Some guy just bought a brand spanking new E320 'Bluetec' (It had a Bluetec badge to the right side of the trunk) here at work. To be honest, I was embarrased as I thought I knew every current Mercedes model on the U.S. market, but I didn't know what Bluetec was. He told me it was a "clean" diesel and my S430 won't have a chance on it. I thought the diesel 211 was the E320 CDI??

 

bluetec is the new diesel meant to met emissions standards in all 50 states, currently the cdi is only certified in 45 states. I believe it uses a urea-purification system that you would replace at ever oil change.

 

Bluetec doesn't use urea-injection yet. It is a cleaner, more powerful diesel that requires ultra-low sulfur fuel. The 2008s will add urea-injection and hopefully become 50-state certified at that point.

 

The 2006 E320 CDI had an iron block straight-6; the 2007 E320 Bluetec has an aluminum V6 with similar power and a bit more torque. The Bluetec refers to its exhaust system of elaborate filters that enables the car to pass the more strict US emissions requirements for 2007 when used with new ultra low-sulfur diesel. As mentioned by somebody else, urea injection should further clean up emissions for 50-state certification next year.

To confuse issues, the 2007 ML- and R-class CDIs have the V6 motor, but without the filtration, as emissions requirements for trucks isn't as strict.

 

urea purification systems will reduce the NOx content of the exhaust making it 50 state legal and the car will fall in the Bin 5 catagory. (currently BIN 8) The urea system is known as AD Blue.

 

I was reading something about the Bluetec E320 CDI. It claimed to have highway mileage of nearly 40 mpg. Factory claimed 34 mpg. However, I would sure like to get one if I could afford one because one tank could go over 600 miles per fill up when traveling.

 

I haven't seen published EPA numbers on the Bluetec yet, but the outgoing CDI is capable of well over 600 miles per tank; 35mpg is easily attainable on the highway, and with a 21 gallon tank makes 700 miles on a tankful possible.

The Bluetec will likely have higher mileage, but I don't see 40mpg being realistic.

 

Some members here have been able to get 39-40 mpg with the E320 CDI's. Its possible it just takes disapline while driving. I can get 26mpg on the freeway in my M3, but thats going 70 mph with a light foot. MPG really depends on the driver for the most part along with the road and type of conditions.

 

I routinely get 28mpg in my E500 when driveing between Charlotte and Atlanta. If memory serves I beleive that the highest was 28.8 using cruise control all the way.

Pretty nice since I was used to about 17mpg in my Linc Navi.

 

Sure, you can reset the OBC at speed and see 70-80mpg if your foot is light enough on the throttle...but you won't see a 40mpg real-world average over a tankful. That's what I mean by "realistic".

 

Since January of 2005, I've been tracking the milage for my 2005 E320 CDI (calculated using actual miles traveled and gallons pumped.) Over that period -- a total of 22900 miles -- I've averaged 37.4 MPG. Granted, the vast majority of my driving is highway, and I do drive conservatively. My best tank was 40.5 MPG, my worst was 29.0 MPG, most are 37-39 MPG. The car had 17500 miles at the start (1/2005) so the engine should be broken in by now.

The new Blutec cars may be able to do improve on this because the engine is slightly smaller (3.0 l vs 3.2 l) and presumabley is more advanced, plus it is lighter than the I6. I don't know whether the weight advantage of the new engine is offset by the weight of the additional emmissions hardware, though. If nothing else the car should be better balanced. Given my experience, 40 MPG should be possible on the highway under favorable conditions.

I thought I read that while the other US-spec MB diesels will be introducing urea injection relatively soon, the E-class diesel will not have urea injection until the next major redesign in 2009. Has this changed?

 

Wow. Very impressed by the mileage you recorded!

MBUSA announced the Bluetec SUVs for calender year 2008, so it may be a while until we see them, maybe as late as December 2008, as there are still some things which need to be worked out with the EPA.

In the meantime, a new BLUETEC Info Site was opened a few minutes ago. It's run by Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart. Not much on it as of yet, but things should get added as time goes by.

http://www.bluetec.com