What's the reason I can't tow?

[Horrgakx]

The manual for my W210 E55 AMG clearly says you must not tow with this vehicle. I like to know reasons so does anyone know why this is please?

 

[Adam230K]

It probably has something to do with the transmission. I read an article by a very competent automatic gearbox specialist and it was basically stating that towing anything heavy with a car that is auto puts extra strain on the gearbox. If you want to safely tow things with an auto car its probably worth investing in a gearbox cooler.

Extra stress on the box will cause it to overheat, and if this happens regularly then you will be effectively shortening the life of your gearbox. But your car being an E55, I would've thought it would have a gearbox cooler as standard, but someone here who's seen an e55's layout can probably tell you.

I'm sure the car will be able to handle it, especially mercedes since they seem to have alot of kit in their cars that most other manufacturers dont, but hey thats just my opinion!

 

[corned]

The transmission should be able to withstand the onslaught from the V8 in high performance conditions.

Towing a trailer/caravan/other vehicle is not a high performance situation so I would not have thought the transmission would have been unduly stressed here. Also, you are very unlikely to be exploring the upper echelons of the performance envelope whilst towing!

Is it not perhaps for some more prosaic reason - such as the big rear bumper not being able to accommodate a tow bar?

 

[crockers]

Or it could be that towing a caravan at 155 mph isn't too safe...

 

[davidjpowell]

Or that MB did not bother seeking type approval for this varient, given that not many would seek to tow with them

 

[Druk]

Or that MB did not bother seeking type approval for this varient, given that not many would seek to tow with them

This is the likely reason or that a towbar wont fit with the AMG rear skirt.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Yep as suggested it's due to the lack of type approval for towing.

The transmission is more than up to the job.

 

[Horrgakx]

This is the likely reason or that a towbar wont fit with the AMG rear skirt.

Nothing a Dremel wouldn't fix

Thanks for your replies. I assume an aftermarket tow kit would not be allowed either... Not that I have anything to tow, used to tow a race car around the country (and to France & Belgium!)

 

[219]

Certain variants of other models with Sportline suspension are not recommended for towing due to lowered suspension and insufficient clearance for towing bracket - I suspect this is the reason type approval was not sought .

Other high end models have always been available from the factory with towbars - one of the most capable being the 450SEL6.9

 

[Rose Chap]

It might work for towing a car trailer or at a push, a boat. It will definitely not work for towing a caravan, no way.

 

[JohnDeere8530]

Very high performance cars tend not to allow towing such as the Audi RS6 I had. It said in the operator manuals not to tow even though you could with the A6. I imagine the same could be true even with the e55

The reason behind this is two fold

1. lack of cooling in an already crowded engine bay. The cooling system was thought to be on its limits in a hot climate due to a huge engine behind a relatively narrow grill at the front, extra loads on the engine at slow forward speeds could end up with overheating

2. Gearbox. Yes the gearbox could suffer. If you tow a very heavy load, the engine being large in a low gear can can potentially place huge torque loads on the rear of the gearbox, prop shaft, diff and final drives. This is something that would not normally be experienced not towing as the wheels would slip if torque levels on the final drive rose dramatically.
The same is true (although you are dealing with a massive amount more torque with a bulldozer and large tractor). There are warning notices in the cab not to use all the engine power in the bottom 25% of gears or so as final drive torque will be collosal. A car would even be more sensitive to this since the gearboxes especially are all built down to a price (ie built only just strong enough for the job in hand) unlike their industrial counterparts which are normally over engineered

 

[BTB 500]

The manual for my W210 E55 AMG clearly says you must not tow with this vehicle. I like to know reasons so does anyone know why this is please?

Quite simply it's because the car is not EC Type Approved for towing. It would therefore be illegal to even fit a towbar - you could be prosecuted for infringement of the Construction & Use Regulations, and it's likely your insurance would be voided!

This does not apply to older cars (registered before 1/8/98). My R129 SL500 is approved for towing, but the R230 SL500 isn't (because it would have required EC Type Approval, which M-B did not apply for).

 

[JohnDeere8530]

The e55 is not really any different to a e200, so why tow with one and not the other? One set of type approval tests would cover all e class mercs for towing as is done for many other tests such as impact testing etc. Remember the princess Di crash, the experts thought as the merc had been heavily modified (an approved by merc) this may of caused the car to crumple (or not crumple as the case may of been) in a slightly different manner to the 'standard' car, ie extra tests were not carried out on that paticular variant

As I said it is down to insufficient engine cooling in hot climates, due to lack of front end ventilation at low speeds under load.
The final drive also cannot cope with the theoretical massive torque loads a large engine in a low gear with extra weight over the rear wheels could exert on it

 

[BTB 500]

The e55 is not really any different to a e200, so why tow with one and not the other. They would never get a separate type approval on all variants, as the list would be endless, especially if you took different gearboxs, standard v sport suspension etc

Each model requires separate type approval.

M-B would probably have taken the view that not enough people would want to tow with an E55 (or R230 SL) to make it worthwhile getting those type-approved for towing.

You can tell definitively by looking at the VIN plate. If there's a maximum train weight (normally immediately after the maximum vehicle weight) then you can tow with it. If there isn't then you can't.

 

[BTB 500]

As I said it is down to insufficient engine cooling in hot climates, due to lack of front end ventilation at low speeds under load.
The final drive also cannot cope with the theoretical massive torque loads a large engine in a low gear with extra weight over the rear wheels could exert on it

Those factors would simply result in a low towing limit, rather than not being approved to tow at all. As I said, the R129 SL500 can tow (up to 1500 kg), but the R230 SL500 can't. Mechanically they are almost identical.