Moved to USA and bought a C63 & GL550...

[horsesuitedfool]

Hi everyone... I haven't been on here for a long time... I used to have a couple of mercs in the UK, then had a couple of BMWs and Audis.... then I moved to USA in January with my job for a couple of years and thought I would go back to Mercs. I bought a C63 AMG 2010 and GL550 2011. The GL550 has been faultless and I have driven it all over Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee etc!! The C63 has given me some headaches... It was literally drinking oil but I believe I have now hopefully solved that by switching to 5W40 oil instead of the 0W40 I was using. But I have a rattle clunking noise upon startup that literally disappears within a split second, I will post that separately in the right area to see if anyone can help. Just a quick hello from sunny Tennessee....

 

[adz87kc]

Hi everyone... I haven't been on here for a long time... I used to have a couple of mercs in the UK, then had a couple of BMWs and Audis.... then I moved to USA in January with my job for a couple of years and thought I would go back to Mercs. I bought a C63 AMG 2010 and GL550 2011. The GL550 has been faultless and I have driven it all over Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee etc!! The C63 has given me some headaches... It was literally drinking oil but I believe I have now hopefully solved that by switching to 5W40 oil instead of the 0W40 I was using. But I have a rattle clunking noise upon startup that literally disappears within a split second, I will post that separately in the right area to see if anyone can help. Just a quick hello from sunny Tennessee....

All that American muscle at your fingertips and you went for ze Germans! [emoji14]

 

[001]

Cool all them roads and petrol so cheap perfect

 

[AMGBlack]

Yes, I spend 70% of my time in Canada (rest in UK), and have a GLK350 as my daily drive.

Petrol is indeed cheap, about half the price of in the UK.

Only issue is the RON rating of fuel is much lower. It is a real struggle to find a garage offering more than 91 RON which is considered super-plus. I only have 1 garage in Ottawa that offers 93.. (most start at around 85 RON).

Drove to New York and Back couple of weeks ago, (2000 mile round trip with a detour to Boston). Loved the roads and who says they don't have corners lol.

Would love to trade my E63 S here in the UK for a sensible car, and get a new E63 S in Canada so I can enjoy it more. My E63 S here has less than 20K miles and its 3 years old. Trouble is 5 months of the year it would be in the snow and ice, hitting minus 40 on some days so it would be a waste. G Wagon is tempting but at $200K thats a big ask.

But here is a fact you might not know..

If you buy a car it has to have an inspection like an MOT for the new owner. But...
When you own it, and providing you never sell it.. it never needs another one.. ever.
Yep, you heard that right.. no test ever, ever never..

I guess the rationale is, if it can get through and winter it must be pretty good lol.
But you should see some of the rotted our wings, sills etc. wow.

 

[MancMike]

All that American muscle at your fingertips and you went for ze Germans! [emoji14]

Wise choice have you seen what happens when you turn the steering wheel in American cars?

 

[MancMike]

Only issue is the RON rating of fuel is much lower. It is a real struggle to find a garage offering more than 91 RON which is considered super-plus. I only have 1 garage in Ottawa that offers 93.. (most start at around 85 RON).

Can you get 99 anywhere there? RON that low is volatile stuff. No wonder their massive V8s produce no power at all. Got to be de-tuned because pre-ignition is the order of the day.

 

[clk320x]

US & Canada uses AKI ratings which is roughly 5 points lower than the equivalent RON rating used by other countries. 87/89/93 gasoline in the US are the same as 91/94/98 elsewhere.

 

[fabes]

But here is a fact you might not know..

If you buy a car it has to have an inspection like an MOT for the new owner. But...
When you own it, and providing you never sell it.. it never needs another one.. ever.
Yep, you heard that right.. no test ever, ever never..

I guess the rationale is, if it can get through and winter it must be pretty good lol.
But you should see some of the rotted our wings, sills etc. wow.

The Safety....

Just in NYC after visiting my brother in Toronto and learnt all about it.
There sure are some dangerous cars out there......

And just spent a week feeding a rental 3.6L Jeep Cherokee on 83 Ron fuel.
Best I saw was 10L per Km, worst was a lot worse and the performance wasn't worth it

Would love a decent AWD AMG out there

 

[st13phil]

US & Canada uses AKI ratings which is roughly 5 points lower than the equivalent RON rating used by other countries. 87/89/93 gasoline in the US are the same as 91/94/98 elsewhere.

Correct.

Just like the Americans can't write a date correctly, they also insist on using a different Octane Rating system to everyone else

We quote RON (Research Octane Number), while their Anti-Knock Index - generally quoted on the pumps as R+M/2 - is an average of the RON and MON (Motor Octane Number). As MON is typically 8 to 12 points lower than RON, the AKI value is typically around 5 points lower than RON.

 

[PenelopePitstop]

If you buy a car it has to have an inspection like an MOT for the new owner. But...
When you own it, and providing you never sell it.. it never needs another one.. ever.
Yep, you heard that right.. no test ever, ever never..

I guess the rationale is, if it can get through and winter it must be pretty good lol.
But you should see some of the rotted our wings, sills etc. wow.

I've seen really rusty cars in Montreal. It was shocking!

 

[AMGBlack]

clk320x and st13phil.

Really appreciate the clarification on the fuel. I didn't know that.

Mercedes might think about changing the filler cap instructions (inside the fuel lid), as it clearly states 91 RON minimum inside mine (GLK), which when you pull up alongside a pump which have a massive 85,87 and 89 on the pumps is very misleading for sure.

Thanks.

 

[st13phil]

Mercedes might think about changing the filler cap instructions (inside the fuel lid), as it clearly states 91 RON minimum inside mine (GLK)

It's not just Mercedes.

I was in Ontario on business a couple of weeks ago and had a rental VW Tiguan that specified the minimum fuel RON value on the filler flap. If it hadn't been a rental car I would have had to do some mental arithmetic at the pump, but as I was refuelling it immediately prior to dropping it off at YYZ it got the cheapest stuff

 

[AMGBlack]

It's not just Mercedes.

I was in Ontario on business a couple of weeks ago and had a rental VW Tiguan that specified the minimum fuel RON value on the filler flap. If it hadn't been a rental car I would have had to do some mental arithmetic at the pump, but as I was refuelling it immediately prior to dropping it off at YYZ it got the cheapest stuff

Haha, yes indeed. Know what you mean.

I just put the highest number in anyway, its cheap enough not to worry about the cost. And I much prefer the pay at pump process which is pretty much standard in each garage you come across in North America anyway.

I see you mention Ontario, you must refer to Toronto then!.. no-one likes to mention the name... don't like the place. (too flat, big and traffic sucks).

 

[st13phil]

I see you mention Ontario, you must refer to Toronto then!

Yup, I was visiting a company in Mississauga

 

[AMGBlack]

Yup, I was visiting a company in Mississauga

What do you do, that takes you to Canada?

Send me a PM if you don't want to put it here.
Interested to see what brings you into 2 headed land

 

[Doc matt]

Could you possibly add octane booster to the fuel mix or am I living in the 80's?