E320 CDI mpg?

[SimonsMerc]

Hey folks,

I've just bought a 2000/V-reg E320 CDI Elegance Estate with 53k miles on the dial (for £20000 including reasonable trade-in on my old A8 4.2Quattro - reasonable price?).

However, I've two issues with it. The first is that the air-con makes a kind of gurgling, whistling noise (not sure how else to describe it). Anyone else seen that? What can be done about it?

The second is the amount of diesel it uses. The specs (from http://www.whatcar.co.uk/RoadTest_FullData.asp?DL=0&RT=186751 for instance) say that it should average 36mpg, with 25.5mpg around town. According to the onboard computer, I'm getting more along the lines of 18-22mpg around town! Any ideas?

One thing that I know is that there is too much oil in the car - it came up as a malfunction as one point saying 'reduce oil level' and when I have it measure the oil level it says the same. Could this influence how much diesel it uses?

In general though it's a beautiful car - I love the engine (and coming from a V8 4.2 litre that says something), and it has enough space for our two-year-old and the twins that are on the way!

Oh, one last question - are there any child-seats that'll fit on the rear-facing seats in the back? Just out of interest - we probably wouldn't do that anyway (those seats are just for emergency) but would be nice to know!

Thanks,

-simon

 

[big x]

For price guide see

http://www.parkers.co.uk

adam

 

[Brian WH]

Hey folks,

I've just bought a 2000/V-reg E320 CDI Elegance Estate with 53k miles on the dial (for £20000 including reasonable trade-in on my old A8 4.2Quattro - reasonable price?).

The second is the amount of diesel it uses. The specs (from http://www.whatcar.co.uk/RoadTest_FullData.asp?DL=0&RT=186751 for instance) say that it should average 36mpg, with 25.5mpg around town. According to the onboard computer, I'm getting more along the lines of 18-22mpg around town! Any ideas?

One thing that I know is that there is too much oil in the car - it came up as a malfunction as one point saying 'reduce oil level' and when I have it measure the oil level it says the same. Could this influence how much diesel it uses?

-simon

As far as Mpg is concerned, you will get about 20-25 mpg around town when you are constantly stop start and not doing more than say 40 mph. On a slightly longer run 20 miles including town you will get 30-35 mpg and on a very long run it should go up to 35-42 mpg.

The oil wants reducing to the correct level as it will put some strain on the engine and could affect mpg, so get it sucked out back to the right level mate.

 

[Aletank]

say that it should average 36mpg, with 25.5mpg around town. According to the onboard computer, I'm getting more along the lines of 18-22mpg around town! Any ideas?

Is your around town driving with a cold engine maybe ? Around town with a warm engine should give more than a cold engine.
I would think a deisel engine of that size would take abit longer than normal to warm up, maybe.

 

[Satch]

All car makers are guilty of spouting optimistic fuel consumption figures, but you cannot escape the fact that stop-start traffic will be brutal in terms of fuel consumption because you are hauling a lot of metal around. Even when on the move in traffic you will be in 3rd/4th at best which does not help either.

In terms of warm up time, you have a big engine with lots of fluid and metal to heat up. Same goes for the autobox, so mine needs 8/10 miles or so to get to full working temperature. (Hence the need for the electric or diesel powered booster heaters so that you & your passengers do not freeze whilst the engine heats up on a cold winter morn.)

Overall I consider myself lucky to get 29/30 mpg overall in mixed town/country driving, 36/7mpg fast motorway/A road driving but with 39/40mpg available if at a move sedate pace.

As ever, it does also depend how heavy your right foot is! Helps if you think what it would be like if you had a 320 petrol. (16/17mpg in traffic perhaps)

 

[Dieselman]

Unless you are using the power a lot then 18-20 sounds too low.

Does the car have any tendency towards flat spots or smoke. If so I would suspect the MAF sensor is faulty.

Don't trust the fuel computer, perform a brim to brim test for accuracy.

 

[marcos]

I had a brief spell of getting high 30's mpg but in generall I usually get around 27-32mpg. My dad's is the same as we tend to cover fairly mixed city/town/country. London is awfull, I sometimes get below 20mpg but on the motorways at a steady 86mph I can usually return around 34mpg which isn't bad. I always cruise at 86mph because it states in the manual that the car lowers itself at that speed (air-matic) and I do like the lower look, sad really at 33 yrs old
BTW I do have aheavy right foot

 

[SimonsMerc]

Unless you are using the power a lot then 18-20 sounds too low. [...]
Don't trust the fuel computer, perform a brim to brim test for accuracy.

Well from 15.4 gallons to 12.4 gallons, I got 51 miles, about half on the motorway and half around town. Which works out to an even 17 miles per gallon. Average shown on the computer is 17.2 miles per gallon. So I guess that the fuel computer is fairly close (or the petrol sensor is wrong! I'll know when I finish up this tank).

Does the car have any tendency towards flat spots or smoke. If so I would suspect the MAF sensor is faulty.

I've not noticed any smoke (but then I drive it, I don't stand behind looking. What exactly do you mean by flat spots? Any way of actually checking the Mass Air Flow sensor?

Also (as an aside) does anyone know if the Mercedes has a user accessible OBD port? On my A8 I had a cable that connected to my laptop's serial port and used programs like OBDTool and VAGcom (this one VAG specific of course). At least with the OBD tool I could get information about warning codes and so on...

Thanks,

-simon

 

[GordonTarling]

17.2mpg sounds awfully low to me. Mine's a 2001 E320CDI Estate and I regularly achieve 30-32mpg on short journeys and normally get 40-42mpg on a longish motorway trips. Why, on an 8 mile journey to work every morning I normally get 29mpg average and that's starting from cold! I think you'd know if the MAF sensor was faulty - I certainly did. In any event, my mpg changed very little once the MAF sensor problem was fixed.

 

[marcos]

17.2mpg sounds awfully low to me. Mine's a 2001 E320CDI Estate and I regularly achieve 30-32mpg on short journeys and normally get 40-42mpg on a longish motorway trips. Why, on an 8 mile journey to work every morning I normally get 29mpg average and that's starting from cold! I think you'd know if the MAF sensor was faulty - I certainly did. In any event, my mpg changed very little once the MAF sensor problem was fixed.

What sort of cruising speed do you do to get 40-42mpg?

 

[GordonTarling]

What sort of cruising speed do you do to get 40-42mpg?

Normally an indicated 75-80 on motorways, with the occasional burst for overtaking. Slower when traffic demands it.

 

[spnracing]

Mine is a 2002 W210 CDi.

Around town I get 22-28 MPG, lower if I'm in a hurry and its a short journey.

On the many motorway runs I do I can get to 44MPG if I am really careful - in fact this is one of games I play to keep myself amused on the M40. Managed to get it showing 45+ average one day and that includes driving out of London.

Your one sounds like its using way too much diesel - and running with too much oil is dodgy as hell as stated on the sticker on top of the plenum chamber. I would get a dealer to look at this.

 

[glojo]

Like everyone else here I agree that your fuel consumption sounds excessive. I would only expect to see those sort of figures when there are short urban, stop, start motoring. Having the air conditioning on will obviously effect fuel consumption, but your figures are still 'a concern'. The newer 211 is slightly more economical. (with fuel or the truth?)

The other part of your question is YES, the 210 did have optional rear facing childrens seats. Perhaps they might pop up now and again on e-bay??

Good luck
John

 

[Dieselman]

Well from 15.4 gallons to 12.4 gallons, I got 51 miles, about half on the motorway and half around town. Which works out to an even 17 miles per gallon. Average shown on the computer is 17.2 miles per gallon. So I guess that the fuel computer is fairly close (or the petrol sensor is wrong! I'll know when I finish up this tank).



I've not noticed any smoke (but then I drive it, I don't stand behind looking. What exactly do you mean by flat spots? Any way of actually checking the Mass Air Flow sensor?

Also (as an aside) does anyone know if the Mercedes has a user accessible OBD port? On my A8 I had a cable that connected to my laptop's serial port and used programs like OBDTool and VAGcom (this one VAG specific of course). At least with the OBD tool I could get information about warning codes and so on...

Thanks,

-simon

Your car doesn't have an OBD II port.

If you do a search for MAF you will find there is a thread covering measuring the MAF against engine revs.

Your economy figures are in petrol territory, are you sure your car is a CDi, and not a 320 PETROL badged as a CDi to impress?

Seriously I once saw a 280 badged CDi.........

 

[spnracing]

On a related note does anyone know why the new E320 CDI EU4 variant is 10% THIRSTIER than the EU3 variant? Is this progress?

 

[RichardM]

Seriously I once saw a 280 badged CDi.........

http://www.mercedes-benz.de/mbd/tg02/0,3407,C22S_22ND,00.html

 

[Brian WH]

http://www.mercedes-benz.de/mbd/tg02/0,3407,C22S_22ND,00.html

RichardM shows us one thing, once you go abroad you see all sorts of combinations we don't get in this country.

 

[glojo]

RichardM shows us one thing, once you go abroad you see all sorts of combinations we don't get in this country.

On the plus side though, we do get some combinations that other countries do not get.

I'm more than happy with the specification of my vehicle and owners from other countries are disappointed that they cannot order the same specifications.

Regards,
John

 

[RichardM]

But don't you wish we could get the E400CDi John?

 

[Brian WH]

But don't you wish we could get the E400CDi John?

I went through the wouldn't that be nice to have all that power, but where the hell would you use it??? Mine is fast enough for anywhere I want to go.