W211 economy vs W212

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Derek Mc

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Aug 21, 2008
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I have been looking for a W204 for a while and not really had my head turned since the indigolite blau C220 CDi Sport I first saw and fell for.

I am now quite seriously looking at either a W211 E220 CDi or W212 E220/e250 and wonder what real world driving will return.

I do mostly motorway runs with occasional Edinburgh / Glasgow trips to the sites I am working on.

An average week will consist of maybe 550 miles (normal) motorway /dual carriageway and 50 miles city a week. if I can average 45mpg in the W211 I would be delighted. I tend to avoid rush stramash and travel at easy pace times.

Convince me please,,,,,,,,
 
I have been looking for a W204 for a while and not really had my head turned since the indigolite blau C220 CDi Sport I first saw and fell for.

I am now quite seriously looking at either a W211 E220 CDi or W212 E220/e250 and wonder what real world driving will return.

I do mostly motorway runs with occasional Edinburgh / Glasgow trips to the sites I am working on.

An average week will consist of maybe 550 miles (normal) motorway /dual carriageway and 50 miles city a week. if I can average 45mpg in the W211 I would be delighted. I tend to avoid rush stramash and travel at easy pace times.

Convince me please,,,,,,,,
Having owned and/or driven the 220cdi 211 and both the 220cdi and the 250cdi 212 series I would say you will mostly get mid to high thirties on a run from a facelifted 220 211 series and may on rare occasions crack 40. With the 212 series you can easily get over 40 on long runs and many have managed high 40's or more.
 
One of the troubles with customer reports on fuel economy is that many travel, say, 7-10 miles to work in traffic and starting from cold. MB 2 litre diesels take 4-6 miles to reach the proper operating temperature -depending on how cold it is when you start. During the first few miles economy is not good and drags down the average achieved over the total trip. This effect is huge on short runs -which may have less than half the trip done at the desired operating temperature. But, of course, will have much less effect on long runs such as you will do.

In addition, according to WhatCar tests, they found most cars use 25% more fuel at 80 than they use at 70. Ouch!
So one man's cruising is a lot dearer than anothers.
 
My w211 facelift E220 CDI auto Estate gets 47-48mpg on a 70mph motorway run.

Around town 30-35mpg.
 
hawk20 said:
Even Mercedes don't claim those figures. Are these tankful to tankful?

My pre facelift 211 would return 46mpg at 70. My V6 saloon the same. It could be driven from Weybridge to Glashow on half a tank and brim figure was a mental 48mpg iirc.

Beating combined figures is easy. Even brim to brim I'm working out at 700 miles from my 204 tank. Obey speed limits and you'll meet or better the combined fugure
 
My pre facelift 211 would return 46mpg at 70. My V6 saloon the same. It could be driven from Weybridge to Glashow on half a tank and brim figure was a mental 48mpg iirc.

Beating combined figures is easy. Even brim to brim I'm working out at 700 miles from my 204 tank. Obey speed limits and you'll meet or better the combined fugure
He is talking the estate version which had a combined figure of 38.6mpg IIRC. I could beat it -but not by much. The saloon does a few more miles per gallon.

I guess one other factor is the more miles the diesel engine had done, the further they go to the gallon. My E estate started with me at only 6k miles. It got better.
 
hawk20 said:
He is talking the estate version which had a combined figure of 38.6mpg IIRC. I could beat it -but not by much. The saloon does a few more miles per gallon.

I guess one other factor is the more miles the diesel engine had done, the further they go to the gallon. My E estate started with me at only 6k miles. It got better.

My c estate returned a true 45mpg on my way back from York tonight. And that's on winter diesel, winter tyres and the climate control working overtime.

It books at under 42mpg.

I could have gone really slow and done better. On a fun run the mpg drops but steady 50 to 60 and on dcws etc no more than 70 on a decent 100milw run you'll get on the way to extra urban IMHO
 
This may give you some idea. My car is a 160k miles '04 220cdi auto estate with swirl flaps off and the EGR shunt in place. The consumption on long runs is better than the sheet suggests. I would see 42, and have sen 45 after a long run (3 or 4 hours) at 2200 rpm on lower limit Iberian roads; a similar profile to what you propose. I also use cruise all the time, whuich may be slightly prejudicial to economy.
 

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Even Mercedes don't claim those figures. Are these tankful to tankful?

sorry, those are indicated. I haven't done brim-to-brim on it (too lazy). Others on the forum indicate the reading can be out by a few mpg.

I hope its still useful, at least to get a ballpark idea that low/mid thirties around town and mid forties on a motorway are achieveable.

I use cruise control religiously on the motorway, avoid braking by anticipating and allowing a good following distance. Around town I try to encourage it to change up around 2000rpm.

And every now and then when the engine is warm and conditions allow I give it some right foot, to help keep clear out the soot and crap that accumulate in the engine, egr and exhaust.

Car has Pirelli P7 centurato's all 'round (supposed to be low rolling resistance) and has done 126k.
 
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My w211 facelift E220 CDI auto Estate gets 47-48mpg on a 70mph motorway run.

Around town 30-35mpg.

I can relate to your figures quite well, my Vectra has a combined book figure of 47.8mpg but I can average up to 53mpg tank to tank so am not the harshest of drivers I think,,,,

Thank you for sharing :)
 
Great feedback and info my sincere thanks, I find a growing soft spot for the W211 for some bizarre reason and if I get it then the choice of alloy upgrade I think I have myself the ultimate personal transport device for my needs :)
 
I did 315k miles in my '07 plate 220, mainly motorway miles and averaged 46 mpg. My '60 plate 220 has covered 118k miles and averaged 50 mpg, both the 5 speed box, and air con on all the time.

The 212 is definitely more economical.
 
If you are deciding between a face lifted W211 and a W212 forget fuel figures- they can be very different cars to drive depending on suspension /trim levels-- If you intend to be sitting in one for hours on the motorway there's more than fuel consumption to be taken into account. I reckon you can get 45+ out of either.
 
It really all does depend on the length of journey, weight of right foot and tyres.

EU III E320Cdi W211 estate, Surrey to North of Inverness and back, tank to tank, mixed A road & motorway

Best ( Michelin HP Primacy and not in a hurry) 42.9 mpg

Worst (Goodyear Ultragrip winters and a bit pressed for time) 38.4 mpg
 
Some examples of mpg on V6 CDI's;

First two are from my old 57 plate W211 E320 V6 CDI Sport, the last two a 2012 W212 E320 V6 CDI I had.

W211 interior is a great place to spend time, clean lines and an executive feel.

W212 interior felt cheap and I never really could get comfy driving long distances.
Preferred the exterior looks of the 212 though...
 
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I easily got 47mpg on longer runs in my facelift E220 Estate, and often saw 50mpg in the saloon.

With the W212 E250, I beat that by 10% easily.

That's brim-to-brim.
 
212 has a very low drag co efficient. The newer engines will help as will the slippery body shell
 

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