wase4711

well, you've obvioiusly already done it man, so your "reasoning" is just a moot issue at this point..

Everyone breaks in their car their own way, so do what you think is right.

rb23lb

well isnt that according to the book, not got over 5300 rpms about?

Untertürkheim

2/3 of maximum RPM is about 4000, not 5333, since the maximum engine rpm is about 6000, not 8000.

During break in you are supposed to avoid putting a lot of strain on the car, which is why the maximum speed should be below 85mph. If you accelerate slightly beyond that for short amounts of time, as long as you do not accelerate quickly, your engine should be fine.

rb23lb

thanks bud, thats exactly what i did, accelerate short periods over 85 very slowly for passing other ugly bimmer 3 series that were cloggin my fast lane...

so the engine tachometer goes up to 8000 at the end of the red, but 6000 is max?

If that is the case, I caught myself once at about 4800-5000 during a freeway onramp merge...

do you think doing this once or twice before 1000 will cause a noticeable performance or gas milage effect in the long run??

other than that I have babied it so far...

MBTex

No.

Jorg

With the speed limits we have in North America there is nothing to worry about. The car is designed for much higher speeds.

Jorg

Untertürkheim

[QUOTE=rb23lb;2490168]so the engine tachometer goes up to 8000 at the end of the red, but 6000 is max?
QUOTE]

The maximum engine speed is where the red starts (by memory 6000-6200 rpm, I forget what it is for the 350). Usually any instrument will read higher than it needs to, the capability of the car is not just the capability of the instruments. Remember, these instruments are also used in manual shift cars, so someone could mis-shift into the red, which is why it needs to read beyond the max engine speed.

jrct9454

After participating in this discussion, I decided to really pay attention to the gauge on our next drive, just for yucks.

This morning, with ambient temp around 45-47F, we left with a cold engine and were on the freeway after about 3-4 minutes of surface streets. At a constant 65 mph, it took a total of about 4 miles to reach full operating temp, which was 85C on the gauge. The total trip was about 16 miles, and it stayed steady at 85C once warmed up, all the way back to our garage and final shutdown.

On our long trip, where we saw 90-115F outside for nearly two weeks, and the AC blasting the whole time, we never saw the coolant temp go over 90C, no matter what was happening outside. So whomever said that "normal" was 85-90C, that sure fits our experience....for whatever it's worth....

lx Raven xl

83C on the gauge all the time. outside temprature was 13. but i was driving slow in the city and some minor trips over the highway with top speed of 100km

oblu

I actually watched mine today too. Most of the time it sits where everybody else describes. But then I noticed that when I started driving the car hard, temp needle went to middle of the gauge and stayed there until I started driving normally ... then it went back up.

Just food for thought.

lx Raven xl

Maybe the coolent is used more once you drive hard.

djf1

Thank goodness I found this thread as I was too wondering about that. My gauge sits at 90-92 degrees celcius, where my old 97 E320 never gets over 80 even in traffic.

tanktube67

when you get a warning light, it's time to worry.
otherwise enjoy the ride

tmehanna

The folks who mention precise temperatures to the degree like 92 and 83 degrees, is this a feature on the multimedia package that gives the exact coolant temp? I don't have the multimedia package on my c300 and all I have is the temperature gage that starts at 40C with a marking at 80 and another at 120 with 5 degree markers among them. Mine hovers between what would be 85 and 90 which is the normal running temperature for most cars I've had in the past few years. However, I think it was a stupid idea from mercedes to grade the gage linearly at 40/80/120 instead of a non linear 30/90/120 and have the gage pointing in the upper half of the scale. It just doesn't look right.

PoaMike

^+1

TuneTime

in all the benzes that i have been in and worked on, including mine... its always alittle higher past center.... dont know why they dont center their gauge... lol alot of us are used to american cars where most of the gauges read the center as normal.... but benz likes to be different....

AsianML

Because the Germans are too good to conform to the stone age Americans ways.

djf1

as I said, my 97 E320 is always hovering at or below 80c which is the middle of the gauge. On the freeway it is always below the 80c mark. That is why I really thought that there is a problem...

jstaneff

- This may simply be a fluike of the thermostat in the cooling system ... but it's most likely well within the acceptable tolerance range.
- The red mark's at at 120 C, so running 90 or 92 C seems of no consequence

But mostly: being hotter, it means the heater works better in winter!
(I like being warm.)

andy_meng1024

After start driving for about 5 minutes the temperature always stay at around 82-83 on my W203 no matter how fast or slow I drive it. Your car runs at 90-92 is a bit high but I think it's still normal though.

micropower99

Yea mines around 90-95.

PoaMike

^Thats about where I hit.

02S430

my S runs 85-90 so i wouldnt worry

Stiggs

Both my CLK and my ML always run a bit over 80c. Basically the needle is just a hair over 80. But I do notice with the C300 the needle goes a bit higher than the other cars. So I would say its at about 90c. Definitely a difference but I figure since its a new car it must have a new temp setting. But it is noticable if you are coming from another Benz.

QQQ

MB temp gauge is marked at 40, 80 and 120C. VW marks theirs at 50, 90 and 130C and the needle is at middle. So I think 90C is where running temps should be and the way MB marks the gauge it is always above the middle.