Attached (I hope) is a link to a review of the new diesel Benz published in the March 21 Washington Post car pages.

I question whether these models represent "progress" or are in fact, retrograde. The GREAT virtue of the '80s diesels is that their long potential service life was due both to "mature" technology arrived at over a long period of refinement, and the fact that these cars are uncompromised by computer-reliant technology and other frippery which shortens their lifespans.

I wonder if the "new" diesels will be worth it, given the fact that they will have the same inbred check on "longevity via care and maintenance" that gas cars (and all other cars built recently) have...in other words, the "live forever" capacity of the diesel engine may not be present in these models.

Your thoughts, please.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8394-2004Mar19.html

Must register in order to view it. Copy and paste the article here, I'd love to read it.

just need your address.

john@onlineautolink.com

SAN ANTONIO

Mercedes-Benz, the company that invented the diesel car, is trying to reinvent the market for diesel automobiles in the United States.

The strategy is to start small, with the introduction this spring of the 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI.

The car has an advanced common-rail, direct-injection (CDI) engine that runs quietly, burns cleanly and produces enough power to move the mid-size luxury sedan from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6.8 seconds.

Yet, the E320 CDI gets better mileage than an automatic compact Toyota Echo economy sedan, which weighs 1,730 pounds less than the Mercedes-Benz car.

In fact, when driven at legal speeds with the air conditioner and entertainment systems turned off, the E320 CDI gets real-world mileage comparable to that of the much-ballyhooed Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid.

I know this to be true because I joined journalists from around the nation here last week in an extensive highway-and-city mileage test of the E320 CDI. My team finished third with an average highway-city mileage of 40.7 miles per gallon. The top finishers, led by automotive writers Brian Armstead and Frank Washington, averaged 45 mpg. (Hints: The Armstead-Washington team used no electrical appliances, not even turn signals. They drove at steady, moderate speeds, which means they used brakes as little as possible; and they coasted in neutral gear at every conceivable opportunity.)

By comparison, my family's gasoline-fueled four-cylinder Toyota Echo generally gets 34 miles per gallon in highway-city driving. The best real-world mileage I've ever gotten out of many drives in past and current versions of the Toyota Prius is 46 mpg, and that was mostly highway running.

The E320 CDI's collective virtues should be enough to bring diesel-skeptical Americans into the diesel camp. But Mercedes-Benz executives aren't taking any chances. They view the U.S. market as being hostile to automotive diesel technology. So they are proceeding cautiously with initial plans to sell 3,000 E20 CDI models annually -- mostly to former and current owners of older Mercedes-Benz diesel cars.

Those people are true believers. They were upset when Mercedes-Benz stopped selling the E300 Turbodiesel in the United States at the end of 1999. That sales disruption stemmed from a redesign of the company's E-Class cars, which now include sedans and station wagons available with rear-wheel drive, or with Mercedes-Benz's patented "4Matic" all-wheel-drive system.

The company redesigned the E-Class body in model year 2000, giving it a lower hood line that was at odds, in terms of proper fit, with the big diesel engine.

But in addition to being cleaner, quieter and more powerful (201 peak horsepower for the E320 CDI compared with 174 hp for the Turbodiesel), the new 3.2-liter, inline six-cylinder engine is also more compact.

Key elements in its design include an electronically operated direct fuel-injection system, a common-rail fuel loop, an engine-driven fuel pump and a Variable Nozzle Turbine (VNT). Those components work together to ensure consistent fuel pressure, a more thorough dispersion of fuel in the engine's combustion chambers and a cleaner, more powerful burn of the air-fuel mixture.

The result is a diesel engine that pollutes less, runs faster and practically eliminates any reasonable opposition to the reintroduction of high-caliber diesel passenger cars in the United States.

At least, that is what Mercedes-Benz executives are hoping.

They want to appeal to true believers by giving them a car that justifies their continued faith. They hope that E320 CDI buyers will be so thrilled by the new car that they will go forth and spread the New Diesel Gospel according to Mercedes-Benz. If things go right, there will be lots of converts. Amen.

I'm sold! The E320 CDI has been around for years in Europe, don't know the history on the engine but I see no reason to belive it won't be as reliable as our older OM61x and OM60x cars.

by Warren Brown in the 3/21 Washington Post...thanks

we have had cdi power in the uk for 3-4 years, the power & torque from these engines is unbelivable not to mention fuel economy. check out 0-60 times for e320 gasser against the time for a 320 cdi, the cdi beets it by over a second!.

I fully expect that driving this car is quite impressive. The diesels they've had in Europe for several years are truly remarkable.

I was doing a lot of business travel to Western Europe in 2000, 2001 and 2002. I learned quickly that when you rented a car and ran it low on fuel, you had to make a conscious effort to determine whether to fill it with diesel or gas. They are that good. They have power like a gas engine and are as quiet as a gas engine.

Fuel there is in the area of $6 a gallon, so fuel efficient diesels are a very desired product there, thus the effort to develop the technology.

All that sad, the advantage of a modern diesel over a modern gas engine is not the same as it was in the 123 days. Our gas engines are MUCH longer lived than they used to be, and more fuel efficient. I contribute much of this to the demise of the carburetor.

I still love diesels and think that gasoline stinks as compared to the smell of diesel fuel, but until we're faced with $6 a gallon fuel, I will be staying with gas engines for now.

My $0.02,

The key word there is reasonable. When I bought the 99, several people said "I wouldn't want one of those because Diesel fuel stinks and gets on your hands when you fill up."

I wish Daimler-Chrysler luck, but it will be a tough sell. To the overwhelming majority of American drivers, Diesels just stink.

__________________
Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

I agree with Rick and Larry. Fill up a diesel without a mitt and you will smell of diesel for the rest of the day. But let gas prices contiue there rise to the stratosphereand people will be clamoring toward diesel economy smell be damned.

__________________
Keith Schuster
2006 E350 98K miles
2013 Ford Explorer 15K miles

You guys must have a better nose than I do, I filled up my 300D about an hour ago at a smelly diesel pump. I can smell diesel on my hands but to do so I have to put my hand to my nose and really take a deep breath.

I've also heard about diesels smelling inside because of people tracking fuel from their shoes into the car - again I've never had any diesel car that I owned that seemed to suffer this "problem"

Jim I'm not sure if they new CDI diesels will be as long lived as your 240D but for what they have to offer I'm willing to take the chance. 40 MPG and better performance than an E320 gasser would get my attention and if Larry says they are as quiet as a gas car I believe it. If I was in the market for a 55K new car I'd give the 320CDI a good look.

Tim

As for the longevity of these new cars, time will tell. But if one had to predict, my only worry would be an electronic injection system. All of the mechanicals (connecting rods, pistons, etc) should still be well made and able to handle the higher pressures involved in diesel engines.

__________________
==========================
Aaron
'84 300D 267,000 - Running WVO - Rice Bran Oil - Mmmmmm, fishy...
==========================

Yeah, you would think MB learned it's lesson from the 3.5 liter OM603.970-71.

If the engine's good, that's great. But a gasser can be just as reliable. Like the Dodge Cummins, it isn't the engine that's the problem, it's everything around it that is.

that must not have been a large group considering the number of cars that MB DID NOT sell.......kind of no surprise that they didn't see it worthy to modify the diesel for the 2000 model year update of the e class


warren
1992 300SD 175K
Columbus Ohio