C250 Elegance Auto Diesel New owner needs advice!

[BarryG]

Picking up C250 Elegance Auto Diesel N Reg on 10/5/2006
Garage is fitting new Cat, exhaust, wheels and tyres.
This is my first ever MB and first ever diesel.
Any tips on maintenance things to beware of ETC. Most welcome.
Sad to say for a 50 year old driver I still only know where the water, petrol and oil go.
Reading through some of the other threads, I noticed mention of using cooking oil as an additive to the diesel is this correct? And if so what are the quantities required? Is it only certain types of engine this is possible with?
Thanks in advance.
Barry

 

[Blobcat]

The 250D will run on bio fuels as well cooking oils as it is a normal diesel and not a high presure cdi.

 

[BarryG]

Thanks for reply Blobcat.
Anywhere I can find out more on the subject of biofuels cooking oils etc?
When I took the car for a test drive it drove like a dream couldnt believe the road holding, of course being a test drive I couldnt really hammer the kickdown but the car seemed to be cruising at 70 mph. Would the use of these other fuels degrade performance in any way?

 

[Blobcat]

Quite a bit more info on these attached threads
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/search.php?searchid=150078

 

[BarryG]

Thanks for the links, quite a lot to digest there, I think my best bet is to get used to the car for a few months and see what my running costs are going to be. There seems to be 2 camps involved, those who think its fine to use veg oil and those who are not so sure and are sitting on the fence awaiting proof.
Thanks again Blobcat.

Barry

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

This is my first ever MB and first ever diesel.
Any tips on maintenance things to beware of ETC. Most welcome.
Sad to say for a 50 year old driver I still only know where the water, petrol and oil go.

As this is your first diesel it may be worth mentioning a few basics.

As with any car, allow the engine to warm up before working it really hard.

If you are going to service it yourself (or even if you use a garage) ensure a diesel specific engine oil is used. Petrol engine oil just isn’t upto the job.

DO NOT switch off the engine while it is revving (a lot of the older generation drivers seem to blip the throttle a few times before shutdown). Allow to idle for 5-10 seconds first otherwise you will leave the turbo spinning at 10’s of thousands of RPM without an oil supply, NOT GOOD.

Be very careful not to fill up with unleaded. Don’t laugh, it’s really easy to do, especially if you drive a variety of cars. I myself have chuckled as I watched someone struggle vainly to get a diesel nozzle into a petrol tank and then proceeded to put almost a fivers worth of unleaded into my van before I suddenly stopped giggling. Luckily I realised in time and diluted it with 95 litres of diesel and it never missed a beat. A customer of mine was less fortunate, He completly filled his diesel KIA Sedona with unleaded then drove until it stopped. Thankfully his insurance company picked up the £4k bill as accidental damage.

Don’t be afraid to drive to the rev limiter occasionally. This will do no harm to a healthy engine and in my humble opinion is beneficial as it gets the engine hot and blows the cobwebs away. At MOT time drive down the motorway for about 5 miles flat out in 3rd and 4th gear to really clear out the soot and get things really hot then straight into the test centre and even ‘suggest’ they test the emissions first rather than waiting till the car has been idling for 5-10 minutes.

If I can think of anything else I’ll come back to you. Enjoy the diesel experience (most people don’t want to go back) and keep reading this forum, it’s a goldmine of information.

 

[230K]

Hi

Not sure if BarryG's 250 is a turbodiesel i expect not. But then again i have been wrong before.

230K

 

[BarryG]

Thanks Sprint'n'Go lots of useful info. I drive automatics now because of a back problem. How long would you suggest for this warming up period?
On the day I pick it up I am going to take it for a run probably about 100 miles 50 there 50 back. The garage is giving me a full 3 month warranty verbally stating so far any problems at all will be covered.
As you say this forum is an excellent source of info I have spent a couple of enjoyable hours reading through the posts how much info sticks is another matter !

Now for the scary bit 230K, not sure if it is TURBO or not!!!
Pretty sure badge on rear only said c250 D (not TD)
I am assuming the turbo is to increase acceleration? Will a turbo make much difference to myself as I only use it for getting about the city and holidays etc. Say 6000 to 7000 miles a year.
I will report back on thursday.

 

[jberks]

The only C250 I am aware of is a turbo, but then the only one I drove was back in '98. You can tell easily enough, get it to 2000 rpm and if it suddenly turns from a gentle cruiser to a fire breathing monster, you have your answer. The 250 I drove was a real Jeckle and Hyde.

 

[BarryG]

Just bought Haynes manual on Ebay for £1.50.
Now I will soon have a book that will confuse me even more
I was talking to a knowledgable friend who has had MBs before and he thinks I have got a bargain with the C250 at £2500 on 120000 (especially with full 3 month warranty )he reckons it will do well over double that mileage. Comments?
In case anyone was wondering why I would buy a car without checking it was turbo or not. Let me explain I was looking for a replacement for my Rover which decided to die on me ( something catastrophic engine wise ) I purchased a Volvo 440 on an M just as a run about for £400 oddly its been an excellent runner and had no mechanical defects at all ran it for 8 months and now MOT was due I thought why not put it in part ex just in case. I was checking out lots of petrol automatics Volvos, BMWs Etc. Was budgeting around £4000 cash but was surprised at lack of leg room in the back on newer models Volvo s40 and V40 in particular. I was looking at a Honda when the owner happened to mention he had taken a Diesel MB in part ex the previous day. So I thought what the heck costs nothing to look, it had not been valeted in any way and was in immaculate condition. It started first turn of the key I was expecting a lot of noise but its engine was turning over quieter than the petrol volvo.Took it for test drive ran very well. So told him I would come back next day so the wife could have a look.(yeah I know but she has to ride in it too )Went next day and there were 2 other couples checking the car over. Took the wife for another test spin she liked it so made him a cash offer if he did service Cat and exhaust, he agreed throwing in new tyres and the 3 month warranty. At that time all I knew was I was buying a c250 diesel.

 

[Blobcat]

Stick your Vin No. into the attached and you will get the original supplied specification of your car.
http://www.mbclub.ru/mb/vin/?lng=eng
You can also check out what engine you have by using the 1st 6 didgits of your vin on this site.
http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb0.asp?TP=1

If it is 202125 its a non turbo
If it is 202128 you have a turbo

Keep the oil changed and change the ATF and the car should double the miles

 

[230K]

Hi

I reckon its not a turbo, the first 250's that came out in the C were non turbo think they got a turbo in the UK about 96. What year is an N reg?? Anyone?

230K

 

[Blobcat]

N reg = 95/96

 

[pcman_jh]

c250 maintenance and other fuels

I knew someone very well who had a 1994 C250 (non turbo, the TD version came later I believe) and had it for about 6 years from when it was 4 years old to about 10 years old, and they ran it on vegeable oil.

Maintenance - For anything over 5 years old they'd recommend you change the rubber O rings in ALL fuel lines as they have a tendency to shrink or crack with age causing air ingress (typically overnight). You know you're affected by this as it'll briefly splutter on starting then just turn over until you flatten the battery. The O rings were pence each, so well worth the hassle in changing wiht preventative maintence. They also changed the fuel leak pipes between the injectors as they started to crumble and were the main cause of air ingress.

Price your maintenance bits from the Merc garage as you'll be pleasantly surprised by some of their prices,otherwise use German French Swedish website for brake pads, filters etc.

Vegetable Oil - Just buy the cheapest vegetable oil from the supermarkets (this is typically Rapeseed based) and pour it in!!!! I watched this with my own eyes so can verify it actually happended. They only word of caution is to make sure it's alway with diesel in the tank. My friend ran it theirs from a ratio of 25% veg oil in frosty winter to as much as 75% veg oil in the height of summer. They ran like this for about the latter 2 years when they had the car. No ill effects were evident at the time the car was sold on. PS - you have to get used to the exhaust smell !!
ADVICE - Make sure you pay the taxman their fuel duty rates for every litre of Veg oil you use as otherwise your car could be confiscated if caught. My friend wasn't sure what hte rate is as there's conflicting reports of it being either ~27p or 40ish p per litre - something to do with making it yourself (from chip shops) or straight from the supermarket.
WARNING - Anyone reading this with a CDI C W202 Class - Don't do it - this can only be done (cold) on a non CDI model that has the inline Bosch pump.

 

[BarryG]

More good info thank you !

Thanks for the useful info once again guys.
Picking up the car lunchtime thursday so all being well will report back thursday evening.
Barry

 

[BarryG]

OMG ! Didnt even get the car off the forecourt.

Went to pick up the C250 at 1pm all was well started first time checked car over all looked well ( least wise to me it did ). Signed all the papers, shook hands. Indicated left out of garage and the indicators stopped working? So reversed back onto forecourt, garage owner took the car straight into the garage all apologetic. At this time I am back home waiting for a phone call from him.
Any thoughts?
If it had happened after I had got it home, my first thought would have been fuses, yes ? no?

The joys of being me ! lmao
Barry

 

[hexflyer]

good start! sounds like a fuse or relay, pretty minor fault.

did you look under the bonnet? you can tell straight away whether its a turbo or not, here's mine

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=1091&d=1138565856

 

[BarryG]

Yeah hexflyer it was a fuse and they sorted it .
Took it for a spin went up to 110 mph np no wobble or juddering and was cruising at 70. No turbo lol.
Barry

 

[hexflyer]

Shame its not a turbo, a real jekyll and hyde of a car once the turbo is on boost, its 0ff like a scalded cat

you should get many many miles out of it though

 

[BarryG]

Second day nearly all well .

Well second day as a proud MB owner
Had a nip over onto the M1 did about a 100 miles excellent road holding and cruised along at 70 mph.
Couple of things the central locking seemed very unresponsive so I changed the batteries in the remote £8 for two batteries
Then when I tried to lock the car nothing happened so tried the switch on the dash which worked. Left the car on the drive for an hour tried again and it worked
Just wondering is there a way to lock the car without the central locking in an emergency? I know there is a keyhole passenger side but that only opens and closes that door.