fUEL ECONOMY ON C200K SE COUPE ?

[keithbt]

Hi, this is my first posting. I bought at auction last year a late 2002 c200 komp. coupe Auto. Lovely car, nice drive but dissappointing fuel economy. It had done just 29k miles ( now 32k) and been serviced at MB dealership at 28k according to history - so should all be running perfect???

When starting from cold for the first mile I get about 13/14 mpg depending on ambient temperature. After two miles it says trip average is about 21mpg. My journeys have been short all between two and about ten miles, the "running" average is 27.2 mpg. On a long run with a very light foot keeping at between 70 / 80 mph the best I can get is about 36mpg if I reset the trip mpg. Typically my daily average mpg is about 25.7 on short trips.

The car runs perfectly, and the economy seems to get no worse if I drive it hard. Do other owners get similar figures or is this poor ? Any suggestions of what can be checked / done to improve would be welcome. I'm not keen on throwing it into an MB workshop just for them to tell me its running nicely. I did try a non franchised MB specialist who put it on a laptop to check the engine management report but he said it was "OK". Don't know how competant he is though.

Thanks.keith

 

[Xtractorfan]

I would tend to think ur fuel economy is about average for a 2lt auto.. fuel economy is something that is related to the driver..short runs and cold starts are the biggest fuel wasters..

 

[Aussie Nick]

Before you conclude it is a fuel economy problem consider filling the tank with a good quality fuel and resetting you trip meter to zero. Next time you fill up take note of the milage done since the last fill up and the quantity of fuel used to refill the tank.This will give you a more accurate indication of the fuel consumption than the onboard computer.You will then have an accurate picture of the fuel consumption,especially if it coincides with the onboard computer.

 

[ozbod1]

sounds right to me, it isnt even worth looking at your mpg until your car is at correct running temp, i would say nothing to worry about...

 

[keithbt]

drinks fuel

Thanks for the replies, which seem to run along the view of if its running well ignore the fuel consumption. Trouble is the tail pipe is not nice and clean (light brown) its black and sooty. This would suggest to me that its running on the "rich" side.

Surely there must be some other c class 200K owners out there. Do you experience the same, OR do you average 34 mpg as what car said back in 2002.

All views welcome. PS £400 ved in 2010 for 1796cc by this labour government !!!! Might as well give the car away now and get a panda.

Keith

 

[Nuclear Bob]

Your mpg is appalling. Even with an auto you should be getting the high 40's to the gallon on a long run. It is in need of an engine tune at the very least - much to be saved in the long run at today's fuel prices

 

[jberks]

My journeys have been short all between two and about ten miles, the "running" average is 27.2 mpg. On a long run with a very light foot keeping at between 70 / 80 mph the best I can get is about 36mpg if I reset the trip mpg. Typically my daily average mpg is about 25.7 on short trips.

It doesn't sound too far out to me. Bottom line is where has the fuel gone?
If it's running rich, it will show up as high Co2 on the MOT and fail. Your engine ie electronically controlled and whilst it can run rich, such a fault would normally be picked up by the computer and the warning light would come on.
Black soot on the pipes is quite normal if you do mainly short journeys. It's doubtful the engine would get fully up to temp in 10 miles.
Fuel economy is generally down to traffic and the driver. Any acceleration is the killer. So, a driver who tends to slow down/speed up will use more than one who can pre-empt the traffic, time it better and cruises. I improved my economy drastically simply by creating a bigger gap in traffic and allowing the car to slow down naturally rather than use the brakes.

If you live in a hilly area, you can expect worse consumption.

In other words, nobody can tell you what to expect unless they do the exact same journey at the exact same time. Mine uses more fuel than a friends, simply because my tyres are a bit wider. In rain, the difference is even worse. Even then 2 identical cars can be different.
Your dealer has checked the car over so you can take it that there is nothing mechanically wrong.

My wife was getting 22 out of her freelander. So before I took it back to the dealer and complained I thought I'd test it myself. I got 30-40 no problem. So, it's her.

25+ on short trips and anything over 32 or so on longer ones is fine IMO.