towing with a 1995 300D
 

I have a 30 foot Airstream Trailer which I am considering towing with the 300D. The car has 245000kms. on it and runs well. Any advice concerning this would be greatly appreciated!

Get the biggest transmission cooler you can find for this trip and save up for a new transmission by the end of the season.

Is this your first experience towing a trailer this size?

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Yes this is the first time for this type of trailer and I have never towed with this car. The trailer weighs about 5000lbs. and of course the trailer dealer figures that it is no problem? I would hate to destroy a good car.

There should be a towing capacity rating somewhere that you can look up and find the rated towing capacity for the car.

I tired that and asked MB but their answer is that they do not want their cars used for towing?!

With the lack of low end power and not exactly the best transmission I wouldn't tow with a MB at all most big engine american cars won't pull 5000 Lb. You need a truck or a chevy suburban with a Big V8.

towing
 

I believe it would be too much weight to safely manage the trailer, unless you are going a short distance..also check your local laws, you would hate to get a ticket

Even the brand new Sprinter (CDI engine) is only rated for 5k lbs towing capacity which, in my opinion, is pretty low for this large of a vehicle. Another couple options is the Ford PowerStroke or the Dodge Cummins diesel trucks.

Then there's brakes and the total vehicle weight restriction of your license.

It doesn't sound like you're in the US. Canada?

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

30' Airstream?
 

I don't think so... I forget - what does the '95 .609 diesel have, about 130 HP or so?

NFW on towing a big Airstream like that, IMHO! And the tranny? And the brakes.... and the.....EVERYTHING.

That would be a job for a big diesel SUV or pickup, I think.

Rgds,
Chris W.

DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!

Mercedes Benz cars are not well suited to tow 5000 pounds!!! Get a truck or a 'burban man, don't kill your benz.

As the others said, DO NOT DO IT!!

From what I've heard, about the maximum that a 123 can tow is in the 1500 to 2000lb range...granted you don't have a 123, but I would assume that the numbers are similar with your car. Even if the engine and tranny could handle it easily, I highly dount that the brakes could safely stop it, and there's also the question of stability...

Again, don't do it. A ticket is the least of your worries...it's downright unsafe.

You can get a mid '80's Ford with a 6.9l diesel for between $3000 and $5000. :)

5,000 lbs has to be outside of this vehicles tow capacity and I would NOT try to tow this much with my 95 E300 diesel. (Of course that's why I have a Dodge CTD.)

Now having said that, each time I've been to Germany (3 times to be exact over 20+ years) I was always amazed by all the German families out on the autobahns and other main roads on their holiday, in their Mercedes Benz, (a very middle class car for many Germans!) TOWING their small to medium size hard-sided camping (RV) trailers. Small being on the order of, say, 1500 - 2000 lbs and medium being in the say, 4000 - 6000 lb range.

Of course my impression of many Germans is that they enjoy a standard of living at least equal to comparable class Americans if not greater. So they may very well be able to afford putting this kind of wear and tear on their, what, for them, is simply their every day daily driver that they've been around all of their lives. (It seems for us Americans that owning a MB is some kind of end game as opposed to a utilitarian piece of machinery.)

The rule is
 

You have to weigh more than what you are towing, unless you have a 5th wheel.

I once asked the dealer if I could tow a boat with my non turbo 123.

He said that I could if, while on any ramp, I left the sunroof open and wore a life preserver.

I wouldn't do it.