AR.Shah

Yeah sure there must be something wrong with me since I stop at traffic signals that turn red at every 500 yards, stop for bikes, pedestrians, roadworks, zebra crossings and generally spend hours in traffic

My point is that the official mixed average value of 24.6MPG and 19MPG in urban areas on my ML is far from what I get. My E class on the other hand is very close to the official value.

Btw here is a picture of how the bl**dy traffic is arround here:

sosh

It looks to me as if the CDI is not economically feasable considering the additional cost of Diesel (saw $3.85 posted today) and the added inconvience finding it when you need it. The mileage is not too much better than my ML500. Why go thru all that grief for a cost per mile for fuel that is very close to my gas V8 not to mention the additional cost of the diesel.

AR.Shah

Things are probably different over there, here diesel is 10% cheaper, it costs about $7,45 per US-gallon. My friend has a '06 ML350 (he has the same driving pattern as me) and he gets about 11,5MPG. Overall I probably save about 20-25% on fuel costs compared to him, so there is a point.

However if I was in the states and given the prices you have there on fuel and cars, I would definately have chosen the ML500 like yours

sosh

Agreed, in Europe and in some other places in the world the diesel makes lots of sense. I spend quite a bit of time in Europe and am amazed at the number of Diesels which seem to outnumber gas cars. On a recent trip in London I had a Jag with a driver and did not even know it was a diesel until the driver told me. In Paris I was in a BMW wagon as a cab that was quite new and also was a diesel which I did not realize for some time. Diesel pumps are also much more prevalent over there than they are here in the States. If I were to purchase a diesel the closest pump is 14 miles from my home. A real pain to fill up!!

snowpooch

The economy advantage of the diesel engine is highway driving. Perhaps is still better in the city than the 350 and 500 but not by much.

In Canada diesel fuel pumps are pretty common (becoming more so), and the price this week is a bit less than premium gas.

I took 2 trips this week both 10% city, 90% highway and got around 8.2L/100km. The conversion is roughly 34 MPG (imperial gallon) or 26 MPG (US gallon).

The other issue with the diesel is that they are usually more durable than gas engines and (at least in Canada) have better resell values.

sosh

OK so you got 26 MPG (US). I get 22 with the ML500. Fot the extra 4 MPG I have to pay more for a less powerful vehicle and pay an additional 50 cents a Gallon plus have the inconvience of trying to find a diesel pump. Yes, as a rule diesels last longer but my original 98 ML320 with its current owner has well over 400,000 miles on the original engine and trans so whats the great advantage here?? I have twin diesels in my boat and they are 625HP each, average use before overhaul is about 2000 hours and its costs about 40K an engine to overhaul. Advantage here is the HP they output and the safety of not having to carry 600 gal of gas around with me. BTW Marine Diesel fuel here is now $3.55 per gal. As I said in one of my previous posts, in some places in the world they make a lot of sense but in the US and I believe in Canada its not worth the additional expense or grief.

snowpooch

Sorry made a mistake in the calculation.

8.2 l/100km = 28.6 MPG (US)

Considering the 320 CDI is only $600 more than a 350, the economic saving is obvious. Likely this is why most ML's sold in Canada are 320 CDI's - most people here have reached the same conclusion.

CDIChemist

In Florida Diesel is about 10% more expensive than premium. A year ago diesel was cheaper than regular so currently the situation is a worst case scenario, IMO.

Economy of 22MPG in a ML500 is about 25% worse than what I'm currently averaging in the diesel ML (26.8MPG, see post above). So this increased effeciency more than makes up for the delta in fuel cost, even now when the diesel is the most expensive vs. premium that I've ever seen - ever.

On average about half of all stations in the USA have diesel. And 95% of those have successfully switched over to ULSD. And then when you consider the extra range of the diesel model (700+ miles routinely, for me at least) then your argument is specious. This extra range is a very very nice - one of the nicest things about the vehicle.

Plus the cost of maintenance of the diesel is less than a Mercedes gasoline V8, or V6 for that matter. Getting the obligatory tune-ups in a German V8 is prohibitively expensive. The overall cost of ownership of the diesel is much lower than a gasser. Plus if the **** ever hits the fan we can brew our own fuel. Try that with a gasoline vehicle.

Finally if you baby the thing and can keep it at 55MPH you will get over 30MPG. That's over 800 miles per tank. The ML320 CDI is a delight in so many ways, and fuel economy is just a big part of the joys of ownership....

Floobydust

I get about 16 MPG on my daily commute in my ML550 and about 19 on long trips (at admittedly high speed). Ironically, the commute figures are slightly better than my '07 ML 350. All of these values are winter values and may (I hope) go up slightly in the summer.

The 320 CDI is not available new here, so I was pretty much limited to the petrol fueled models. As you can see, I had the 350 at first, but decided that if I was going to have those kind of mileage figures, I might as well have the fun and power of the 550. I see it as one last petroleum driven fantasy before we all descend into the cold (pun intended) harsh reality of fossil fuel exhaustion. Just doing my part to keep the OPEC boys in gold plated toilets.

- FD

red00lght

Floobydust.....enjoy the near 400hp of your ML because I agree with ya...we will all soon enough be driving some sort of hybrid/direct injection/fuel cell/turbodiesel/hydrogen powered electro-wonder in the near future as the CAFE standards keep getting raised and the price of oil continues to skyrocket. Enjoy the V8 while ya got it!

cogtooth

I enjoy reading the comments from ML 500 owners who state that the ML 320 CDI is not cost effective, after they have spent over $7500 more for their vehicle. Their few seconds of speedier acceleration will in no way equate to the hours less I spend by not visiting a gas station as often in a given year. If I was trying to compare all the numbers, I would throw out the unusual results, such as 22 mpg for an ML 500 (no mention of the type of roads) or around 16 for a Kleemann ML 320 CDI (isn't a Kleemann an altered, likely diesel swallowing custom version?) , and then compare.

sosh

I understand that when attempting to accurately get some data that you would throw out any modified vehicle but why on earth would you toss out the 22 MPG on the ML500 when numerous owners have in fact submitted the same info. I do get 22 MPG with my 500 on the road at a constant 65 to 70 MPH. This is a 4 lane expressway that I use regularly to go from my home to my beach house every summer weekend. Its fairly flat and most of the drive is at sea level. The time I take to fill up my ML500 is far less than I would spend driving around trying to find a diesel pump.

cogtooth

Ah, the truth comes out. I kind of thought the mileages were not being compared fairly. Many CDI owners are stating their total mpg, not the constant speed (65 mph) mpg that an ML 500 owner is comparing. I've had over 30 mpg on an interstate. This coincidentally is the an 8 mpg improvement over the above posters ML 500 highway mileage, which is what MBUSA officially claims the difference is. Unless other CDI owners confirm this, better throw out my mileage stats also.

15000 miles/19mpg=790 gallons/23 gallon fill-up=34 gas stops
15000 miles/27mpg=555 gallons/23 gallon fill-up=24 diesel stops

I don't have to find as many diesel stations, and at 10 minutes a stop, that equals 6000 seconds a year. One would have to race 0-60 mph over 3000 times to make up for the loss in time at a gas station.

sosh

Your rational defies me. I always stated both over the road and around town mileage which is the only accurate way to compare. As for finding Diesel pumps I would have to drive about 15 miles from my home and office to fill up. Thats unacceptable except for people who have too much time on their hands not to consider the almost 1 gal of diesel required just to purchase fuel. In addition the cost of Diesel around here is 3.85 that I saw today as opposed to 3.29 for 91 octane that I bought today. I have been told that I will be paying 3.55 this summer for diesel for my boat and thats 600 gal per fill up!! I have no idea where you are located but its my contention that a diesel makes much less sense here in the US than it does in Europe or other places in the world. Perhaps we are headed in the direction where diesel will make more sense but not at this moment.

CDIChemist

If you don't have many diesel pumps close to you then definitely stick with gasoline! Also it sounds like you have a bit more disposable income than most, so the mileage difference is likely trumped by the convenience factor of handy premium fuel found everywhere. So why didn't you get the ML63?

There are numerous diesel stations (~50%) here in Central FL, so it's not an issue for me. Plus it's only a 10% cost delta for diesel vs. premium down here. And as I mentioned in an earlier post it's pretty seasonal, with diesel sometimes dipping below the cost of gas. But it was a good point mentioned by Sosh - when you drive only 65-70MPH in the CDI you will get almost 30MPG.

But alas, I drive 75MPH for much of my daily grind to work and back, which is 39 miles each way. I only get around 27MPG. But the extra 25% efficiency vs. the V8 is well worth it when you put on 25K miles each year like this commuter!

And then there is the more subtle aspects of owning the V6 common rail diesel. It's an extremely sweet engine. Extremely efficient. You can't argue with 398 lb-ft of torque. More torque than the 500 but without the $7500 premium. And finally it demonstrates to those in the know that the driver is perhaps a bit kinder and gentler; maybe a tad more considerate to the earth and her diminishing resources.

red00lght

I find all the bickering concerning gas mileage and which is better...the diesel or the V8 quite entertaining but also silly. Who cares if the V8 gets a few miles per gallon less than the diesel or the diesel price is .20-.30 cents higher and how many seconds we might spend holding a gas pump....
We all spent a ridiculous amount of money on this SUV to begin with so why are we comparing pennies??? At least we aren't sucking the gas down in the ML63!!!!

OK...sorry....but had to look at the big picture for a second. Flame on!

sosh

In your case the diesel certainly has some advantages and the availability of diesel pumps is not a problem for you. Interesting that you mentioned the cost of diesel down there. I was considering some months ago taking my boat to FL for the winter but decided against it and one of the reasons was that in Ft Lauderdale marine diesel was 3.90 a gal. It burns about 50 GPH at high speed cruise. Bad enough that I will be paying 3.55 per gal for a days fishing that burns 450 to 500 gal this summer up here. Why didn't I buy an ML63?? Because it rides too hard to suit my taste. These things are not race cars why pretend they are. I get a new one every 3 to 4 years anyway. My commute to my office is less than a mile. And redoolght you are correct why count pennies and seconds, that guy must be an engineer and you should know how they are.

CDIChemist

I take it you are referring to me....and I'm a chemist - not an engineer LOL. And the only way in h3ll I'm going to spend $57K on an SUV is if it's efficient (both consumption wise and thermodynamic wise ), and doesn't continue to drain my financial resources after the initial purchase with exorbitant fuel consumption.

havacgar

Ive been driving my 06 ml350 (v6/gas) for 30K miles now..here is the typical
drive:

Mon thru Friday 79 miles each way about 200 a day taotal...
Highway cruise control 72mph no brakes for 90% of the trip
always premium fuel (even at these prices)
21 mpg consitently for 30K miles.

Vernl

I have kept track of every drop of fuel since i picked up my new ML in jan and in combined mileage I have avg 24 mp US gallon(Diesel).That is arrived at by taking total fuel used in over 5000 miles and dividing by total fuel used. My range per tank has increased alot in the last few tankfulls as it appears to be broken in so i will post again in another 5k or so and update