Petrol or Diesel? Your opinion matters.

[Stratman]

Alas, my trusty '96 C180 met an unfortunate end last night and I am now searching for a replacement. I am thinking early W203 estate, and I believe the top "bells and whistles" level is Elegance. Please put me right if it isn't. The biggest decision is whether to go for a petrol (180) or Diesel (220 CDi)

I've never had any problems with the petrol C180 other than fuel consumption (average about 32 and that's with lots of motorway and easy driving; I'm not a boy racer) so what would I be letting myself in for if I bought the Diesel? I read horror stories here of glow plugs seizing and it costing thousands to rectify. Is this true and is it common? Does the lower fuel consumption compensate for the higher price of the fuel? Are they as quiet?

Any comments gratefully received.

 

[fuzzer]

elegance or avantgarde. Depends if you like the aluminimum trim or the wood trim.

Any diesel engine is brilliant in the w203 , suits the car with the torque. 220 or 270 is great.

Diesel.

 

[Gollom]

What he said!!! Lovely engine. No slouch neither - watch the yoofs face when you pull past his Gti thingie going up hills

 

[mark.t]

diesel i would never go back :bannana:

 

[tikw2124]

Petrol or Diesel

My W203 270 CDI Avantgarde manages 52 mpg on a good day with an average of 46 mpg over the last 3 months, brilliant. Engine is a bit noisy, especially when cold but, i am made to believe this normal? I also believe Avantgarde is a higher spec than Elegance. The glow plugs were replaced at 83k car now completed 128k, not sure of cost as they were replaced prior to me becoming the owner.

Hope this is useful.

Keith

 

[R2D2]

I love my C180k petrol it to goes well but mpg can be a bit low

 

[v_man]

My C200K returns 23mpg around town but I still love it

 

[glojo]

Nip into a dealer and check out both. Far better to get what you like as opposed to what others might prefer. Mercedes make great engines and I'm sure you would like whatever one you choose.

I'm a petrol convert, the modern diesel is unbelievable especially when compared to the older generation engines.

Regards,
John

 

[Benzowner]

Diesel, you will not be dissapointed

 

[Stratman]

Thanks for the replies one and all. I was tending towards a Diesel and now I'm tending a bit more. As glojo says, I'll try a few.

Happy Christmas to all Benzers.

 

[kwakdonut]

Definitely diesel - 44-52 mpg - 2300rpm @ 75mph! Quiet, unstressful and very very relaxing!

 

[Dieselman]

I'd say go for diesel, but then I would wouldn't I.

Both petrol and diesel can suffer problems which can be costly or not but on balance the diesel mechanicals should last longer.

Diesel fuel is approximately 5% more than petrol but with the economy being 50% better thn it's a no brainer..

Diesel engines tend to be noisy from outside the car, especially when cold or idling, but under way they are often quieter than petrols and have a much nicer sound. A sort of a low gruff sound as opposed to a raspy breathless droning.

I suspect once you have driven a diesel you won't want a petrol due to the effortless performance.

Drive the cars and let us know what you think.

 

[Alfie]

Thanks for the replies one and all. I was tending towards a Diesel and now I'm tending a bit more. As glojo says, I'll try a few.

Happy Christmas to all Benzers.

Easy.

Diesel = economy and torque from smaller engines.

Petrol = power and a wonderful sound from bigger engines.

Horses for courses.

I'm presently considering either a C320 CDI because it has the torque of a C55 AMG and the economy of a bicycle or a C55 because it has the torque of a C320 CDI , AMG badge, brakes etc and the that sound when its on song!

As I drive carefully and only relatively few miles, the C55 is winning at the moment just for the sheer power and sound alone!

edit; Mind you, the wife has other ideas for the money so it might be a non starter :-(

 

[Vlad]

If your purchase is to take into account the pure logic of Maths then go for a petrol if you do under 15,000-18,000 miles (model/price you pay depends on the break point) and a diesel if you do in excess of this.

The price difference between a C180K Advantgarde with 60,000 on the clock and a C220 Advantgarde with similar milage and age (ie a 2002 car) is £1600...that buys a lot of petrol.

If emotion comes into it, which is bound to be the case, seeing as its a car your purchasing then try the two and go for whatever you like best, but don't automatically think that it has to be diesel due to rising fuel prices.

I've just purchased a replacement car and I went down the petrol route despite the fact that its a damn great thirsty 4x4 V8 which I need for towing and it was so much cheaper than the equiavelent diesel model, that I have just got it converted onto LPG and even with the cost of the conversion its still cheaper than the equivalent diesel and in this case much nicer to drive and cheaper to run than a diesel....the conversion pays for itself in the first year and also increases the resale value

Talking of LPG conversions, they are not as expensive as they were and they use state of the art sequential injectors and if somebody didn't tell you that the car had been convereted you wouldn't notice any difference in performance compared to a petrol fuelled car.

 

[reflexboy]

I have driven both a C180 and a C220 CDi W203, and would go for the diesel everytime...huge torque difference and a superbly refined diesel engine.

 

[Dieselman]

If your purchase is to take into account the pure logic of Maths then go for a petrol if you do under 15,000-18,000 miles (model/price you pay depends on the break point) and a diesel if you do in excess of this.

The price difference between a C180K Advantgarde with 60,000 on the clock and a C220 Advantgarde with similar milage and age (ie a 2002 car) is £1600...that buys a lot of petrol.

I'm never sure where this break point figure comes from. Ok the diesel is more expensive to buy but will sell for more also so the additional cost is almost irrelevant.
In fact I've owned cars that would have been cheaper buying the more expensive diesel because the resale value diference was greater than the initial cost difference.

As far as £1600 buying a lot of petrol, not really. At todays prices it's 11,900 miles worth, and you only get one bite of the cherry. As fuel prices rise this mileage will become less.

Always the cost per mile of diesel against petrol is lower.

 

[Mactech]

I have both a petrol and a diesel Merc, which is better?
My wife prefers the refinement of the supercharged 200 SLK.
I prefer the refinement and grunt of the V6 'woodburner'
Drive them yourself and make up your own mind!

 

[Dieselman]

I prefer the refinement and grunt of the V6 'woodburner'

What do you run that on, pellets, chips or logs?

 

[Mactech]

It's currently running some very expensive refined liquid wood....

 

[Rose Chap]

I'd go for petrol. Even modern diesels I've driven still sound co**** compared to petrol models, suffer from turbo lag, and don't 'perform' like petrols. Some of them are fast of course, but then speed isn't everything. Also, having to fill up at the slimy smelly pump gets annoying.

Unless you're doing stacks of miles, petrol every time.