Hi everyone.....long time lurker, first time poster.....

I've become a very active reader both here and on Benzworld.org. I come from family that has owned TDs from the W210 and earlier, and my hope is that I can get my own W212 Bluetec in the near future. Today I went in to a local MB dealer, just to ask for a W212 brochure (though really to sit inside one for the first time). When the salesman asked me what car I was interested and I replied with the E Class diesel, his face looked like it was gonna hit the floor. He went on to tell me that they sell very little Bluetecs due to the low grade diesel fuel that is generally sold in the state of Illinois. He said that the cars are available via order only and upon delivery, the buyer is to sign a release acknowledging that MBUSA is not responsible for fuel intake damage / repair. I swear I thought the guy was giving me the run-around, but after parting ways I walked into the service manager's office and he went into more depth, telling me that only certain stations offer the "better" diesel fuel, and that the owner has to either know where to buy it, or drive the car on the highway regularly to clean everything out. I was told that the cost to clean out the system from bad fuel was between $4500-$5500.

I admit that I don't see many Bluetecs here in northern Illinois, but I always attributed that to the increased desire for the 4Matic cars. Is there really that much of a difference in grade of diesel fuel? What are other Illinois Bluetec owners doing about this?

 

Sorry guys, just found a thread discussing the subject in Illinois. Mods, please feel free to remove this unless others choose to provide valuable replies.

 

MB's don't run well on bio diesel, but that isn't specific to any state. Other than that, there is no reason that diesel is any different in Illinois than any other state. In all cases, you have to run the engine at 50 mph for 10-15 minutes every so often to blow out the carbon....but that's everywhere.