E 200 CDI

I just red an article that said that less than 1% of all new cars in USA are Diesel cars
Here in the EU are more then 50% of all new cars Diesel, especially here in Sweden, Germany and France the people love diesel, here in Sweden it is about 60%.
There are so many good things about Diesel cars comparing to Gasoline, for example:
- lower fuelconsumption
- lower price per Liter/Gallon
- longer range
- higher second hand value

I have also looked att a few hompages, as example MB USA and some more american car homepages, I found very quickly out that there was not so many options with Diesel Engine.
Here in the EU we have much more options, for example for the E class you can choose:
- E 200 Bluetec
- E 220 Bluetec
- E 220 Bluetec edition (only manuell transmission possible)
- E 220 Bluetec 4-Matic
- E 250 Bluetec
- E 250 Bluetec 4-Matic
- E 300 Bluetec
- E 350 Bluetec
- E 350 Bluetec 4-Matic

I have an E 200 CDI modelyear 2010, 5 speed Automatic / 136 HP.
The fuelconsumption is low, when I drive 50 mph (80 km/h) the fuelconsumption is about 48 US.mpg (4,9 L /100 km).
When I drive longer trips on the Highway, I usually drive mixed speed beetween 65-100 mph (100-160 km/h), the fuelconsumption is then about 39-40 US.mpg (5,8-6,0 Liter / 100 km).

Gasoline can be an option when it comes to small cars as VW up,Polo, Opel Corsa,Adam, Smart car, Renault Clio, Peugeot 108,208.
But for bigger cars (Golf and bigger) is Gasoline engines a "no-go"!

I can't understand why Diesel not is popular in USA

pamiboy

You need to drive a car with good gasoline V6 or V8 and you'll know why. I'm not disputing that Diesels have their advantages though.

Carpenter Maass

I agree to a point if you are looking for a refined ride. I however love the steering feel and low rumble of the diesel W212. You'd swear you're driving an armored car across the desert with the Saudi Royal family. The biggest benefit for me though (I change my own DEF fluid) is the long-term reliability and cost-savings that come with any diesel engine.

B5chung

In summer time, I pay $1/L compare to petrol, I would be paying $1.50 at least. Go Diesel

Hifidude

I absolutely love the feel of the torque that comes with a diesel. Currently in the process of changing all my cars over to diesel.

Out here in California I'm in the alternative fuel kind of club...but I blow past every Prius with a smile on my face. Wouldn't mind being in that Tesla club though.

Wolvesq

A few reasons. First, diesel in the U.S. is often more expensive than petrol, though it fluctuates. Second, they do not sell the high quality diesel fuel in the U.S. that is available in Europe. Diesel engine performance suffers as a consequence, and they've even documented many high performance (BMW and Audi and Merc) diesel engines that have been ruined here by our poor quality diesel fuel. Third, diesel models are anywhere from $1k to $4k more expensive than their comparable petrol model in the U.S. That premium can eliminate the financial benefit of driving a more efficient diesel.

I personally love diesels -- especially in heavier cars and trucks -- and they're beginning to catch on with the success of the Audi TDI models, but I understand my countrymen's reluctance to jump on board just yet.

DerekACS

1. Yes, diesel pricing fluctuates according to season: it is usually less expensive in summer compared to regular gas, but often more expensive in winter.

2. all diesel fuel sold for highway use in North America must be Ultra Low Sulphur (less than 15 ppm). Having driven various MB and BMW diesels, I cannot agree with your comment that "diesel engine performance suffers". It is true that BMW diesels are far more prone to carbon build up than MB diesels.

3. The price premium paid for a diesel engine option is usually recovered with higher re-sale than the equivalent gas version.

4. Canadian purchasers have been far more willing than American buyers to recognize the benefits of diesel engines. For example, in Canada, about 75% of buyers of MB SUVs choose the diesel option. In the case of VW, well over 50% of Golf wagon and Passat sales are diesel.

Wolvesq

My understanding is that U.S. diesel tends to have meaningfully lower cetane ratings than Euro, so much so that many diesel enthusiasts (via message boards and the like) recommend adding your own cetane boosters to each tank of U.S. diesel you put in your car. I've read that -- though I'm no expert, again this is just what I've read -- that lower cetane can impact the performance and longevity of your engine. If I'm wrong, or misunderstood that, I'll stand corrected. This just seems to be the conventional wisdom amongst the American diesel head community.

Second, certain states use bio diesel, which I've also read is worse than standard issue. For example, a Mercedes dealer in Chicago flat out refused to sell me a diesel M or E class. (And this was a salesman I trusted -- I'd bought from him before and he'd always been a straight shooter.) He said a diesel would be fine in California or a state with different regulations but Illinois bio diesel is notoriously bad, and that they'd had several customers with engine failures, and that he couldn't sell one to me in good conscience. Maybe he was overacting but that's the first time I'd ever seen a dealer speak that way about one of their own cars.

Again, I'm no expert, this just reflects what I've read. I should also reiterate that I really love diesels, and these issues are not enough to dissuade me from buying one.

CarolinaBluetec

I owned a W211 E320 which I loved. The car was a road warrior on long trips and with the high torque of the V6 was pleasure to drive around town. Since it was my wife's daily driver she decided that she wanted a new car after the seat heater failed and burned a hole in her seat.Could not find a CPO diesel that was right color, etc., etc., so back to gas. I get to have my other toys to drive.

E 200 CDI

I came to think about something today when I was out driving.

Which State is most like Europe?

In which State do they drive a lot of european cars, like VW, Audi, Peugeot, Mercedes, Opel, BMW, Volvo and Renault?
And in wich State is Diesel cars most popular?
So what I mean is - in which State would I say "I feel like home here"?

Wolvesq

There is no widespread culture of driving smaller, nimble and practical diesels of the kind that dominate European roads anywhere in the U.S.. Hatchbacks are not popular here. Petrol is relatively cheap and taxes low so in general people take advantage of it to drive bigger cars and trucks.

On the other hand, the State of California probably buys more European cars on a yearly basis than many European countries. Cities like LA and San Francisco, but LA especially, are crawling with BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, and the like. There is absolutely zero modesty amongst Californians (thank god) about driving flashy, expensive cars. LA is a sea of 911s and 5 series and Range Rovers.

Diesel use is relatively small everywhere -- I doubt you'd notice much difference state to state.

Arrie

The popularity of diesel in Europe against gasoline powered cars simply comes from the price of fuel. In Europe diesel fuel in the past used to be a lot cheaper than gasoline. Also diesel gives way better fuel mileage so it has been an easy decision in Europe to go with diesel even in countries where they have extra tax on the diesel cars. This, of course, depends on how much each person drives. If your driving is minimal it does not make sense to buy diesel car.


What comes to the diesel popularity in France and Germany I think your numbers are a bit off. I think it is somewhere around 80% of diesels vs. gasoline especially in France.


In the U.S. gasoline pricing used to be way lower than diesel. Before the oil companies were allowed to merge a gallon of regular gasoline was at around $1.20. Soon after the younger oil man Bush was elected as precident the gas pricing at pumps skyrocketed to almost 3-fold (and this has nothing to do with the raw oil prices). This made gasoline as expensive as diesel fuel. For the fuel economy on a car this made it better to drive a diesel as you would get money back with the superior gas mileage of the diesel and this is what started the real diesel car sales in the U.S.


Before the high gas prices there was no fuel economy reasons to go with diesel as the gas was just so low cost. And the old "diesel is so dirty" myth did not help either.

HAILERS2

I agree with the original poster on most of his points other than the price. Diesel in Most states costs More than gasoline.

I bought a BMW535D this last March. I did NOT even consider the E250. IF Mercedes still had the E350 Bluetec I might have bought Mercedes instead of BMW. Around town I know not the fuel milage, I could care less. There's a fueling station every other block in the city.

On the hwy I religiously monitor the miles per gallon and I get a steady 40 mpg driving b/t 75-80 mph each and every tank. I've put 15K on this buggy. The BMW has *****. I believe around 413 lb-ft torque and 255hp. I've run it up to 120mph and it wants to keep going.

Up in Canada I'm pretty sure I was getting much better milage driving in the Canadian Rockys where the speed limit was around 110 Kph/68mph on the high side and a lot of just 100 kph/ 62mph. Although I did do one sprint to 120mph getting away from a tail gater.

The Mercedes diesel E250 supposedly gets a bit better milage, but it's a FOUR cylinder vs a Six cylinder BMW. I've no liking of four cylinder cars at interstate speeds of 80mph hour after hour.

NOthing against the Mercedes 350 diesel engine at all. I've a 2014 ML350 Bluetec that at a steady 70mph will give me 29-31 mpg. Unfortunatley I don't drive interstates at 70mph, much like most other drivers. I drive the 75 plus at least five more and that results in the ML350 Bluetec getting approx 25.5 mpg. I don't rely on the computer calculation, I divide the gallons to refill into the miles driven. The computer on the ML is fairly close vs other Mercedes/BMW computer calculations. The CL is off a good 2 to 2 !/2 mpg.......BMW is off approx 2mpg and the ML off less than one mpg and closer to just off a half gallon.

The price of gasoline is due to drop like a rock come late fall and early spring with Iranian oil coming back big time . So diesels are not going to sell very well in the near future imho. Works for me. The CL gets 24mpg on the hwy. I think I'll keep it a couple more year. Wish it had the larger gas tank that the AMG version has. Wait! That's it, buy a S63 AMG Coupe. Gas prices falling like a rock.

I was driving from Nebraska back to Tx last week wondering just what the original poster wonders. You can't drive much over 80 mph due to the cost of a speeding ticket/insurance cost....the BMW is not a small car......the Torque of the car is outstanding when passing........good diesel milage. Why would anybody buy a tinker toy four cylinder gasoline engined car to get 'milage' at the cost of comfort. Makes no sense to me.

1.20 a gallon gas was way back in the early 60's I've bought a gallon of gasoline during a gas war in Waco Tx back in the early 60's at just 19 cents a gallon. Then the far left elected Johnson and the prices went through the roof on everything.

Arrie

"I agree with the original poster on most of his points other than the price. Diesel in Most states costs More than gasoline."


The price of premium gas that I put in my car is usually around $3.10 - $3.20 / gal. I have filled up three times with slightly below $3 / gal price. Diesel is $2.80 - $2.90 / gal. Have seen sometimes above $3 but very seldom.


Diesel and premium gas are very close to same price with a slight advantage on the diesel but the big difference comes from the fuel mileage, which with diesel easily is 35 - 40 % better.

Trancebolt

@hailers: /agree on the V6 sound/feeling. I like what they did to the new 250 at a glance, but to own my choice was the v6. PLus i heard the 4s are more sensitive to carbon buildup

and besides, Where in the hell do you people buy diesel?

In California, I pay 4.20-4.60 for Premium 91!!!! It costs me 100+ dollars to fill my tank with proper 95 mixture. If you get too cheap of gasoline theyre not putting in the right additive mixture. top tier gas is a requirement if youre running 91... If you mix to 93 or 95 you can use cheap 91, but still. Gas stations as low as four dollars are rare, and quite often scary for me personally.

A Few stations have pricematched diesel to gas jsut for the fck of it, but nobody goes there. Most gas stations that sell diesel 100 miles around where I live in LA charges 3 dollars. 295 with cash. =D So, 75$ for a 91 gas tank, 120+ for 95, or 55 for diesel.


Now clearly this is not the only reason we would prefer a diesel. 250+k mile engine rebuilds, tow capacity (believe it or not) and its cleaner than many gasoline vechiles emissions wise

I like the frugality on the highway (where it often excels beyond hybrids, for now...)
My favorite part is though, that you can FLOOR IT all day on the street and get over 20. My c300 has the exact same 0-60 as my diesel. 7.5 seconds. Not very fast. But the c300 gets 12mpg when flooring it around town running at 5000rpms, and my diesel has ZERO drama when it does it. So its a 'feeling' of effortless acceleration, even though it IS NOT faster.

The FASTEST FCKING bmw diesel is a m550d xdrive; it does it in 5.3 seconds ish. Not under.

They tricked people into buying more gas burning vehicles by lowering gas 1 dollar for 3 months. Car purchases soared, suvs and performance, and they raised it back up. Then spoke out on MSNBC about how stupid the american car market is and how easily they are swayed into making long term decisions on short term market fluctuations. Gas will always go down for a bit, but we all know it always goes back up HIGHER Than it was.


BTW: To people considering diesel rating differneces in europe, thats why ours use different injectors ; at least, in terms of my 350.

michael61

Premium gas around here (central Ohio) is currently around $2.70. Diesel is about $2.60.

(I have an diesel E250 and a VW GTI that takes premium)

Boy, I sure don't miss California fuel prices!

mnje350

The fact that the US has not embraced diesel technology is in my opinion stupid. The amount of time and energy being spent on trying to develop a battery operated vehicle is even more rediculous.

After driving diesel varients of BMW, MB, Volvo and VW in Europe it is clear that the technology makes so much sense that it is crazy that the US refuses to accept it. I would gladly drive a diesel version of either of my Benzes had they been available on the lot when I bought them.

Quite simply diesel technology is cheaper to operate, 40+ MPG even if the cost of a gallon of fuel is 10 - 15% higher, oh and by the way there is no good reason for this, the performance is on par with gasoline, and the engines last longer. And oh yes, they do not smell bad anymore. If you don't think I know what I am talking about, go to Germany, rent one and see for yourself. A diesel married up to a seven speed auto gearbox is nothing short of amazing.

It is beyond comprehension that we do not embrace this technology.

DerekACS

All of your comments are so true !

The USA market is not only far behind Europe in embracing diesel technology, but also way behind Canada, where diesels hold a significantly larger share of the market than in the US. Perhaps the higher fuel taxes in Canada have something to do with this fact ?

For those who think that the E250BT is a wimp, maybe you should test drive one before writing critical comments ? I have now owned 4 MB diesels, including the E350BT. The E250BT4M is a better car in many ways than its predecessor the E350BT. It is true that the E350BT would be faster in highway passing situations than the E250BT.

However in city driving, it's the opposite; the twin-turbo E250BT is much more lively due to its negligible turbo lag.

Besides better fuel efficiency, the 2014+ E250BT also offers some important upgrades over the 2011-2013 E350BT: improved steering and handling, enhanced chassis structure, electronic safety aids such as Collision Prevention Assist+, dynamic back-up camera with 360 degree view, improved ride quality and updated styling with superior LED technology for front and rear lights.

Of course, another major benefit for both the Canadian market and US markets has been the available 4Matic (standard for Canada) introduced with the E250BT. With this option being available, the total sales volume of the E250BT has far exceeded E350BT sales. 4Matic (or AWD) is a must have feature in Canada for luxury cars and SUVs and it is a very popular option for the northern US states.

B5chung

IMHO North Americans don't embrace diesel compare to Europeans that's why we don't get many models in Japanese and Germans. I hope with the rising cost in petrol people will pay more attention to diesel than hybrid which imo produce more total carbon output. Go Diesel!

E 200 CDI

Nice to hear that Canada is going in the right direction too
Is there more european cars and diesel cars in the french spoken areas?

Interesting about the 4-Matic, maybe you have much snow in the winter in northern USA and Canada?
4-Matic is here in southern Sweden pretty rare, especially here near by the sea where I live, we don't have any hard Winter here, maybe 1 or maximum 2 weeks with snow, but mostly rain so there are no need for 4-Matic here.

Another thing I find strange is that the Diesel engines 200/220 not is avalible in USA or Canada. why???
Here they are bestsellers, most people here buy an E class with 4-cylinder diesel engine 200 or 220 , the prices are lower of cause and even maintenance, that is important when familys looking for a good economical family car!

DerekACS

1. Euro cars are very popular in coastal British Columbia (Vancouver & Victoria), Ontario and Quebec. The diesel take for MB SUVs across Canada is about 75%.

2. West coast winters are typically very mild with minimal snow. Winters in the the rest of Canada are typically more severe and long lasting.

3. Even though we get mild winters on the west coast, the market demand for AWD is very high here and across Canada. When the E350BT was offered in Canada (MY2011-2013), sales were very low due to the fact that the E350BT was only offered in RWD, no 4Matic option.

4. Unfortunately, the diesel choices in Canada and the US are rather limited compared to Europe. The lower output versions of the OMD651 engine (200,220) would not sell here if they were offered with the W212. Perhaps these less expensive diesel engines might eventually be offered in a B or C Class for the Canadian market ?

El Cid

I was still purchasing gas in S.C. for 19 cents after Johnson became President. There were a lot of other factors which caused gas prices to go up, none of them related to who was President. BTW, the moderates elected Johnson, not the far left, because the Republicans put forth an extremist for President. I worked in the Goldwater campaign at the local level.
In my area, diesel almost always costs more than premium and substantially more than regular gas. At best, it is about same as premium a few times per year.
Diesel cars cost more to purchase and more to service.
They just don't appeal to most Americans.
There probably is no US state that is similar to Europe as far as cars are concerned, just as there is no European country that is similar to US.
The number one selling vehicle in US is a pick-up truck and SUV's are also pretty high on the list.

mikemargolis

I love my E-350 diesel. Honestly, I wasn't looking for a diesel when I bought the car CPO, I wanted P2 and luxury, and this car happened to have a diesel as well.

At this point, I would have a hard time going back to a gasoline powered MB.

The engine is awesome, so much power and torque, it pulls like a farm tractor, is quiet and smooth, and if you look at my fuelly numbers (click on the banner below) you'll see that over almost 50,000 miles, I have averaged 30.6 MPG and 12 cents per mile. that's 7.7 l/100km over 77,000km of driving.

I feel like the car is just getting broken in, and will go another 200,000 miles easily.

It is a shame that the fuel tax on diesel here in the USA is so much higher than gasoline, I can only think that it comes from the mentality of "big trucks are a business, and business can pay the higher tax on diesel" making the smart guy like me who appreciates the great gas mileage pay the difference.

If you look at fuelly averages for the E-350 gas vs E-350 diesel, the differences are amazing.

For model year 2011 (my year) the diesels get over 27mpg, and the gasolines 21mpg. That is a HUGE difference!

rediesel

I used to be a hard core diesel fan - See my username. After 15 years of owning and driving German Diesel automobiles (2000 Jetta TDI & 2006 E320 CDI) I now find myself driving all gasoline powered cars and trucks (V8 power). The cost advantage really isn't as good as it used to be. Diesel is more expensive than mid grade gasoline year round here in the USA, and diesel is considerable more expensive than high test in the winter. Add in the cost of now required DEF and the loss of a spare tire for the DEF tank (necessitating run-flat tires which aren't as good and more expensive). Long term cost advantage due to reliability/longevity must be REALLY long in order to pay off. I kept my E320 CDI nearly 10 years and it was no better than a gas as far as reliability or trade in. I'm not going to keep it 20 or 30 years (or buy a 20 or 30 year old car) so I don't see any advantage there.

PS - I read responses of those who love the effortless low end power of the diesel. That armored car / tractor pull feeling (I used to think my diesel moved the world under it rather than the car over it). I still have that at effortless low RPM torque from my turbo V8 if I keep it under 3000RPM, but keep it in a higher RPM range and it's a different animal.

DerekACS

Yes, "diesels cost more to purchase", but they also have higher re-sale values which goes a long way to offsetting the purchase premium. Why they "don't appeal to more Americans" is baffling to me.

Perhaps a large percentage of North American drivers have little interest in conserving fuel ? They seem to be ignorant of the fact that one can drive 30% further on a gallon of diesel compared to a gallon of gasoline.

As for diesels costing more to service, this is not true. Virtually every taxi in Europe has a diesel engine, most of them Mercedes diesels. Taxi owners would NOT choose diesel if the engines did not only last longer and but also cost LESS to maintain over the life of the vehicle. In addition to producing a wide range of passenger vehicles with diesel options, Mercedes-Benz is also the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the world - the vast majority are diesel powered !