220TE Towing capacity

[ric220]

Happy New Year to you all!
For various reasons I need to get a w124 320TE 75 miles from my house to a friend's garage (it's not currently driveable). My 220TE has towbar and I can borrow a towing "dolly" (lifts front wheels only), but am not sure whether my 220 has enough guts for the job and don't want to damage my gearbox etc. I could possibly borrow a full trailer if needs be but would rather not.
Any advice / suggestions??
Many thanks

 

[maddog]

Happy New Year to you all!
For various reasons I need to get a w124 320TE 75 miles from my house to a friend's garage (it's not currently driveable). My 220TE has towbar and I can borrow a towing "dolly" (lifts front wheels only), but am not sure whether my 220 has enough guts for the job and don't want to damage my gearbox etc. I could possibly borrow a full trailer if needs be but would rather not.
Any advice / suggestions??
Many thanks

Legally you can only tow something the same weight as your car PROVIDED there are no limits from the manufacturer and IME Mercedes do reduce you towing capacity sometimes this the case even with a dolly.

Also if you use a dolly you should disconnect the propshaft to prevent damage to the towed vehicle (if its an auto)

You would be better off using a heavier vehicle like a van or 4x4

 

[Bolide]

Towing a 320TE

If you're going to do it, use the trailer. You will, most likely, be over the legal towing limit for the 220

Towing limit for the 300/320/300 Diesel is 2100 Kg but for the 250TD it's 1600 Kg and I suspect the 220 may be rated like a 250TD. This is why I swopped my 250TD for an E300 Diesel

With a light trailer you may be OK. But be very careful as the combination really needs a stabiliser and can get unstable. I'd keep it down to 50 mpg and leave it in third if it struggles in 4th

Once the torque convertor locks up the gearbox should be fine. Just watch the temperatures


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[tjamesbo]

Does the use of a dolly mean that the noseweight of the towed car is all on the towbar of the 220 or are all 4 wheels on the ground ?
if they aren't then you would overload the rear suspension and the car will not steer properly at 30-50mph towball limit is only 75kg !

 

[Hibbo]

I would deffo use a trailer, especially if the car to be towed is an automatic. If you must use the dolly (and the 320 is an auto) make sure you remove the propshaft or you will knacker the gearbox!

 

[Silver Arrow]

Definitely the trailer.
The MB is a heavy car. Make sure that the trailer is of sufficient rating, especially the tyres. I tend to borrow one from a friend who owns a racing set-up. Then I tow with either an L200 lwb double cab or a Range Rover.
I don’t doubt that your MB will tow it, but the constabulary might take an interest if it sees a car towing a similar car on a trailer as it may assume the tow-ee plus trailer weighs more than the tow-er alone.

 

[Triple-R]

can anyone explain why the gearbox will get damaged if you don't disconnect the propshaft?

i towed my 220te for 70 miles using an a-frame and put the car in neutral, since then i have covered a good 5000 miles and had no gearbox problems.

 

[Bolide]

There's a pump on a Mercedes gearbox that'd driven from the output shaft of the gearbox, not the input like most autos. This means you can tow-start an automatic Mercedes with this kind of box

According to a W124 manual, the procedure is to lock the car in steering lock position 2 and put the car in neutral. The maximum distance is 50 km and maximum speed is 50 km / hr

"Failure to observe the maximum towing speed or maximum towing distance may result in damage to the transmission"

"Tow the car over lengthy distances or if it has transmission damage only with the rear axle raised or the propellor shaft disconnected (at the rear axle)."

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk