Real world MPG - 350 CGI vs 500 vs E63

[Londonscottish]

Hi All,

I'm really struggling to find a 212 350 CGI in the spec I want to thought might cast the net a bit wider.

£19k could get me into a nice W211 E63, for example, but the fuel economy does make me wonder (and yes, I know, if I'm asking that question....).

Anyway; the only thing that really matters is what I can get on a run as the majority of miles are long family trips.

In my current W211 E500 (300bhp) I get something like 25 mpg without trying that hard and I can nudge it to the late 20's if I put my mind to it.

I'm assuming that a 350 CGI would get me 30-ish to the gallon if driven normally on a run, a bit more if I try.

Looking at the official figures I'd be more likely to get 20-odd mpg from a 211 E63 with 25 mpg when running on unicorn juice.

Owners of 350 CGI's and W211 E63's are my numbers about right?

And am I missing anything such as having to use super-unleaded in the E63?

Then of course there's the annual road tax - the 350 would the same as my 500 at £295 pa. The E63? £500?

And them all the London pollution tax stuff - the 500 is Euro 5 (and 276 g/km of carbons).

No idea what the 63 is but it pumps out 354 g/km (!).

I know I'm only doing 7k a year but I guess the fuel + RFL + London charges + insurance (might hurt a bit) + AMG tax (front discs, etc) all start to add up.

By my rough calculations it's £400+ for fuel, maybe £250 for RFL, maybe £250 for insurance - so easily £1k a year before brakes, tyres and various forms of communism.

EDIT; I forgot about depreciation; assuming a flat 20% pa over a four year terms an E63 costing £19k costs £500 pa more than a 350 costing £15k

So maybe I should just wait for that elusive 350 GGI, put up with the slightly torque-lite power delivery (that's what paddles are for...) and have a newer car that won't get bazooked by the London pollution police.

I think I've just answered my own question.

What do the MBClub massive think?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Assuming you can buy it outright, in your position I'd wait for a 350 CGI to pop up and just keep running the E500; the S211 E63 as good as it is wouldn't be that much different to your own S211 (big N/A V8, same model just fresher) to make me want to change.

 

[Londonscottish]

Assuming you can buy it outright, in your position I'd wait for a 350 CGI to pop up and just keep running the E500; the S211 E63 as good as it is wouldn't be that much different to your own S211 (big N/A V8, same model just fresher) to make me want to change.

Thanks SPX.

That and the fact that could cost me £6-8k more to run it over 4 years kind of makes my mind up.

Frustratingly I've had time on my hands recently - I manged to try one - but not the funds. About to get the funds but will have to go back to work.

 

[JattAmg]

Assuming you can buy it outright, in your position I'd wait for a 350 CGI to pop up and just keep running the E500; the S211 E63 as good as it is wouldn't be that much different to your own S211 (big N/A V8, same model just fresher) to make me want to change.

The difference between a e63 and e500 is humungous, I suggest you drive one op.

 

[clk208]

Agree a good CGI is probs worth the wait. They are torquier in real life than the figures would lead you to believe particularly at the low end of the rev range and as such make light work of urban driving.

Doesn't bother everyone but for me availability of cheap to maintain steel springs rather than airmatic was the clincher. Decently frugal around town but mway around 30 is all you will probably get.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

The difference between a e63 and e500 is humungous, I suggest you drive one op.

What are the 'humungous' differences, other than those I pointed out and the E63 having circa 200bhp more?

 

[JattAmg]

What are the 'humungous' differences, other than those I pointed out and the E63 having circa 200bhp more?

Amg vs non amg you know the rest dude.

 

[AMGeed]

A '63 in London traffic would worry me on fuel consumption. The mpg only goes up when you can get a reasonable speed up. Otherwise think 12-15mpg.
But the performance makes you smile every time you drive an AMG

 

[ShinyF1]

Agree a good CGI is probs worth the wait. They are torquier in real life than the figures would lead you to believe particularly at the low end of the rev range and as such make light work of urban driving. Doesn't bother everyone but for me availability of cheap to maintain steel springs rather than airmatic was the clincher. Decently frugal around town but mway around 30 is all you will probably get.

Is Airmatic prone to reliability issues? 350CGIs very rare from what I can see, but it's the engine I want in my next car.

The lack of availability of petrol in recent MBs is very frustrating, 250CGIs are equally rare from what I can see, and without wanting to hijack the thread is that engine any good?

Now a 2013/14 CLS350CGI Shooting Brake would be perfect if those MB gits had bothered to make one...

 

[fabes]

The c350 or E350 look to be the best option out there
Went to see a c350 coupe and owner drove it.

Reset the mpg at 75 on a dual carriageway and it settles at almost 40mpg dead
And it certainly does go when asked to

e350 will loose a little due to bigger body, but hi 30s on a run should be easy.

Why oh why didn't they more of them?

 

[Londonscottish]

The difference between a e63 and e500 is humungous, I suggest you drive one op.

I don't really want to on the same basis that I never go into Sevenoaks hifi and ask for a demo.

It always ends in tears. Or at least an expensive purchase.

 

[Londonscottish]

Agree a good CGI is probs worth the wait. They are torquier in real life than the figures would lead you to believe particularly at the low end of the rev range and as such make light work of urban driving.

Well I did try one and thought it felt a bit lacking lower down to me (having spent 14 years in low tuned V8's with the odd diesel loaner/test drive thrown in.

Decently frugal around town but mway around 30 is all you will probably get.

That'll do me just fine.

 

[Londonscottish]

A '63 in London traffic would worry me on fuel consumption.

Yes, not an ideal scenario.

 

[Londonscottish]

The c350 or E350 look to be the best option out there
Went to see a c350 coupe and owner drove it.

Reset the mpg at 75 on a dual carriageway and it settles at almost 40mpg dead
And it certainly does go when asked to

Good to hear. FWIW it'll be the E Class for me due to the space

e350 will loose a little due to bigger body, but hi 30s on a run should be easy.

Brilliant. Should make it the most economical car I've EVER owned. LOL

Why oh why didn't they more of them?

Frickin taxes. The only reason anyone I know ever got out of petrol company cars.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Harry Potter and the E63 map

E63's are pretty, but it's crucial to get the Harry Potter wizarding map of parallel roads to drive the E63 on. You know - the one's with no speed limits, speed bumps and perfect road surfaces. "AMGapprecium" and off you go...

I've just spent six weeks driving on the motorways of the South of France and I forgot to bring my Harry Potter AMG map with me. Frustrating, because without that map, you can't put your foot down as there's always someone in the way, and the cars that overtake are Euroboxes that overtake on blind bends and then pull back in about a metre in front of your radiator.

And I'm in that mere 300bhp 25mpg E500, like yours, rather than the 500bhp 20mpg AMG.

Given everything you've said about driving in SW London, with only occasional trips to Scotland, the W212 E350 does seem the Captain Sensible choice - unless you get your hands on that wizarding map.

 

[Londonscottish]

E63's are pretty, but it's crucial to get the Harry Potter wizarding map of parallel roads to drive the E63 on.

I've just spent six weeks driving on the motorways of the South of France and I forgot to bring my Harry Potter AMG map with me. Frustrating.

LOL

And I'm in that mere 300bhp 25mpg E500, like yours, rather than the 500bhp 20mpg AMG.

Got you

Given everything you've said about driving in SW London, with only occasional trips to Scotland, the W212 E350 does seem the Captain Sensible choice

Yes. The Captain Sensible choice. The Car that My Dad Would Buy

I've reached the same conclusion in that although a CDI would be just fine for my 2 x French trips this year I might well find it was becoming increasingly unusable over the next 2-4 years here in London because of the pollution thing.

The same problem might also befall the AMG's and one of them is going to be older, cost more to buy and cost more to run over the same 4 year period.

So 350 CGI is is then.

Pauses to watch tumbleweed roll past........

 

[billy21]

I have a 2010 S212 350 CGI E-Class estate and get about 25mpg on my trips from London to West Cork - o it's a mixture of motorways and country roads. I think the most I've ever got is 30mpg on a return trip to Brighton. Having said that this is the best, most reliable car I have ever owned. The engine is fantastic, very smooth and powerful and I still don't understand why this engine was viewed as a niche product - hardly any were sold over here.

 

[Londonscottish]

I have a 2010 S212 350 CGI E-Class estate and get about 25mpg on my trips from London to West Cork - o it's a mixture of motorways and country roads. I think the most I've ever got is 30mpg on a return trip to Brighton.

Ta

Having said that this is the best, most reliable car I have ever owned. The engine is fantastic, very smooth and powerful and I still don't understand why this engine was viewed as a niche product - hardly any were sold over here.

Well some people do like the low down grunt of the diesel and I get that - I don't dislike the V6 CDI, I was actually planning to get one in January until the London pollution measures began to get more publicised.

But the real reason is surely that the majority are bought new on company car schemes and having the BIK thing linked to CO2 just killed mid-range petrols stone dead.

I'm old enough to remember just choosing the car with the best spec/highest power/largest engine for a company car.

When the govt cracked down on that I just did what my colleagues did; dropped out of the scheme and walked into a dealer armed with an allowance and a fuel card and bought something with a massive (petrol) engine.

Nobody EVER thought "Oh, I know I'll get a diesel......".

 

[SW18]

Mid-range petrol cars - ideas

This might be a bit heretical, but when I was in the market for a large estate with a mid-range petrol engine, these were the options that I was considering:
E500 5.5 (S211 or S212)
BMW 550i (E60 as they possibly didn't offer the F10 estate with a V8)
E350 CGI
BMW 535i

I got lucky in the end and found the 'hen's tooth' but it took quite a while.

 

[AndyRan]

From my experiance in terms of real world driving MPG, I did a run from Kent to Leeds last week in the CL63

On the way there with lots of traffic 22.8 MPG and 5 hours 30 mins

On the way back on a clear run 258 mis, 4 hours 4 mins - 24.8 mpg with an avg of 63mph and just over half a tank down

From my old E320 i would get about 31mpg on the same run

My CL500 would get about 27-8 mpg