Necroposting for this juicy nugget:

"“My guess is that if Mercedes is dropping its diesels in the U.S., it’s because of the fuel problem,” says John Raymond, a consultant with the Automobile Protection Association (APA). “The manufacturer’s requirements are at odds with what many states are implementing. They want to make use of products and technology they see the most benefit in – and there are a lot of corn fields across large parts of that country. Raising the ethanol content – which comes from that corn – is good for them, but not good for customers who are driving vehicles they can’t reliably fuel and still maintain their warranty.”"

There's no ethanol in diesel. Dude doesn't even know what fuels he's talking about.

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RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

Garbage thread.

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IMO this is a region based problem. Some states and counties in the US have higher standards for air quality and thus regulate the types of fuel "legal" for sale in their jurisdiction.

California, like it or not pretty much drives the market in the US.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Of course, I remember thinking 'There is no link to an article originating with Mercedes Benz,' and 'I've seen only one B20+ station in the history of my buying diesel and only bought a few gallons to get me to a better fuel.'

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84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

B20 is almost non existent in california. Biodiesel was only approved for underground storage in 2019 and AFIK I've never seen it for sale in the state. The vast majority of bio fuel sold in california is renewable diesel which is a completely different animal. There are only a handful of mom and pop operations that sell B100 biodiesel in the state and they're still forced to store the fuel above ground. Biodiesel has a NOx emissions problem and CARB heavily discourages it's use. Renewable diesel is a much cleaner alternative.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/california-approves-b20-biodiesel-in-underground-storage-tanks-300898139.html

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/carb-approves-amendments-reduce-nox-emissions-b20-biofuels

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/alternative-diesel-fuels/biodiesel-renewable-diesel

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European diesel engines where designed for European quality diesel fuel. Never sold in north America as far as I know.

I have noticed Europeans posting their fuel millage seem to be better. On the other hand their fuel cost is high.

This is not true. The US is a net exporter of refined diesel fuel to the EU and the UK. Federal diesel fuel standards have been the same or superior to euro diesel since 2006 when ULSD became the norm in the US. This includes cetane and lubricity. California diesel is of an even higher standard because of its low VOC requirement. Feel free to dig though the current regulations.
https://www.epa.gov/diesel-fuel-standards/diesel-fuel-standards-and-rulemakings#onroad-diesel

Minimum federal cetane today 48. California has a 53 cetane minimum while the average sample taken from pumps is 60 cetane. That's equivalent to "premium diesel" found in sone parts of Europe. The truth is it's a global market and refiners are smart enough to exceed the minimum local standards so they can sell their fuel anywhere in the world. The days of 40 cetane on road fuel are long gone. You can thank the EPA emissions regulations for that.

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Time to get yourself a nice classic diesel instead! It'll drink B100 diesel if need be

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Why I will never do business with "DieselKraut" again

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-used-parts-sale-wanted/378935-why-i-will-never-do-business-dieselkraut-again.html

FYI, the British "gallon" is not the same volume as our gallon. Consequently, British MPG will be shown 20% higher than US MPG.


So a VW Polo TDI claiming 70mpg in the UK is actually about 55mpgUS. Not so impressive relative to fuel efficiency of subcompact cars from the 1970-1990's...

Thanks for the update to me at least. I really was not aware north American fuel was equal. I do buy and run on shells premium diesel fuel in Canada. Claims to have a lot of detergents and a celane booster. On the wives diesel

I notice a difference. That to me justifies the two cents a liter premium in cost.

Using it on the older 2006 jetta. Have never attempted to establish if the car runs better or not. Just like the detergent feature primarily. Stations that have the premium diesel are pretty far apart in our region.

In California, I fill with bio-based diesel, termed "renewable". Two stations are Propel "Diesel HPR" and Union 76 "R99". Using it gives no net-CO2 emissions, so much better for the planet than any battery-car (60% of U.S. grid powered by fossil). It is also often cheaper than fossil diesel, and my M-B cars run smoother on it.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

Propel is animal rendering based, not vegetable or cellulose like is commonly available. Thats how they can get around not calling it biodiesel.
Shame its only available in CA. If I had a place to store a 500g tote I would haul some back home every year for myself.

False. “Renewable” diesel is made by a different process than “Bio” diesel.
Feedstocks can be anything from brown grease from grease traps and municipal waste to animal fats from rendering to used cooking oil to virgin palm oil from the clear cut jungles of south east Asia.

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Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"

Please dial back the ASSaulting tone, if you had read my statement you would see I never claimed it was biodiesel.

This is NOT true. Renewable diesel can be made out of whatever feed stock is available including animal, vegetable and food waste. It's only available in California because it costs about $7/gallon to make and ship from Singapore to California and is then sold for $4. The difference is made up by fuel taxes on petro diesel. It is not economically viable without this scheme. It's still just a drop in the bucket compared to the massive subsidies we provide to petroleum producers.

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