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Hey guys, I am a new owner of a 2006 e320 cdi with 95k on it. I spent a lot of time looking for a one owner veh and have recently found and purchased what I've been looking for. The car is in great shape and drives amazing compared to my 2011 vw golf tdi that I had. A few things that I have noticed on the benz is it seems to run cooler then normal from what I read it should be at 92C or around there well while driving my car its been around 50c or so barley gets to 80c so i think i may need a new thermostat. A few other minor issues I have found with it were the rubber molding cracking and falling apart around the lower part of the windshield and around the mirrors my headliner in the back is sagging and my cd changer seems to be jammed it will not spit out the cds but it does work and play the cd, other then those few things I think the veh is in great condition and has been well maintained for the most part.
I have 140k on my cdi. Attached are the instructions to change out the thermostat. As long as you have the correct torx(?) sockets, it is pretty easy. I see that you posted on the other forum. How do you know you have the wrong glow plugs installed? Just remember, they should be Beru 5 volt glow plugs. My indie installed the wrong ones, and lucky I picked up on it. You will not notice any difference with the incorrect glow plugs unless you live in an extreme cold climate, as in zero temperatures.
Mike T.
I have 140k on my cdi. Attached are the instructions to change out the thermostat. As long as you have the correct torx(?) sockets, it is pretty easy. I see that you posted on the other forum. How do you know you have the wrong glow plugs installed? Just remember, they should be Beru 5 volt glow plugs. My indie installed the wrong ones, and lucky I picked up on it. You will not notice any difference with the incorrect glow plugs unless you live in an extreme cold climate, as in zero temperatures.
Mike T.
yes, I posted on a another forum too. well I called the mechanic that worked on the benz before I bought it i asked what voltage glow plugs he installed and he told me they put in 12v bosch plugs. I am worried about having hard starts in winter here in Illinois. Thank you for the attached pdf for the replacement.
Common knowledge says you don't need block heater on cdi engines and I doubt they have one.
Anybody has actual experience starting at -20F ?
In CA we drove Bluetec with faulty GP module for almost a month and the longest morning cranking was less than 3 seconds.
Years ago I had faulty relay on VW diesel and that one would take couple of minutes of cranking (with cooling off between) in CA summer to start.
I've started in temps that cold, and I have to say the block heater helps. I nothing else, just to get the engine oil flowing sooner. Both my R320 CDI and my E320 gasser came with factory block heaters. To my knowledge they are standard equipment in Canadian delivered MBs.
Last winter, on those days when I didn't plug in my CDI, it was noticeable that it had to struggle more to start. In my opinion, that's just more unnecessary wear and tear that can be avoided for the sake of a $10 wire.
I've started in temps that cold, and I have to say the block heater helps. I nothing else, just to get the engine oil flowing sooner. Both my R320 CDI and my E320 gasser came with factory block heaters. To my knowledge they are standard equipment in Canadian delivered MBs.
Last winter, on those days when I didn't plug in my CDI, it was noticeable that it had to struggle more to start. In my opinion, that's just more unnecessary wear and tear that can be avoided for the sake of a $10 wire.
So would a benz delivered to Texas have a block heater installed on it? or all of them have it?
Great thanks! I will have to look for it tomorrow. Never had a block heater on a diesel before so if this one has it I will most definitely use it in winter.
Guys I have a question about the headlights, my model has the stock lights non xenon, I was wondering if I buy a LED headlight kit would it work well with the projectors that are in the car now? Also has anyone tried changing the bulbs to led ?
Thanks, I did a little bit of research and only Canadian model benz came standard with the block heater, US models don't have them but I will still check tomorrow to confirm.
Guys I have a question about the headlights, my model has the stock lights non xenon, I was wondering if I buy a LED headlight kit would it work well with the projectors that are in the car now? Also has anyone tried changing the bulbs to led ?
You're better off with an HID kit. The LEDs you want are the ones with the big heatsink and cooling fan built into the base, otherwise they're not very bright. This would require modification of the fastening method - the headlights in these cars don't have the typical formed wire clips to lock the bulb in place.
You will also find the high power aftermarket LEDs create a lot of electrical interference with your radio because there's no shielding in your headlight assembly.
Thanks, I did a little bit of research and only Canadian model benz came standard with the block heater, US models don't have them but I will still check tomorrow to confirm.
The ones in all the Benz's I've seen are the same ZeroStart (Phillips & Temro) brand. They used to be manufactured in Canada, so they may have been installed as part of the PDI for Canada. At any rate, they're very common.
Sounds good thanks. I will let you know tomorrow if I have them. I may just get stronger H7 bulbs for now instead of HID's need to spend some money on trans flush, belt, tensioner and glow plugs for now.
Fortunately, if you are looking for a block heater, there are lots of options out there. I would recommend an inline recirculating one, that would have the ability to warm your engine up faster.
Do you think I may need one in chicago for winter? If I wont have issues with it starting then I don't think I will need a block heater, however I do wish i had the heated seats unfortunately i do not, so winters will be interesting.
Those engines have 1 million miles life expectancy, so if cold start shave a thousand or 2, does it really matter?
I hear the block heater question on Polish forum quite often.
The issue is that not too many owners do have power easy available close to the car, while energy is pretty expensive. So they figure out the extra fuel for cold start cost less than running block heater for 4 hr.
The main issue is windshield defrosting, but then lot of European MB are equipped with Webasto.
My R320 CDI has a supplementary electric heater for cold starts and what not, so cabin heat and windshield defrosting is not an issue either. That being said, would this be on Texas delivered CDI?
You think that average Joe, or salesmen will follow your logic.
Here, in CA we do have dirt roads dry for 9-10 months every year and pickups are mostly used for recreation (meaning they never leave hard pavement) - yet 98% of pickups are offered here with 4WD.
The rapid (12v electric) heaters seems to be forced option for California pickups as well.
On MB I was researching the climatronics with REST button for the ability to read sensors on it .
All official sites list it as Canada only option, yet tons of them on US market.
You just never know and frankly in my search for new pickup, I think I will like the rapid heater - even I quit skiing, but once in 5 years it might become handy.
10-04-2016, 02:29 PM
