Atown206

I have a 1997 MB C36 AMG.

The salesman who sold me the car said these cars aren't meant to idle for longer than 2minutes. Because "they fill up with gas and if not burned off right away it can act funny"
I've never heard of a vehicle doing this nor would I expect MB to design a vehicle to do this!

Is there any truth to this? Let me know!

PJmak

Im not an expert but that does not sound legit. Never heard of it and ive heard a lot of info on these cars

ECTurboGSX

That says it all right there. Straight to the File 13 (trash can) with that information. I don't own a C36, so I don't know either way, but perhaps they run a bit rich at idle and in his car salesman mind, that information transformed into what he told you. That's the best excuse I could come up with for him saying that.

DRBC43AMG

The salesman is probably talking about his need for a glass of bourbon. After two minutes he starts feeling "funny"... Total bull****.

Sulaco

That is laughably, utterly, completely flat wrong in every single way. There is absolutely no way in Hell MB or AMG would let a car past the earliest stages of design if that were true.

Absolute horse-poop to showcase his utter lack of knowledge or he's covering up for a technical failure on a car he wants to keep secret.

PeterUbers

My question is what was he covering up with this explanation... What about your car is "funny" after two minutes of idling??

MPOW33R

I'll note that an Audi shouldn't idle too long for that exact reason. Warming up a car longer than 2 minutes shouldn't be harmful but its also not very necessary. I usually fire up and wait for the idle to drop (roughly 90 sec on cold start) and then I go really easy until I feel the car open up. I have noticed that with my C43 it does take a bit longer to open up than I'm used to but I never drive hard on a cold motor, ever .

ps - for what its worth my MBZ Cert Mechanic suggested the same with my W211 E500 and my W208 CLK, said don't idle too long its pointless and
a waste of gas, plus build up.

eFifty5AMG

Interesting. I always wait until full operating temperature before I get on it. Is this unnecessary?

Tall Paul

Fully warm is a lot better than "just warm". If your car is not fully warm and you drive away with even a skim of snow on the hood, your windshield will frost heavily and instantly on the inside. If your car is not fully warm, you will be uncomfortable, ie, distracted driving; you may drive with one finger on the steering wheel, your windows won't be clear, you may even drive so slowly as to create a hazard to other drivers. Having said this, I am assuming we are talking about winter time. Summer is different: oil pressure and go.

MPOW33R

Extremely - it also takes a lot longer for the car to warm up at idle opposed to just calm driving for about 5-7 miles . You're causing build up inside and wasting gas -

eFifty5AMG

Yeah, it does take forever haha, but I thought it was more beneficial to warm it up. I don't mind wasting gas, but what build up is developing when it idles for more than a couple minutes?

MPOW33R

Well to each his own especially when it comes to his car, but carbon build and faulty 02 sensors, smelly catalytic converters is usually the case when using bad gas and or warming up for ever. Hence why shirt distance commuter cars break down faster than long distance cars. All the parts are moving more and in a car usually whatever is moving the most in proper circumstances last the longest .

Just try it - on cold start just warm it up until the ideal drops usually 60-90 seconds and then drive real mellow . If you live close to the highway then I don't suggest this but if you can cruise for a few miles before you have to get on it, then try this method.

PJmak

Ive owned my 43 for almost 100k miles now and i dont think i have ever started driving it until the revs dropped. Even if im in a hurry

I normally baby it at least until the temperature gets half way up to where it sits when its fully warmed up

cm60k

^^AgreeeeeeeeeeeD^^

ZAYED,,

DRBC43AMG

I don't use my 43 in winter... In summer I will always get everything warm before giving it the beans!

Super B

As others have stated, what the sales guy said is complete non sense. My 97 c36 has no issue with idling for however long as you want to let it and no manufacturer is going to make a car that cant idle in traffic.

Now a engine with a long duration camshaft may have this type of issue due to the intake charge getting dirty from the exhaust gasses due to valve overlap and "load up" at an idle. But your m104 doesn't have this issue.

As far as warming up, to each their own but my thinking is when it's real cold the oil is thick, the pump pressure is going to be up, metal is more brittle and the heated seats aren't warm yet. I like to give it a little bit of time for the oil pressure to come down and the trans fluid temp to come up.

as far as carbon and stuff and the cat... Egh that's what the air pump is for. It Blows some air into the rich exhaust and gets the cat upto temp faster. But one thing I don't like about our cars is how they programmed the transmission to hold 2nd gear on a cold start to help heat the cat. The big lurch into 3rd gets old when your just trying to take is easy and let the engine warm up on the go.

c43amgN843

All i can say is....

Sulaco

If I have time, I let my car warm up to at least 40C. If not, I at least give it 2-3 minutes to let the idle drop and the cats to warm up. I'm very careful with these old, beat up girls. They've had long hard lives with previous owners, and I want to get them right again.

Pagz

The user manual does say not to warm it up at idle for good reasons

DRBC43AMG

This is correct. No need to wait, but drive slowly until everything is nice and warm.