E63s & Towing

[Dave C250]

Firstly, hopefully this is ok in this section.

Now I know it has been done to death that AMG’s are not type approved for towing.
But I have just found this:

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/mercedes-benz/e63-amg/e63-s-4matic-4dr-9g-tronic/spec

Has anyone got any idea if this may be correct? Or categorically wrong?

just trying to decide what car to buy next taking into account my needs. I currently have a 2018 E350d for towing our camping trailer.

Cheers

 

[Blobcat]

The only thing that is important is the plate on the car you buy. If that has towing weights it's type approved and away you go.
If it hasn't then it hasn't been and you can't legally tow

 

[Dave C250]

Yes that’s my thoughts. That link has slightly convinced me that maybe they do have the weights on the plate.
I’ll get myself over to the dealership sometime and have a look. not getting my hopes up though

cheers for the quick reply.

 

[ajlsl600]

Sorry...3lt plus cars that cant tow !! Or require 3k of upgrades. I wont be buyin another..
I tow with my aclass .no upgrades.I am going to tow with my ml ,with no upgrades.read plenty do same in states
I will sample the tranny oil on a regular basis.

 

[EmilysDad]

Sorry...3lt plus cars that cant tow !! Or require 3k of upgrades. I wont be buyin another..
I tow with my aclass .no upgrades.I am going to tow with my ml ,with no upgrades.read plenty do same in states
I will sample the tranny oil on a regular basis.

It's not just upgrades to transmission etc that might enable a car to tow or not. It might be that an E63 isn't suitable for towing due to lower/stiffer suspension ..... I'm sure a Lambo or Ferrari would have all the right numbers re weight, bhp & torque to tow, but would you?

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

We’ve had this question asked a few times over the years and the general consensus is that if the towing capacity isn’t on rating plate then the vehicle can’t tow. More than likely the rear bodywork isn’t suitable for fitting a tow bar on the E63s. Personally a I’d buy the E63 and also buy a cheap tug for towing

 

[ajlsl600]

It's not just upgrades to transmission etc that might enable a car to tow or not. It might be that an E63 isn't suitable for towing due to lower/stiffer suspension ..... I'm sure a Lambo or Ferrari would have all the right numbers re weight, bhp & torque to tow, but would you?

I would not consider Ferrari and even less a lambo as a regular estate, saloon on or 4x4. Either. but I have come across a number of such on here that are and can't.

 

[EmilysDad]

I would not consider Ferrari and even less a lambo .....

Neither would I or anyone. They were used as two manufacture that produced powerful cars that on paper, their power etc would enable them to tow ... but obvious they aren't rated to

 

[Craiglxviii]

It's not just upgrades to transmission etc that might enable a car to tow or not. It might be that an E63 isn't suitable for towing due to lower/stiffer suspension ..... I'm sure a Lambo or Ferrari would have all the right numbers re weight, bhp & torque to tow, but would you?

It’s more than likely that the homologation team met with the marketability team, someone invited the customer definition team and they all decided that the typical customer wouldn’t be likely to tow, so they didn’t need to spend the €150k on pushing that specific vehicle derivative through type approval.

Nothing at all to do with whether or not the car can physically do the job.

 

[ajlsl600]

It’s more than likely that the homologation team met with the marketability team, someone invited the customer definition team and they all decided that the typical customer wouldn’t be likely to tow, so they didn’t need to spend the €150k on pushing that specific vehicle derivative through type approval.

Nothing at all to do with whether or not the car can physically do the job.

i confused, more or less cars on road than 20 yr ago? 20 yr ago i think anything 2.8 or over was a towing candidate ? with little or no need to modify, apart from fiiting a bar .. three teams, u missed the bean counter so four, decided that the typical customer would not tow ? that,s thin ice to me. more like should they want to tow we will make that a pay for extra, rather than a std possibility ? or a step backward for motorists .

 

[Craiglxviii]

i confused, more or less cars on road than 20 yr ago? 20 yr ago i think anything 2.8 or over was a towing candidate ? with little or no need to modify, apart from fiiting a bar .. three teams, u missed the bean counter so four, decided that the typical customer would not tow ? that,s thin ice to me. more like should they want to tow we will make that a pay for extra, rather than a std possibility ? or a step backward for motorists .

It’s nothing to do with the physical characteristics of the car. Each platform derivative has its own homologation costs in each country it gets sold in, and those costs are usually €150k per deriv per country. So the carmakers study very carefully what they want each car deriv to do. They take input from all the customer facing functions. In this case, someone like the regional product manager (in charge of the specification of all models sold in a particular area)- for the U.K., which car end item codes need towing type approval? Which perceived customer types are likely to want/ not want to tow and with which vehicle?

The customer likely to buy an E63s will, I’m almost certain, almost never wish to tow with it- would be the response. And so the homologation group don’t get awarded budget for that element of type approval.

It’s really that boring I’m afraid.

 

[ajlsl600]

Not overly boring and for e 63, sl, s and the like I get you, but a run of mill 4x4,family estate and saloons over 2.8 lt I am afraid I just don't get it.20 yr ago any motor saloon or est over 2.8 would be a simple candidate for a bar, not a 3k addition before the bar!! It's about utility and costs of retrofit. For example near all cars here in France have towballs French want utility, not many are Benz tho there are more than 10 yr ago a car here without the easy installation facility of a bar are of less interest than the others. I would say 6,7 out of 10 cars here have bars.

 

[Dave C250]

Good lot of info there. Cheers everyone.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Not overly boring and for e 63, sl, s and the like I get you, but a run of mill 4x4,family estate and saloons over 2.8 lt I am afraid I just don't get it.20 yr ago any motor saloon or est over 2.8 would be a simple candidate for a bar, not a 3k addition before the bar!! It's about utility and costs of retrofit. For example near all cars here in France have towballs French want utility, not many are Benz tho there are more than 10 yr ago a car here without the easy installation facility of a bar are of less interest than the others. I would say 6,7 out of 10 cars here have bars.

There’s only 2-3 vehicle platforms that I know of that need additional cooling packs for towing, the ML/ GLE is one and that’s only really required because it’s a global model e.g. the exact same car for any given spec is sold in Holland and Mexico. So, they have to rate the transmission cooling capacity for Temp max, say Capetian in summer...

 

[ajlsl600]

Not overly boring and for e 63, sl, s and the like I get you, but a run of mill 4x4,family estate and saloons over 2.8 lt I am afraid I just don't get it.20 yr ago any motor saloon or est over 2.8 would be a simple candidate for a bar, not a 3k addition before the bar!! It's about utility and costs of retrofit. For example near all cars here in France have towballs French want utility, not many are Benz tho there are more than 10 yr ago a car here without the easy installation facility of a bar are of less interest than the others. I would say 6,7 out of 10 cars here have bars.

There’s only 2-3 vehicle platforms that I know of that need additional cooling packs for towing, the ML/ GLE is one and that’s only really required because it’s a global model e.g. the exact same car for any given spec is sold in Holland and Mexico. So, they have to rate the transmission cooling capacity for Temp max, say Capetian in summer...

There was a guy on here a while back, bought an estate car, Benz sales told him towing no issues at point of sale, he went to get bar fitted. No load plate so no one would fit bar. As per myself previously I would have never considered a decent engined estate as not capable of towing
This info should be on info card on car in showroom as should be, don't buy the diesels for short journey's...
I would go further small diesel engined cars should never have been on the market as the present systems seem to make them uneconomic propositions to run. Due to the unreliable/expensive equipment presently employed.
I understand that regulation has been forced on makers but so have many things such as safety equipment, there would be hell to pay if the safety stuff was as reliable as the emmisions stuff!!!