ccimocm

Dealer just confirmed that there is a VIN number, as well as a PO number, for the new car so it definitely has been built and is on its way to the US. The only potential 'glitch' is if California "restrictions" will hold it up. Hard to fathom that the car is being delivered to CA w/o State approval of the engine....which has already been here in the SUV.

DerekACS

That's good news for you ! Unfortunately, the beginning of Canadian production has been delayed again until October.

ccimocm

Car should arrive while I am in Georgian Bay, North of Barrie, Ontario. May have to come back in September. Just tempted to take it on a "road trip" to see how it does.

tarheel

I've talked to two dealerships in NC and both said that the 2011 E-class bluetec is only available with 17" tires. This is true even if the car is ordered with the AMG package. Anyone have a problem with this?

DerekACS

Fortunately for Canadian Bluetecs, the car will be equipped with either the 18" 5 spoke alloys as standard or the optional AMG 18" 5 twin spoke alloys. AMG sport package is standard, along with bi-zenons, folding rear seats, heated seats and metallic paint. The Canadian price has yet to be released.

YYZ-E55

The Canadian BlueTEC will be significantly sportier than its US counterpart... the mistakes made with the W211 BlueTEC (bad wheels, bodystyling, base equipment) will not be repeated. The same holds true for the rest of the BlueTECs (ML designo Edition, GL with 21" AMG wheels and fender flares, etc).

DerekACS

Three cheers for that !!!

Too bad though that the E350 Bluetec will not have the same tuning at the upcoming S350 Bluetec with 241 HP that is headed to the US.

YYZ-E55

Agreed, however, we get the S BlueTEC as well... 4MATIC too! A car that big needs the extra grunt.

DerekACS

Why doesn't MBC offer the ECU upgrade that will add 30 HP + more torque for the E350 Bluetec ?
I would gladly pay an extra $1000 or so for such an upgrade. It would transform the E350 Bluetec into a real performer !
ECU upgrades or performance chips are very popular for MB diesels in Europe. Why doesn't MB go after this market instead of leaving it to the many tuners like Kleeman, Brabus, etc.

btrepper

dealer informed me my E 320 Bluetec has a build date of 8/27 with a delivery date sometime in late Sept.

yeahrightnc

I have the '07 E320 Bluetec and love this car. 34mpg easily (70 mph on the road), and I average 26.7 around town if I drive it reasonably, slightly less if I'm in a hurry. Incredible acceleration for a diesel, quiet, and I buy fuel once every two weeks at most. 42,000 miles - not a speck of trouble other than having the transmission software updated. 13,000 mile service intervals, so it goes in once a year, usually the time interval is up before the mileage interval.

Great ride, quiet, smooth, stable, handles well, drives well. Absolutely no complaints. I drove a W123 300D turbodiesel for 16 years, 344,000 miles on it when I sold it, and it's still going strong. With the loss of sulfur diesel fuel, I don't expect this one will last that long, but it's easily a 200,000 mile car if cared for properly.

No regrets; I'd buy this car again in a heartbeat. I'm very interested in the 2011 E350 Bluetec - I just wish MB USA would get them over here.

yeahrightnc

Sorry - this was in reply to the individual inquiring about mileage, etc. for the V6 Bluetec.

btrepper

Finally got my E350 Bluetec. What a smooth machine! well worth the wait

HBerman

Congratulations! I had ordered an E350 Bluetec the same day that you did in also in Cary. However, the AddBlue and the run-flats were a deal breaker for me, so I got the E550 that I ordered in parallel just in case. Make certain that you have a spare bottle of the AddBlue in your garage. The car will not start after 20 times with the urea additive tank empty.

ccimocm

Drove from NPB, CA to Winter Park, CO and back. Started trip with 450+ miles on the E350 Blutec so had to still break in the engine until 1,000 miles so could not use cruise control in the beginning. GET THIS: 2,531 miles on 76.6 gal. of Diesel for overall average of 33.04 mpg!! 600+ miles of this was mountain driving. Worst was 28.56 mpg and the best was 36.51 mpg.

Ride was super smooth. No issue with runflats although I had a kit in the car just in case. Temps ranged from 106 down to 35 ... no problem. MB has a real winner with this car!!

New Culprite Brown color was a real crowd pleaser.

gvseostud

Petrol engineer friend said original claim on blutec urea bottles was that they were to last 100K miles before running out - anyone have an update to this? I don't like the sound of changing bottles every 20 tanks of gas.

AMGFREAK

Changing that bottle can not be that much trouble... I cant wait for my Bluetec!!!

HBerman

The MB container to fill the tank comes in a 1/2 Gallon Bottle / Part Number A0005830107 Current LIST: $9.00. The E-350 needs 6.5 gallons of the stuff according to the specs so you need 13 bottles @ $117 / 10K miles. Every 20K miles you must evacuate the tank to flush out crystals that may have formed. I believe that the labor charge is 1 hour to do that in addition.

gvseostud

Checkout this exchange with an MB dealer...

MB is smoking crack if they think people will pay $180 every 10K mile service call in Urea alone.
They are stone cold morons.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gary Stephenson <gary.stephenson@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Subject: Re: Bluetec maintenance too expensive
To: autonation.com


OK - I like the environment, but not that much.

===========//===========

On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 2:07 PM, <autonation.com> wrote:

Hey Gary,

Every 10,000 miles.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gary Stephenson <gary.stephenson@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 2:06 PM
Subject: Re: add blue
To: autonation.com


So its $180 of urea at every service? How often, mileage wise, is the car scheduled for service?

==================//==================

On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 2:00 PM, <autonation.com> wrote:


Hello Gary,

You add the Urea at every service. Each time it takes about 10 bottles at approximately
$18 a bottle


Mercedes Benz of the South Bay
autonation.com


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gary Stephenson <gary.stephenson@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Subject: Re: 10/8 test drive
To: autonation.com

Thanks for the answer on the run flats. These tires do not bother me - I think they are safer,
especially for blow outs at high speeds, and you could use that as a big selling point
- people are high on safety these days.

Still not 100% clear on the "Add Blue" urea. How is it added? How often? What is the cost?

gvseostud

I will follow up - I love the idea of the E350 Bluetec because even tough the horsepower is less the torque, which is what you need for acceleration, is nearly 400 ft-lbs, same as the E550 that gets half the mileage with 15K more on the sticker. The gasoline E350 gets only 250 ft-lbs and is just not in the same league.

BUT holding up their customers so they can make a few bucks on Urea is a technology killer. $180 in Urea every 10K miles is a non-starter. I told them to price Urea at $50 per 10K service or no deal. They told me "go pound sand." We will see who has the last laugh.

AMGFREAK

If you can afford the car paying for the urea should not be a problem... And if it is a problem buy something else...

HBerman

Just a correction on your math. The E550 includes a V8 engine + leather upholstery + variable suspension for $57100. The E350 Bluetec is $50900 w/o the leather ($1620). So the premium for the E550 is $4580, not $15K.

MB_FanAddict

I wish that US emissions regs didn't necessitate the need for the Urea exhaust treatment....but the DEF
(diesel exhaust fluid, aka AdBlue) itself is not that expensive. Now the bottle with the star on it available at the dealer.............


Many of the the new trucks use DEF so it can be found in a lot of truck stops nationwide. Last summer when it was introduced at Travel Centers of America (TA) and Petro Stopping Centers (Petro), the price for a 2.5gal jug was $9.99, which comes out to $4 a gallon (anyone know current pricing?)

It would only cost $26 to fill the tank with unbranded urea. I'm not sure what's involved with flushing the tank,
maybe just connecting a hose and running some urea through the tank (whats required, anyone know?),
which if so you should be able to do that yourself. So there! Exhaust treatment service done for under $30!

But as AMGFREAK said, if you can afford the $52+k purchase price for the car the dealer service price should be no biggie.

Cars cost money to run & maintain whether gas or diesel, Honda or Mercedes. If I could afford the E350 BlueTec, the AdBlue price would certainly not be a deal breaker.

HBerman

The issue is not the expense of the AdBlue. It is the expense of maintaining another emmissions system. The urea injection system needs very pure urea solution to a specific ISO spec. You could obviously use unbranded DEF, but if the injection system clogs up, it will be you against MB for responsibility. I can only think of one winner in that case.

YMMV

MB_FanAddict

Generic DEF meets/is made to the same standard as the AdBlue fluid. As long as it has the API certification it's fine.

The AdBlue fluid aside, it will be interesting to see what the reliability of the system is/will be. If the system is able to go for 100k+ miles with just refills/flushes that would be great, but if it turn's into another disaster like the trap oxidizer MB installed on the US market '87 3L diesels to meet the emission regs in all 50 states then it won't be good at all.

This is not entirely MB's fault, emission regs are tightening up everywhere. I guess they could have installed a smaller engine in the car that would not have needed exhaust treatment for the time being (but would people then complain the cars were too slow?). I wish there was more focus on improving the fuel going into the cars then on what comes out but..........

I'm glad that they are making the E350 BlueTec Diesel available anyway. V8 torque and better economy/range then the V6 gas model. What more could you want?