on 60mpg would be tough and would want for low 40's (43mpg) average out the car (mine is 39mpg since resetting trip 3200 miles ago) but think averaging combined of near 50 for me would be tough.

 

[Mercy1]

Seems to me we are in danger of disappearing up our own backsides with this one!
I am happy to pass on my experience of fuel consumption to someone who seems to be getting very little, but I draw the line at driving a car with an obsession over my mpg.
I don't believe that you buy and drive a car like a C350 (or equivalent/better) with a permanent eye on the fuel figures. As others have said, if you don't want to pay the price, get a smaller car.
I don't believe that the savings of one or two extra miles per gallon are in any way significant in relation to the overall cost of your investment. Again, if that price is too much for you, then you shouldn't be in that car.
I don't believe it is relevant to laud the mpg figures of a 70,000+ miles car. Whatever small fuel savings you get running a high mileage car will surely fade into insignificance compared with all the other repair/maintenance/wear costs of a high mileage vehicle.
In the real world, people buy cars to meet their needs or desires. Some happily fritter away a fortune on pretty-pretty options/accessories etc and then bemoan paying for what cars really need - fuel.
They all need fuel - some more than others - but really, does it make sense to buy a big car for your pleasure and then quibble over the cost of running it, or make it your mission/obsession to drive it with such a feather touch that you lose the pleasure you sought in the first place!?

 

[gIzzE]

I don't obsess over mpg at all, I am just amazed at the figures Steve gets from his car, same as mine but a saloon.

I do 40k miles a year, I do 30k miles in 5 months, and during those months I have to admit I do feel it, but then I have sold my V8 S4 (18mpg) the 335i (28mpg) and the M3's, the E320 petrol was replaced for a diesel version and 34mpg average does seem great, and as you say, in the grand scheme of things, even when doing 40k miles a year fuel is never the biggest cost.

I think the issue though is when people come from big petrols over to big diesels, and by big I mean size of car rather than engine, I used to get 32mpg on a run on my E320 V6 petrol estate, doing the same in the E320cdi I get around 35mpg.
Yet the figures would have you believe that you are going to get at least 10mpg more, so rather disappointing to fall well short. The petrol for me is 10x the car the diesel is, and I would happily drop 3mpg to have an E350 instead of my E320cdi.

The other problem is other marques, I have been in the 520d touring this morning, took it across country for 15 miles and then back and it didn't drop below 50mpg, mine would be 36 tops on this run, and you think 'GOD! I could be saving a fortune!!'.

But even with 40k miles a year and 36mpg vs 50mpg the savings, at an all time high of £1.40 a litre round here, are still only £165 a month, or £38 a week. For someone doing 12k miles a year it is less than a tenner difference each week.


As you say, really not worrying about.


What I will say though is this, it would cost me £140 a month more to swap my E320cdi 2006 for a 60 plate 520d touring with better spec. and I would save £165 a month in fuel, therefore it is something to consider.
If Mercedes did a 180bhp, 0-60mph in 8 second E-Class S212 that returned 45-55mpg guaranteed I would have already swapped.

 

[NewMB]

In the 2006 C350 Cdi Estate I had I managed about 35-37mpg on avg. 42-43mpg on a long run and in town about 27-29mpg. After buying the Brabus D6 box, I gained a little, but mainly on the long run. In town, no difference.

2003 E55 AMG (saloon) - best ever was 28.1mpg.

My 2007 330d (tuned to 280bhp) I seem to get no worse than 37mpg whatever way I drive it (ie 130-160mph daily). 42mpg if driven like a baby.

 

[Adam230K]

My VW is mapped to just shy of 120bhp and at the moment i'm driving it like i stole it (loving the 200lbs ft), on the motorway I get 51mpg. The best I've ever got cruising at just under 70mph motorway I achieve 65mpg. Around town I get 45-50mpg without a light foot at all. Thats a 1.4tdi. I thought i'd be getting a little more out of it to be hoenst but (almost) 500 miles out of a 40-odd litre tank (£55-60) isn't bad is it

Maybe I should behave myself and see how much I can really do...

 

[Mercy1]

My VW is mapped to just shy of 120bhp and at the moment i'm driving it like i stole it (loving the 200lbs ft), on the motorway I get 51mpg. The best I've ever got cruising at just under 70mph motorway I achieve 65mpg. Around town I get 45-50mpg without a light foot at all. Thats a 1.4tdi. I thought i'd be getting a little more out of it to be hoenst but (almost) 500 miles out of a 40-odd litre tank (£55-60) isn't bad is it

Maybe I should behave myself and see how much I can really do...

No, don't behave yourself. Just enjoy the car for what it is...lol. :bannana:

 

[RAG]

Seems to me we are in danger of disappearing up our own backsides with this one!
I am happy to pass on my experience of fuel consumption to someone who seems to be getting very little, but I draw the line at driving a car with an obsession over my mpg.
I don't believe that you buy and drive a car like a C350 (or equivalent/better) with a permanent eye on the fuel figures. As others have said, if you don't want to pay the price, get a smaller car.
I don't believe that the savings of one or two extra miles per gallon are in any way significant in relation to the overall cost of your investment. Again, if that price is too much for you, then you shouldn't be in that car.
I don't believe it is relevant to laud the mpg figures of a 70,000+ miles car. Whatever small fuel savings you get running a high mileage car will surely fade into insignificance compared with all the other repair/maintenance/wear costs of a high mileage vehicle.
In the real world, people buy cars to meet their needs or desires. Some happily fritter away a fortune on pretty-pretty options/accessories etc and then bemoan paying for what cars really need - fuel.
They all need fuel - some more than others - but really, does it make sense to buy a big car for your pleasure and then quibble over the cost of running it, or make it your mission/obsession to drive it with such a feather touch that you lose the pleasure you sought in the first place!?

Totally agree, I made the mistake of obsessing over economy after switching from a much more efficient BMW but in all honesty it was putting a dampener on my enjoyment of the car, I have now switched the computer to default to the digital speedo and I'm back to enjoying the car, I think MPG chasing can become an illness!

 

[artyman]

Quite true back in the good old days before onboard computers you could only estimate at each fillup, and that was assuming a working fuel guage

 

[st4]

I don't obsess over mpg at all, I am just amazed at the figures Steve gets from his car, same as mine but a saloon.

I do 40k miles a year, I do 30k miles in 5 months, and during those months I have to admit I do feel it, but then I have sold my V8 S4 (18mpg) the 335i (28mpg) and the M3's, the E320 petrol was replaced for a diesel version and 34mpg average does seem great, and as you say, in the grand scheme of things, even when doing 40k miles a year fuel is never the biggest cost.

I think the issue though is when people come from big petrols over to big diesels, and by big I mean size of car rather than engine, I used to get 32mpg on a run on my E320 V6 petrol estate, doing the same in the E320cdi I get around 35mpg.
Yet the figures would have you believe that you are going to get at least 10mpg more, so rather disappointing to fall well short. The petrol for me is 10x the car the diesel is, and I would happily drop 3mpg to have an E350 instead of my E320cdi.

The other problem is other marques, I have been in the 520d touring this morning, took it across country for 15 miles and then back and it didn't drop below 50mpg, mine would be 36 tops on this run, and you think 'GOD! I could be saving a fortune!!'.

But even with 40k miles a year and 36mpg vs 50mpg the savings, at an all time high of £1.40 a litre round here, are still only £165 a month, or £38 a week. For someone doing 12k miles a year it is less than a tenner difference each week.


As you say, really not worrying about.


What I will say though is this, it would cost me £140 a month more to swap my E320cdi 2006 for a 60 plate 520d touring with better spec. and I would save £165 a month in fuel, therefore it is something to consider.
If Mercedes did a 180bhp, 0-60mph in 8 second E-Class S212 that returned 45-55mpg guaranteed I would have already swapped.

You need an Alpina D3 estate. Outstanding piece of kit that.

Re the comments re a 70,000 mile car, not made by you, and comments re its repairs. Yes it needs more repairs, but these too pale into significance when compared to the savage depreciation felt on newer cars, and also I do not have a single bit of finance on it, so not paying out £400pm for something loosing £400pm. I'm therefore £800pm better off than the newer car drivers, and going to the petrol station less often.

Fuel is dropping in price, down to 138ppm from 142ppl

 

[gIzzE]

Fuel is dropping in price, down to 138ppm from 142ppl

Get in there!! We can eat again this week after all!!

 

[st4]

Get in there!! We can eat again this week after all!!

Not if you are in the Counties of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Hampshire as I will be on my frugal travels...

 

[Mercy1]

With your post in mind FordGT, I kept my eye on the on-board computer during a 360 mile drive today from the south coast to the Midlands and back again.
The first 160 miles is almost exclusively motorway and dual carriageway, and cruise control was mostly around 79. By the time I arrived, best figure on the OBC was 40.8 mpg.
This was a very easy run, no fierce acceleration and I was pretty much feathering the accelerator all the way when off cruise control, frequently dropping below 70. True, figures may have been better had I driven at 50 mph, but then again I wouldn't have been writing this now - I would have still been on the road!
On the way back, driving a little more forcefully in lighter traffic, and with a little town work, figure dropped to 38. I leave you to draw your own conclusions on your mpg expectation - hope it helps...

 

[fordgt40]

Got mine back from the dealers, they checked the fuel consumption and found nothing wrong but they've uploaded the latest software and although the fuel consumption seems to be pretty much the same the engine feels smoother so I'm going to switch the trip off and just enjoy the car, thanks to you all for your responses to my question.