rickjordan,

The point I was making is the car comes from the factory running at about 80 degrees C. This has been the case for all my cars, gas or Diesel. Gas cars will heat up a little in stop and go traffic, especially in the summer and you can hear the various cooling aids come on to keep temps under control - the viscous clutch for the main fan and the auxilliary electric fans. At running speeds, especially highway speeds, even my gas cars run at an even 80 C in all weather.

If your car is running above 80 degrees C, it is not the factory normal temperature and there is a reason. The most common candidates are the thermostat operation being out of specification, or low coolant level.

Now to your question. The manual says all is ok as long as you do not run in the red zone on the temperature gage. So, I guess it is ok to run at 95 degrees C.

I can tolerate a lot of little, non-vital stuff on the car being out of whack, like cracks in the dash or knobs that have developed idiosyncracies that I have learned to live with to turn things on and off. After all I have wrinkles on my face and joints that have developed noises and other idiosyncracies over the years too. But I cannot get used to the temperature gage pointing above horizontal. Drives me nuts because for thirty three years of driving these cars the gage spends 99% of its time horizontal after the car has warmed up. So, 95 degrees C would unnerve me, and I would have to find out why the car decided to run hot. Even if it is not too hot.

Sorry if I am alarming you needlessly. Good luck, and I hope this helps, Jim

__________________
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)