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MikeT

Mercedes - Benz E 250 Diesel

10 posts in this topic

I was looking into prospects for the eventual replacement of our mid-life B 200 today and I decided to check out the new E-Class 4 cylinder diesel in Nanaimo. I didn't go into TPM expecting or even wanting a road test, but that's what I ended up doing.I didn't like the "thunder thighs" design around the rear wheel arch of the current E Class when it first came out in 2009, but with last year's facelift, that styling faux pas was removed and it's a far better-looking car from the side. The FE ratings are excellent, at 6.1 L/100 km overall; 7.4 urban, with 4.6 on the highway.The car is of excellent quality inside as one would expect, and it drives nicely. The steering has a nice feel to it, better than the Nintendo steering of the B Class. The ride is firm but not harsh and its seats are really comfortable. Space-wise, it has as much headroom and nearly as much legroom (5 mm less to be exact) in the rear as the W245 B Class that we own, but it's 5 cm wider, front and rear. This car passes the "me behind me" test beautifully.The integrated navigation screen next to the instrument cluster is done well (unlike the new B, CLA and forthcoming C-Class, which have an iPad-type thing stuck on top of the dash, with no possibility of folding the screen away. On the E it doesn't fold but it doesn't need to because it's at the same height as the main instruments. The analogue clock in the centre of the dash is a nice touch too. The interior plastics are of excellent quality and are for the most part softly padded.The dark woodgrain on the doors and dash that comes with the car looks really nice. Despite the fact that the more "woody" looking woods in M-B cars really do have a thin veneer bonded to aluminium, it manages to look fake. But the dark ash doesn't.The twin turbo 4 cylinder engine is quiet and yet when starting from cold, you can tell it's a diesel…but despite its modest consumption and displacement, it pulls the heavy (1800 kg) car around with authority, and there is zero turbo lag that I could notice at any speed. I can see that it would be a very comfortable cruiser for a road trip to the Rockies, for example. On a short loop around Nanaimo we got about 6.5 L/100 km according to the dashboard gauge.The starting price is $57,800 but the base price includes 4MATIC 4WD, sunroof, COMAND navigation, electric seats, folding mirrors and metallic paint. Once the C 250 CDI (same engine in the new C-Class) is released in Canada in 2014, I would expect that getting similar equipment on that car will bring it within $5000 of the E Class price. The only things I would need as options would be leather seats, heated rear seats and (probably) active LED headlamps.Nice car!

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Cool to see we are getting some choice! I drove the GLK 250 when it first came out last spring, absolutely blown away by how well it drove and the fuel economy. However the dealer could not offer much on trade in of our R class so I left with the "old" car. The only issue I see with modern Benz's are the poor panel gaps and paint finishes (ornage peel), lots of wide gaps around the hood and doors (most models) and really uneven paint finish, not problems of the past! The 4 cyl diesel they now have is so powerful and well designed, real world numbers are confirming the fuel economy is true. Too bad they made us wait so long!

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I think Mercedes paint (as with nearly all cars) has been a bit off since the early eighties, that's something we've commented at the car shows about for thirty years now! I think the E 250 CDI could be a good buy if a friends and family sale came up, or some model end clearances in about 2 years. We will see.

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I contacted an owner of one of these cars who lives in Florida and he passed on the following fuel economy test information. He was cruising on flat Interstate with no curves, and with cruise control engaged, in 10 mile legs for each speed test, A/C off and all windows and sunroof closed, using the OBC:1400 RPM (58 MPH) - 3.9 L/100 km1500 RPM (64 MPH) - 4.1 L/100 km1600 RPM (68 MPH) - 4.4 L/100 km1700 RPM (71 MPH) - 4.5 L/100 km1800 RPM (76 MPH) - 5.1 L/100 km1900 RPM (80 MPH) - 5.5 L/100 kmHe conducted similar tests with A/C on (2-6% more consumption at each speed) and with A/C off and all windows and sunroof open (about 6% increase at the first three speed ranges which he tested).For a large car that weighs 1800 kg, that's just plain amazing. The Cd is low (0.26) on this car and this slipperiness is paying dividends at speed.

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Very good fuel consumptions figures, although actual consumption will likely be more than from the OBC. It is very unusual to have an engine turning less than 1500 rpm at 100 km/hr. I'm interested in the GLK 250 which I assume has the same engine. Fuel consumption is about 25% more by Transport Canada numbers, but still very good.On the other hand, the B250 is reported to be a big improvement over the B200, but at about the same price. Turbo 2 litre engine and 7 speed automatic.

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I have found the OBC on my car and another Mercedes our family had to be about 0.3 to 0.4 L/100 km optimistic in the 7 L/100 km range, but even so, that's still staggeringly good fuel consumption!It is not surprising that the brick-like GLK 250 scores a 5.9 on the highway versus a 4.6 for the E250 according to Transport Canada. I am interested to see what the W205 C Class will be like, in terms of interior size as well as with this engine. The E Class is a nice car, but it's very expensive. A C would be $10-15K less.The B 250 and CLA 250 are supposed to be quite good - the CLA in particular is rated at 5.1 on the highway. But I don't fit in the CLA. The B 250 is rated at 5.5, so that's encouraging as well, but the Spritmonitor records show they're in the same ballpark as the B 200 that we now have. If they are driven "normally" it won't be so good because they are fast and have tons of power. Our next family car will have to do better than the one we have now, just as the present one (7.3) did better than the car that came before it (8.2)!

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It is interesting to note that from the data in Post #4 that fuel consumption is directly proportional to speed during highway driving. I have noticed this on vehicles that I've owned. This means that if you want to drive 10% faster, you are going to use 10% more fuel.

Edited by Pingu

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To correct myself in Post #5, the B250 has a 7 speed automated manual transmission. It is the GLK250 and E250 that have 7 speed automatics.

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My brother has an E250 in another part of the world. He loves it. Real world consumption on a long highway trip was, if I recall what he said, about 5.5L/100 km.We have had our 2014 GLK250 for about a month. At just over 500km, still on first tank of fuel! I don't expect that great a mileage, but judging from reports on MBWorld, it looks like 6.5L/100km is achievable without much trouble on highway. I am still amazed that I finally found a brand new Mercedes for $45k! The C-Class diesel should also be a great buy.

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The W205, assuming it's not another Mercedes dog for other reasons, would be the one to get for sure. In Europe, the 6 speed manual C 220 BlueTec is rated at 3.6 L/100.

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