mb300td99

I have a '99 MB E300TD and would be interested in feedback from diesel car owners.

What's your average city and highway mileage?

Does the brand of diesel fuel make any difference? How do I know which brand has a higher cetane?

Do you add any fuel additive to clean injector and boost cetane? If so what additive?

SpeedLimits?

Nice to see another diesel owner around. I have a 98 E300TD. I really never have kept track of my millage very close. But im pretty sure its in the 30s on the freeway. As far as brands of diesel I would not get to hung up on. One of the man concerns of diesel drivers is getting clean fuel. This is a concern because many stations do not pump a lot of diesel. I know that from my days of driving diesel pickups many even go to the trouble of fueling up at truck stops to ensure that they were getting fresh fuel. As far as cetene goes this is a lenghty debate and I have come across several arcticles that discuss the topic. These arcticles were written for a Dodge diesel pickup enthuisits magazine. I will see if I can get ahold of some of the arcticles for you to ponder. If I remember right they proved that many "boosters" did little or nothing to actually bring up your cetene number. I have never put anything into my diesel other than regular ole number 2 and have had no problems.

Lightman

I have a '99 E300 and get 26-29 city and 30-35 hwy, depending on how I drive.

Definitely look for high cetane premium diesel if you can find it.

Where do you live mb300?

Certain regions have access to some pretty wonderful fuel, others just get garbage-truck #2. Before I did some significant research on diesel fuels, I didn't know any better and ran #2 for a few months. I just assumed diesels were supposed to have a knock-knock idle like the older mb diesels.... well our cars have more modern technology and are designed with european(much higher quality - lower sulfur, higher cetane) diesel in mind. My cars run so much smoother, faster, start more quickly, and get better mpg on true premium diesel. I used to get 50 cetane bp diesel supreme when I lived in cleveland.

bonathan

hi, I have a very late dec 2001 E220 CDI car.

On longer trips I get 50MPG (UK gallon about 1.2 US gallon (60 MPG US)), which is great.

No noticible difference on fuel brands, all in europe are low sulphur.

Lightman

Bonathon, here our fuel is so bad your car can't even be sold here, because when it runs on it, it smokes so badly it can't pass emissions

mb300td99

I live in Texas and use Texaco diesel most of the time. My '99 E300TD gets about 25mgh in city and 32mgh in hwy. Curious to find out what's your preferred diesel brand(s)??

Comparing to the same year E320, I felt the E300TD almost as peppy as E320. In terms of noise level inside the cabin, the diesel car is as quiet as E320 when driving. For the longevity of a diesel engine, similar performance of E320, I am happy with my decision to go for the E300TD (my first diesel car).

Since it is my first diesel car, I am interested in recommendations on maintaining a diesel car.

Lightman

Where in texas? texas is finally getting some good premium diesels, although I've heard texas has some of the best regular #2 in the country, averaging 48 cetane =]. A few new stations in the DFW area are trying out bp diesel supreme, is why I was asking. this is far superior to any fuel you can get in texas. Aside from that make sure at least you're running a premium diesel. If you aren't, be sure you're adding the proper dosage of power service Diesel Kleen or Stanadyne's performance formula with every tank. Otherwise there is no way you can be sure your engine is getting the lubricity, detergency, etc that it needs.
www.powerservice.com - available at most walmarts and discount autoparts stores...
www.stanadyne.com

Good luck!

mb300td99

Lightman,

Thanks for your response. I do live in DFW area. I will try out the BP premium diesel and see if there is a difference. Unlike gasoline, I don't see a Cetane number post by the pump. When I asked the gas station attendents about the cetane, they did not know what I was talking about. How can you can find out the Cetane number?

My local MB dealers don't recommend using any fuel additives. I happen to see Kleen in Walmart but not sure if it is save to use. How long have you used the fuel additives? and which one of the two brands do you recommend?

Lightman

For the most part, the dealers have no clue about diesels anymore, they never see them. There may be one mechanic thats been working on mercedes for a long time and is the diesel guru(and probably has really traditional viewpoints on them), but the service guys have no idea. Use the additives every tank, they are definitely 100% safe. STick with those two brands and you'll be fine. Some of the off brands may contain alcohol which can damage your fuel injection system. STanadyne makes diesel fuel injection systems, thats their business, believe me their additives won't harm the engine =]

You are SO lucky to be in the dfw area. I'd drive an hour to fill up with BP Diesel supreme, and so would many who know better. There's a thread on Fred's tdi club forum with the address of the station. If you're interested in learning more about diesels from people who know, i'd suggest reading up on the tdi forum. The volkswagen diesel owners are fanatics, and every topic has been covered.

Be careful there are a lot of mislabled pumps out there. Take a pickle or nail jar and pump a tiny bit of the fuel into it. BP supreme is as clear as water, colorless. Check out the specs.
http://tdipics.mmcorp.net/members/Da...selSupreme.pdf

Here's the thread on Fred's. I just checked it, someone checked the fuel and said it had a slight amber hue, which isn't a good sign. Anyway, i'd check out that station, if its brand new and labeled supreme, you might have a shot at actually getting some of this wondrous fuel... People in the ohio/in/il/mich/wi area are so lucky to have access to it..
http://forums.tdiclub.com/cgi-bin/ul...=005055#000012

1-800-841-5255 is the number, and follow the prompts to BP's diesel fuels technical line. They'll be able to answer any of your questions about diesel fuels with scientific authority. I've spoken with them many times, nice people.