E Class estate diesel

[jo3]

Hello

We are thinking of buying a used E class estate and have found plenty of 2 to 3 yo examples at decent prices. We initially were going to get a Volvo V70 but they seem poor value second hand.
Would welcome any advice particularly on engine size. We were minded to buy a 220 but find that the 250 and 350 are hardly any more expensive when buying used. The vast majority of our driving is non-towing but fuel consumption is important as we do a lot of 400 mile round trips to Cornwall. If the mpg difference wasn't huge, I would imagine the 350 to be very capable on long trips.

Jo

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi Jo, My Brother in Law has had a Mercedes E Class 2.2 Diesel Auto saloon which he has used for caravanning He found it to be a perfectly acceptable tow car (Abbey 560), and a great solo car with good economy. He has used several other Mercs which he also found good for towing, but bigger engines obviously tend to use more fuel. I'm not sure that having more power than the 2.2 provides any real advantage, but there are certainly more expensive to own on insurance etc

I'll bet that the difference in comfort on long runs between engine variants will be marginal.

 

[seth1]

I would opt for the 3litre diesel in the E class,whilst the 2.2 is fine its more suited to the C class.The 3litre is far more refined and for towing its miles apart.From my experiance the larger engines seem to use less fuel when towing as agaist the smaller counterpart,although solo it might not be as good.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Seth's point may be valid about fuel consumption whilst towing, but the OP clearly said:-

"The vast majority of our driving is non-towing but fuel consumption is important"

So the smaller engine is the more economical approach for this user.

 

[seth1]

350 cdi combined 47.8mpg.
220 cdi combined 55.1mpgNo brainer.

 

[RayS]

I have recently and very reluctantly parted with an E220 SE cdi saloon in favour of something my elderly bones can more easily enter and exit. I had it four years and 29,000 miles with around 66% towing. The van was a Burstner S500 plated 1500kg but 'occaisionally' somewhat more. As a tow car it was excellent, never giving any cause for concern although it is necessary to check the nose weight of the van carefully - car limit is 75kg estate I think 80kg. Those without Xenon lights should have dashboard light adjustment which helps a bit. The built-in COMAND satnav is not very good and very expensive to upgrade.
Consumption towing varied considerably according to wind conditions. Given calm or a slight following wind towards 30mpg. Into a moderate south westerly e.g. down the west coast of France around 23 mpg. I should add that I maintain a trip average around 50 mph as much of the towing was in the winter months and I wanted to minimise the number of over-nights.
The downside is that the car is low to the ground and may ground the bottom ofthe towball bracket on some speed humps. The standard tyres are high speed rating and not very good in snow or on frozen roads.
Solo and once run in the consumption was excellent. Several 250+ mile trips produced touching 50 mpg at around 67mph average. Even on short trips mid 40's was the norm.
The 220 engine in the W211 series eclass produced more of both torque and power that the 2.7 5 cylinder engine in the earlier ML 270s with less emmissions and much better fuel consumption.

Servicing costs for my E Class were quite reasonable - particularly wehn compared with the 3.2 V6 which is beautiful but has large sump (hence costly oil changes) and two air filters and 6 glow plugs. This was main dealer servicing required to maintain the Mobilife roadside assitance cover which I used twice with the previous ML270 in Europe and found excellent. This would be well worth keeping if you plan any continental touring. If not, there are quite a number of specialist Mercedes service organisations aroound. Most use MB genuine parts but have labour rates much lower than main dealers. You can find them on-line or through Mercedes Benz Owners which is a private club publishing a good magazine and gaining discoounts at some service places. Website is www.mercedesclub.org.uk

As and when Mercedes see fit to make a RGD version of thier GLK small(er) 4x4 I hope to be able to tell you about it.

 

[RogerL]

Are M-B planning a RHD version of the GLK? The front driveshaft positioning has prevented a number of M-B models being sold in UK with 4wd.

 

[MichaelE]

The new GLK is expected in 2016 and this will be available in the UK as RHD, originally Mercedes thought there wasnt a market for midsized SUV's

 

[RogerL]

The new GLK is expected in 2016 and this will be available in the UK as RHD, originally Mercedes thought there wasnt a market for midsized SUV's

Does that mean the GLK will only be 2wd for the UK ?
On M-B's 4matic 4wd system, the front drive shaft is fitted to the right of the transmission tunnel so 4wd and RHD can't be built together on their saloon-based models, the GLK being based on the C-class.
The ML/GL use a different platform which does permit 4wd and RHD together.

 

[MichaelE]

The second-generation GLK is expected to be one of the first models to
utilize the upcoming Mercedes Rear Wheel Architecture (MRA), a modular
platform designed to accommodate the luxury brand’s future
rear-wheel-drive vehicles.
The higher
end models will have 4matic as standard and the lesser models an option.There is also a coupe version coming !!!

 

[RogerL]

The second-generation GLK is expected to be one of the first models to
utilize the upcoming Mercedes Rear Wheel Architecture (MRA), a modular
platform designed to accommodate the luxury brand’s future
rear-wheel-drive vehicles.
The higher
end models will have 4matic as standard and the lesser models an option.There is also a coupe version coming !!!

Yes - but will have 4wd AND right-hand drive together ?.
Most M-B models have a 4matic option in Germany but most of them can't have that in the UK because of RHD, including the 1st generation GLK which is why it's not on sale here!

 

[MichaelE]

The answer is yes according to Mercedes model releases

 

[weejock]

Not sure if you have made your purchase or not but just last weekend I contemplated the same question as you. Having been used to Merecedes v6 diesels for a few years now I was trying to talk myself into believing I could save a few pounds and opt for a 4 cylinder car. In isolation they are not too bad although I did find the high revving a bit of an experience as the gearbox seems to hunt around more resulting in the odd foray above 3000rpm. However if you are going to buy a 4 cylinder model make sure you do not try a 6. There is quite a large difference in smoothness particuarly around town made even more noticable by the way the stop start kicks in. So if you do spend a lot of time on long runs without the caravan on the back treat yourself to the 6. Once they are silently cruising you will get at least 40 mpg (promise). Over the last 47k miles in an r class I have avaraged 31.7 (according to car trip) and that has included everything from caravan from Scotland to France to blast over to Germany for shopping trips as well as daily comutes. On the test car I had from MB for a week I averaged 42.7 (brim to brim fill) and although this was a cls wagon it will be a close enough comparison.