Sics Consolidated Moderns Thread - 2003 Mercedes-Benz E320 Estate

[Eddie Honda]

C_A_T.jpg

The Eddie Hammer is next on the list. If not me, the MOT tester!

Should've been top of the list.

[SiC]

Ran it up to temperature and tried to burp the system. I think these Mercs are good in their design to not get air locks. Certainly didn't notice any major level drops even when up to temperature with the stat open. This is where having a handheld diag tool is invaluable compared to dragging a laptop out. I've got an OBD extender cable somewhere I need to find as this will make bonnet access of the tool even easier.

It seemed to peak at around 93 to 94c when revved at which point the engine fan kicked in. Sat there at idle it seemed to sit around 87c to 90c.


Gauge is just under the 100c marker now.

 
Went for a test drive on the same route as before. Now not a completely fair test as, even though I had dinner and it cooled off a bit, the car wasn't completely cold as per last time. Also I reset the mpg before setting off this evening as I'd been idling it a long time on the drive.

Anyway, unsurprisingly it got far better fuel consumption numbers than before.


Engine temperature stayed rock solid on the gauge. Maybe went up or down a notch but barely noticeable. Generally sat as above. Engine temperature on the scantool seemed to be around 87c to 89c which is the stat opening temp.

 
As I was quite warm and comfortable where I was sat, I thought I'd go for a quick spin up and down the motorway. Some of the junctions were shut, so I ended up going much further than initially intended. However it gave a good idea of cruising fuel economy. 


It was actually hitting 31.8mpg, just I lost a bit when I booted it past a load of bunched up cars/lorries so I could get to the junction exit easily.

Considering I got 30.9mpg on the long journey home and certainly never hit 31mpg, I can safely say there is a solid increase in MPG (thankfully). Biggest improvement will hopefully be town/village driving where it should warm up quicker and hold the temperature better.

Just need to go on a long run now and see what it really can get. I reckon 35-38mpg is do-able on a 60mph motorway run if I had the patience.

Another thing I've found is that the box gear changes are very old fashioned. Most modern gearboxes I'm used to will try kicking up to the highest gear possible at all times. So even at 30mph you find the box in 6th or higher on a modern unit. This however feels like a mechanical unit of old (even though it's fully computer controlled). So at an indicated 30mph cruise it is in 3rd gear and just under 2k rpm). However 31mph (exactly 50kph) it kicks up to 4th gear and 1.1k rpm. It'll stay there until about 27mph and then it'll drop back down again. So certainly careful use of speed when driving should also give quite a boost in fuel economy too.

Either way I'm massively happy the consumption has decreased - seems to be a solid 16% decrease for slower speed running. Right now it's not that far off what my very similar bhp Boxster 2.7 6cyl did (albeit that ran on super unleaded and this is regular).

If my maths is correct then a 80l full tank fill I'll be saving £19 per tank from the extra range. Basically two tank fulls of non motorway driving will easily pay for that thermostat and the replacement coolant.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Mercedes are still doing SBC pump safety recalls FOC.

In the USA, definitely not in the UK.

Apart from my mates 2004 Estate. I think it’s a 270CDI.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

As a serial E Class owner I’ve discovered over the years that they’re happiest and return the best mpg when driving ‘normally’ on motorways, ie around 130kmh or 80ish the same as most traffic. Admittedly most of mine are or have been diesels but the W210 e240 I sold last year did 35 mpg overall on a trip to Cornwall including 4 days running around down there, I actually measured this. Even an e430 managed 23 locally and 30 on the motorway.
The only Merc that seemed to drastically improve its mpg by driving like Miss Daisy was an ML 350 diesel that never usually managed to do more than 30 mpg except once when I’d got 4 hours between dropping at BHX and a pickup at LGW so set the cruise at 60 for the whole journey ((150ish miles) and reset the mpg, the thing was showing 48.9 by the time I arrived.

And Rev. your mate’s car is unlikely to be a 270 wagon if a U.K. supplied car as for some reason we didn’t get that combination, not that I’m a sad anorak or anything.

[SiC]

If I can get mid to high twenties running around and low thirties on a run then I'll be happy. I'm getting mid twenties from the TT at the moment anyway. That's not helped by Mrs SiC being rubbish at changing up through the gears. We got to 50mph in 3rd gear before I finally had to intervene and question why she wasn't in a higher gear. "Oh I didn't realise" despite the engine running at like 3.5k rpm.

[SiC]

Looking at tyres at the moment. Currently has 225/55/16 on it. It appears some had 205/60/16 which is much cheaper and far more available in that size. Not sure if compatible with my rims though.

I'd quite like a set of 17s to be honest as the 16 have a bit too fat sidewall for my liking. My eBay searches haven't bought up much choice or selection on alloys. Could be my searching skills and not sure what exactly to search for though.

[christine]

I'm sure wee wee will like to tell you

[AMCrebel]

After seeing your tyre size question on the Fb group I found a thread asking the same question elsewhere - received wisdom seemed to be the narrower tyres were fitted in other countries and then it degenerated into a debate about insurance.

[AMCrebel]

Mine has different 16s fitted with the 225/55 tyres so I’m no real help.

[SiC]

After seeing your tyre size question on the Fb group I found a thread asking the same question elsewhere - received wisdom seemed to be the narrower tyres were fitted in other countries and then it degenerated into a debate about insurance.

That is exactly what I found from searching. I believe the facelift had 205/60/16 on the smaller engined/lower spec versions. From what I can see in brochures, it was a 6J wheel size rather than the other tyres with a 6.5J. I don't know enough about wheel/tyre size to understand the significance of these sort of things.

Tempted to find a set of 17's as they look a bit more modern under the arches.