Any owners of Blue TEC diesels here, what are the overall impressions, the good, the bad & ugly. Any known issues with this car?

Vahe
240D 77

I've seen a few on the road... does that count?
also one of my clients has one. he likes it.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

We don't need urea injection.What is needed is biodiesel.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

Is urea specific to MB or other big players such as BMW & Audi also require it? How does VW get around the emission issue?
In Europe with large percentage of diesels on the road is biodiesel replacing diesel?

Vahe
240D 77

No W211 E-Class diesel in the US had urea injection even though they were badged as Bluetec's. SUV's got it first; possibly in 07 or 08?

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

I think the VW uses a soot-burn-off type exhaust system like is found on larger truck diesels with filtration. No urea, but I imagine the exhaust system itself is $$$$$.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

One of my attorneys just got a 2011 E350 4matic, and its pretty nice. The diesel is the same car but I don't think you can get AWD.

Nice car I like the W212 a lot. MB is getting away from the soft curves and back into the more masculine German design.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have seen many in my neck of the woods, but have not yet built up the corage to ask anybody about how they like them and I would say most of them are all wheel drive. Urea is the unfortunate reality for most new diesels. Allmost all of the new light and heavy duty trucks are using urea, and its sole prupose is to remove NOX which b100 acutally produces more of than petrolium based diesel. So even if we did use more biodiesel im sure there would be some kind of urea type system to go along with it. Try "BioDiesel Basics and Beyond" for alittle light reading

What other forums have you polled with the same question?

Not just a lot of older MB diesel owners like me inhabit PeachParts.com, that also own a Bluetec.

I test drove a new E320 CDI @ Park Place MB in Dallas, Texas in 2005, and I liked it, if that will help you.

Never been in a Bluetec, but I'm shopping for an '08-'09 E320 Bluetec right now.

I would guess the Bluetecs are pretty doggone trouble free, in my estimation.

Good Luck in your search!

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

I have a 2009 ML320 CDI Bluetec. This was the first year for the SUV.

Sofar the system has been trouble free and I just turned 30,000 miles on it. It requires a service every 10,000 miles or so - one to top it off and then every other service to drain and flush the system so it doesn't get munged up. It is a pretty complicated system, overall, and involves sensors to trigger a rich burning cycles to clear the various catalysts that you can detect if you watch the mileage carefully. And the machine returns phenomenal mileage for an SUV of that size. I average in city and "highway" - actually more like country road, driving about 27 mpg. I get a good 30 mpg if I stay on the highway.

I imagine a sedan with the same system would return substantially better mileage and have really impressive driving characteristics. The ML is quite quick once the turbo lag is over. Very, very quiet for a Diesel. Starts almost instantly, and the computer will interfere with any attempt to light it off without the glow plugs cycled fully. Kind of holds off for a second or so before the engine cranks over.

So, in the first 30,000 miles I have nothing but praise for the Bluetec.

Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Bought new. It does not have urea injection. I think that came about in 2010 for the sedans.

No mechanical problems and seems to be trouble-free. Recently went on a total 3000 mile round trip and averaged an honest 37 mpg. Great for a big heavy cruiser of a sedan. But ....

I don't like it. For my taste it distances me from the driving experience. Too much auto intervention and it is not remotely a DIY vehicle. The engine is basically a throw-away. It is not practical to do any serious invasive corrective maintenance because the labor cost makes replacing the engine less costly. Basic preventive maintenance is do-able but getting information out of the dealer to reset and/or use the built-in maintenance monitoring system is like pulling teeth.

One real irritation; the navigation system man-machine interface is terrible. Any $125 Garmin is far better.

My wife loves it and feels safe in it. She is welcome to it while I enjoy my 560SL.

You say the engine is throw-away, but if it lasts 300k before "throwing" it away, I'd say it has done its job.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I asked the dealer parts guys about upgrading the "command" system on my W211 to include navigation. Their response was that I really don't want the MB navigation system and that it would cost about $3k to upgrade my car.

I added an iphone cradle instead so my wife, daughter, and I can each use our navigation apps (about $60 for all three of us).

What are the repair problems that stop the motor being rebuilt?
In time, the re-builders will start doing them up.
What fails at ~ 300k ?

I am sure the same has been said for other MB motors in the first couple of years of production.
It may just be a story from the cast iron lovers.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

My comment related to labor hour costs. I think that Benz has finally achieved a long-desired goal. The new diesels, maybe all Benz engines, have finally gotten to the point where it is impractical for an independent mechanic and certainly the home mechanic to invest in the tools and equipment to repair (NOT maintain) this car.

If you just pop the engine cover on one of these V6 diesels in the late 211 chassis you will instantly understand what I meant. Access to the engine innards is blocked by the engine management and accessory items to the point you can barely get your hands in there. It appears that any serious work requires pulling the engine.

They have turned a reliable, simply maintained and repaired diesel engine into something else. I would have preferred a fully restored 123 diesel for my wife but she was seduced by the style of the E320 and wouldn't drive an "old" car.

I certainly hope nothing goes wrong for 300k miles.