Well, it's been a week now with the new 96 E320. The first thing I noticed is how cold natured it is! It really doesn't like to get going. Even at lunch, it takes awhile to "wake up".

Is this common with these engines? I'm an old diesel guy and I know diesels are bad about this. I don't know if gassers do this normally or not.

I did a search for M104+cold and didn't really find anything. Besides, it's more fun to get reponses....

I think you will find that the "Brain" controlling the car can sense the temperature of the cooling fluid and, unless you "flog it" it will limit reaction to throttle movement until a little warmth has got into the system.

My 2000 E320 CDI certainly does this on a cold morning and I recollect reading somewhere that all W210 models react like this when cold.

Regards

Mike

I have a 97 E320 with the same engine.

I wonder how fast your coolant temp comes up to the 87 deg C area. After a couple miles?

If it takes a long time for the coolant to compe up to that area or never reach that area, you might have a fatigued thermostat (common failure) that cannot close completely. All the MB stats that I have replaced (three of them) all failed in that mode and they typically last about 60kmi.

I'm not certain on how long your E320 takes to "wake up" but I noticed that my 98 E320 does not respond to a wide open throttle response (gas peddle to the floor) during the first 5 minutes of a cold start. The engine has a few second delay before the engine starts to rev up.

Since I don't normally require a wide open throttle response expecially before the car warms up, this does not present a problem for me.

Although my 98 E320 has the V6 engine with throttle by wire system I thought I would share the experience that I encounter from a cold start.

__________________
Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles