tow bars

[mark.t]

On my travels I get to meet and talk to many interesting people some of which own Mercedes or work with or on Mercedes cars, I had a very enlightening discussion today with a fitter, who let slip some very interesting information indeed but before I release this to the forum I need a few question asked

1, if you order a factory fit tow bar to your new merc petrol or diesel do they fit a separate oil cooler in with the package.

2, if you order it after the car has been delivered can they fit the tow bar and oil cooler at a merc dealer... :bannana:

 

[jimmy]

Can't answer your question directly but my C250TD has an auto-box oil cooler and I was the first person to fit a towbar to it so it came from the factory with it but no towbar. I can't remember seeing one on my C180.

 

[bobf]

MY E320 cdI w211 04 REG IS FITTED WITH AN AUTO GEARBOX COOLER

 

[Benzowner]

My E300TD has additional fan and oil cooler, clearly states in the owners handbook, when fitting a towbar on a car with a/c there nust be additional cooling fans installed

 

[mark.t]

My E300TD has additional fan and oil cooler, clearly states in the owners handbook, when fitting a towbar on a car with a/c there nust be additional cooling fans installed

is it a factory fitted one ...i have one as well and have not as yet found the extra bits ...where are they fitted ????

 

[didgit]

a friend of mine is an aggrecultural mechanic, one of his customers recently bought a BMW X5, he wanted a towbar fitted by BMW themselves, he was told yes no problem, but you will void the warranty on the car!!
very shocked by this he didnt get it done.

 

[Benzowner]

Mark, the additional cooling fan is in front of the radiator behind the grill and is an electric one. I assume the tow bar was factory fitted, I bought the car with the tow bar on, but it has a 13pin? electrical connector, which tends to give these things away. I tow a Bailey Vendee caravan, about 1300kg loaded, and have yet to hear the additional fan operating.

Edit. Just had a look under the bonnet, there are two electrical fans, one to cool the radiator only and one to cool the oil and radiator, plus the standard viscous fan. The oil cooler is only a couple of pipes, not an oil radiator as you sometimes see on motorbikes

 

[mark.t]

the reason

a merc dealer in the north west is charging several hundred pounds for the fitting of tow bars .....when customers from the dealers require them fitting, maybe as a after thought,,and having spoken to the guy fitting the tow bars about extra oil coolers he looked at me with that ...they just get a tow bar look?????..... dealers ripping off again

 

[jimmy]

Edit. Just had a look under the bonnet, there are two electrical fans, one to cool the radiator only and one to cool the oil and radiator, plus the standard viscous fan. The oil cooler is only a couple of pipes, not an oil radiator as you sometimes see on motorbikes

I think all MB's with A/C have this set up, a standard viscous engine driven fan and twin electric fans in front of the radiator. The electric fans come on at different temperatures, mostly in slow or stationary traffic with the A/C on full blast. Like you say the transmission oil cooler is just a metal pipe.

 

[l5foye]

Hello Mark T
I am not sure about an oil cooler being fitted but with a factory fitted tow bar, you get a gadget which fits between the 2 sockets and which displays a sign on the dash if a trailer light is defective. I believe this will soon be a legal requirement. MB garages can supply these gadgets but seldom do (customers baulk at the cost)

 

[mikemoss]

Yikes, you've got me worried folks! My air-conditioned E320 (W210) has what I assume is a factory-fitted detachable towbar and fold-out 13 pin socket (can't imagine that lot could have been retro-fitted) but while it has a pretty crude U bend of pipe in front of the radiator which I assume is a rudimentary transmission oil cooler there is no sign of any additional electrical fans - nor can I see any reference to them being necessary in the handbook.

Is it just diesel models that need these extra fans? Advice please!

 

[Benzowner]

Hello Mark T
I am not sure about an oil cooler being fitted but with a factory fitted tow bar, you get a gadget which fits between the 2 sockets and which displays a sign on the dash if a trailer light is defective. I believe this will soon be a legal requirement. MB garages can supply these gadgets but seldom do (customers baulk at the cost)

Certainly don't need this on an E class, I cannot think that they are different to mine. When I connect my caravan, the cars lighting diagnostic system incorporates the trailer, so when there is a bulb failure on the trailer, the bulb failure warning comes on the dash

Quote Is it just diesel models that need these extra fans? Advice please!Quote

As far as I can remember yes, it is only the turbo diesels, certainly the E300 not so sure on the E320. I seem to recall reading it in the sales brochure, can't find it easilly in the hand book.

 

[mikemoss]

Thanks Geoff - you're a star. Can start to breathe more easily again! Great tow cars aren't they?

 

[mark.t]

tow bar

mine has a 16 pin to 13 pin arrangement and is deffo factory fitted as it was requested as a option for the first buyer at a cost of 700 quid

 

[Dieselman]

The additional fans are as a result of the air-con and nothing to do with the towbar.
The reason why there is a note regarding fitting a transmission oil cooler to a 300 turbo is that early 300TD had an oil cooling radiator which was deleted if air-con was specified, due to space reasons.
If any car has the tube type oil cooler then it already has the additional oil cooler which became a standard fitment for later 300TDs.

 

[mikemoss]

This gets better and better - I'm amazed at the depth of knowledge on this forum. Thanks again all round.

 

[bobf]

Fitted a brinkmatic Mirage to my w211.... spoke with the dealer and he said 'make sure you follow the driving instructions when towing uphill' instructions say "just change down the tiptronic to keep the revs above 22002 , keeps the atf circulating and avoids overheating the tourque converter.... apparently

 

[Benzowner]

Fitted a brinkmatic Mirage to my w211.... spoke with the dealer and he said 'make sure you follow the driving instructions when towing uphill' instructions say "just change down the tiptronic to keep the revs above 22002 , keeps the atf circulating and avoids overheating the tourque converter.... apparently

Keep the revs at 22002 mine only revs at 5000 must look into the CDi for next car

 

[shaunhowe]

hi im net to this forum i have a c180 w203 im just about to purchace a t/bar with wireing loom.dealer wants 540.00 to fit it nealy had a heart attack. is it easy enought to fit the wireing and do i need a oil cooler like what it says in this forum ... my car is a 2.0 petrol
thanks shaun

 

[shaunhowe]

new to forum sry for spelling mistakes