Has there ever been a 4matic diesel?

Yes, but not for the US market.

What's a 4matic?

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Seth

1984 300D 225K
1985 300D Donor body
1985 300D Turbo 165K. Totaled. Donor Engine. It runs!!!
1980 300SD 311K My New Baby.
1979 BMW 633csi 62K+++? Dead odo

4matic is the MB version of 4-wheel drive for their cars. Its computer controlled, and generally puts most of the power 60%+ to the rear wheels, but when faced with traction issues/bad weather it will divert as much as 90% to any given wheel with the most traction, providing a rather ultimate machine for snow driving etc....

I also assume it adds gobs of parts to break, so I will stick with my non-limited slip rear-drive-only 300SD. I've never gotten stuck yet, and I live in the michigan tundra.

Also, no diesel models were sold in the USA with 4matic. In theory you could probably add it to a car....like if you converted a 4matic 300E to a 603 300D 4matic or something.....I don't know how its "system" functions with the engine, so who knows if it'd work.

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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)

dont know what fourmatic is there is a 124 300d with it here in lafayette. white. owned by a local judge. its been around at least 8 years i would say.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I could have used one of those when I was in downtown portland on glare ice...

cities with hills = difficult!!!

Every day I drove my 4matic on ice, I wished I had my quattro. 4matic is IMO like any other part-time all-wheel-drive system, reaction time is milliseconds too late to drive the car hard in slippery conditions. Other than that, I loved the car (and other than the two $3500 re-seal jobs on the transfer-case which they all need eventually).

Further, the 4matic system has the right halfshaft through the engine block, it would be a fabrication miracle to adapt a non-4matic engine to a 4matic car, especially a diesel which needs as much strength in the block as possible. Diesels also get different springs, and the 4matic springs are stretched in the middle to allow the front halfshafts to pass through (thank you Steyr-Puch).

- Jeff Miller
190DT (former '91 300TE 4matic)

babymog,

You gotta be $hitting me: an axle shaft going thru the block and springs?

What a Rube Goldberg design.

P E H

It's actually pretty slick, the cast-aluminum oil pan restores the integrity of the block.

If I remember correctly, the 4matic added about $24k to the sticker on my '91 TE ($74,000). (from memory) The system starts out with 35/65% (f/r) from a standstill, goes to 0/100 in normal conditions. If the 4matic system senses wheelspin it will re-engage front drive at various levels, also responds to fast steering angle changes and high lateral gs. The problem with all of these "all-wheel-drive" systems is that once momentary wheelspin has occured, you have already given up a degree of control and have initiated a slide, unlike the quattro (not including TT) and Land Rover and Hummer (H1 only) for three examples, which have permanently engaged all-wheel-drive.

The 4matic system was manufactured/installed by Steyr-Puch in Austria, of Pitzgauer (sp?) fame. Kind of overbuilt from a mechanical standpoint. Much different from the current 4matic system, still (in my experience) far inferior to the quattro system for icy conditions or hard-driving.

- Jeff Miller
190DT