In the three years or so since I've owned my car and replaced the thermostat, operating temp has been consistently 82-83 or higher (AC, heavy loads, etc...).

Recently, and in this cold weather (10-15F), I've noticed the temp doesn't want to go much above 80...MAYBE 81....and seems to take a while (10-12 minutes?) to get there.

Doesn't seem like anything to be concerned about, but I was a little unnerved by Marshall Booth's comments on the issue in the following thread (see posts 11 and 13):

http://mbca.cartama.net/showthread.php?t=7517

Doing searches on the topic, a lot of folks seems to be comfortable with anything 80 or above. Now I'm not so sure.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

As long as it's in the 80-90* range, you are fine.