jspira

Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec Six-Month Review and Report


By Jonathan Spira Read the full story »

ImInPA

Not much of a review. More like a documentary on the features and observed mpg. In any event, thanks for posting.

hyperion667

it has a certain "I know not what", hehe

Raymond Lee

Just another confirmation how Bluetec does in terms of fuel mileage. I've had mine for 5 months and it gives around 40 miles per gallon on highway. Of course, I've had no problems so far. I just love it. I am glad I went for BlueTec instead of BMW 5 series.

BenzV12

Thanks for this thread , it is always nice to read a good review on MB engines

aeggroup

Today is 1 month since I leased my Bluetec and it's the best E class I've ever had. Huge power (torque), very solid and sporty. I doubt I will ever go back to gasoline version. The biggest surprise is Run Flat tires on this model. They are actually not bad at all. I just keep air pressure lower to make them softer and the car drives perfectly fine. I've changed Run flats on our GL, but it was Bridgestone. E class has Goodyear and they're much better
.

ImInPA

I felt the same way about the RunFlats......when new. Once they got around 20k miles, they were pretty noisy over pavement. I have moved away from the runflats and am much happier. It really gets a lot better. You would be surprised.

aeggroup

My lease term is 24 months/20K miles and most likely I will change this car in next 18-19 months - so I'll keep them. But I totally agree with everyone else - Run Flats suck

hofb99

Fully agree. Seems like it was more of a consumer's review (w/ concentration on available features) than a 6-month status... Good read otherwise, and good plug for the Bluetec! Thanks for posting, jspira!

Raymond Lee

I've had my BlueTec for 6 months. No problems at all and I love it more and more. Fuel mileage is combined around 30 miles per gallon and 40 miles on highway driving.

ghstudio

With 5k miles on my car, I get 27.5 mpg averaging 27 mph. On interstate trips, I get over 35 mpg. No complaints here....love the car.

ImInSanDiego

My overall average is about 28 MPG with about 40% city driving, almost always using A/C, and close to 5K miles on my car. I'm curious what others are truly getting from their E350 BlueTec. I was honestly expecting to get much better mileage than this.

The trip meter is always about 10% higher than the actual mpg so I wonder if the people that report very high mpg are reporting computer or actual mpg.

hx_guy

Bah! You're complaining, what should I say?

So far, 1,793 miles on the car and my tracked MPG (on Fuelly.com) is 24.3 MPG. I do about 70% city and 30% highway driving but that city driving is usually parking lot to parking lot (work in sales) so that isn't helping me.

The trip computer is showing that I've averaged 25.9 MPG with an average speed of 33 MPH.

I, like you, was expecting much better going off of what others have reported on here. I'm doing a 554 mile roundtrip drive starting tomorrow so I'm real curious to see how it does with mostly highway driving.

beb

E350 Blutec was my gateway drug.

All I want are diesels now. For the most part, I love this damn thing and the lease was such a great deal!

mikemargolis

My car has 27,000 miles on it, and I've owned it for 7000 of those miles.

For about the first 5000, I religiously tracked the mileage, and averaged a touch over 30mpg, using real tank fill gallons, not the guess o meter on the dash.

Now that I know what it will do, I stopped the spreadsheet foolishness.

It gets 30, that's awesome in my book.

raylee177

City driving can vary all over depending on which city one lives but high driving is pretty consistant. I have no problem getting 40 miles per gallon on Freeway and in my city driving it is about 28 miles per gallon.

listerone

Having now driven two diesels a total of about 50K miles I'm of the firm opinion that diesels are not best suited for city driving but are *beautifully* suited for cruising at 70mph.This is fine for me because 90% of my miles are exactly that...cruise control set at 70mph.I just took a trip out to Denver (5,000 feet above sea level) and drove a little bit west of the city where the mountains reach 11,000 ft (plus).To my surprise my Bluetec made the climb without breaking a sweat.What a beast!

So far I enjoy my Bluetec immensely.There are still things I miss about my "d" but we live in an imperfect world...or so I'm told.

listerone

The only thing that will ever tear me away from diesels is a huge change in the economics.That is,diesel fuel becomes *much* more expensive than Premium or the "diesel premium" in a car's sticker price becomes *much* greater than it is today.

thekurgan

I'm on the highway most of the time and have close to zero traffic coming home, which is also on a downhill, so my pump figured are right around 33. If I run errands in the city, the dash will display 30, but I find it's really 27-28 in running around like that. My A/C is only on if the outside is over 80 and I set it at 78. The trip meter is grossly inaccurate for mpg, I only hope it's accurate for the actual mileage.

hx_guy

Made the trip to Vegas from Phoenix today, 277 miles, 4 adults in the car and a trunk full of luggage and the trip computer shows 32.6 MPG with an average og 65 MPH. There was quite a bit more elevation change than I remembered, ~1400 ft at home in Phoenix and up to 4000 along the route.

Mbenz260e

Never had I tank below 30mpg I don't think on the E based on the fill up reset trip method. The ML though I have had a few below 20 which is a bit disappointing but some tanks that vehicle never sees the highway. I don't think I could ever switch back to gas unless things really change. I had the ML in for service last week and had the C300 loaner, really made me realize how used to the diesel power curve I am...

ImInPA

As noted above, the diesel power curve really fits American driving. Lots of torque down low, and, if you are the type of driver that is rarely revving above 4K rpms the E just feels about perfect. Highway passing simply has to be experienced compared to the V6 variants. MB does a great job with diesels.

Green E-300 DT

Based on all posting for the various models over the different model years on Fuelly, the
2005-2006s are the model years of choice when it comes to speed and fuel economy.

The year to stay clear of is the new 2012 because it is not only heavier but
much slower and EPA rated at barely better fuel economy than a V6 gasser.
That, when combines with having to use AdBlue, really makes it a no-brainer when it comes to saving money.

Does anyone know what the drag strip times are for the 2007-2011s and the new much heavier 2012s?

I'm curious to see IF any of those models are quicker than my 2005?

For fuel economy comparisons, view the various Fuelly entries including my own.



Derrel

hx_guy

From what I've seen online, the 2010 - 2012 E350 Bluetecs weigh the same, where did you see that the 2012 are much heavier?

Green E-300 DT

According to the January 2012 Consumers Union Reports, the 2012 Bluetec sedan weighs 4215 pounds!
L/W/H are listed as 192/72/58 inches so whenever the W-212 came into being which was for MY 2010.
Anyhow, that's when they gained so much weight that the engineers decided to drop back from the 2.65 gears
to 3.07s. So even though there is a 7 speed now, they are turning almost the same revs as my 2005.

Also, run flats, so they could use the spare area for the Bluetec Fluid tank.
And beginning in MY 2007, the diesels all have those dreaded DPFs.
You know, the exhaust traps that cause back-pressure and loss of Fuel Economy and Performance?

Oh well, that's why I found a good well cared for 2005. Wish I knew its weight?



Derrel