Help with towing advice.

Deborah Burton

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Hello all,

We have just part exchanged our E Class E220 AMG Coupe for an E Class E 220 estate Blue TEC SE as we want to return to caravanning.

We were informed by a dealer we wouldn't be able to tow with the AMG line, hence the decision to go with the SE estate.

After looking at the VIN plate this morning we were alarmed to discover there is no gross train weight/gross combination weight stated. Needless to say alarm bells started ringing.

We have called the dealer who informed us he will check into this on Monday. It's going to be a long weekend!!

Any advice would be much appreciated. Does anyone else tow with E Class E220 Blue TEC SE estate?

Many Thanks.
 

SRE

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Mercedes list the towing capacity of the E220 in the E Class brochure as 2100kg
 
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Deborah Burton

Deborah Burton

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Mercedes list the towing capacity of the E220 in the E Class brochure as 2100kg
Thanks for your reply Steve....what's the E class brochure?


Ok, found the brochure but the reference footnote (3) states" only in conjunction with E 220 Blue TEC AMG Night Edition with tow bar"

It's not looking good!
 
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turbopete

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many vehicles now don't seem to have the towing weight on the VIN plate but are type approved for towing. I think its because manufacturers would rather you DIDNT tow rather than being unable to

oddly you could buy the AMG line bodykit for yours and assuming the towbar clears, still tow with it. not sure why the AMG line has to be so different
 

John Laidlaw

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AMG line seem to run lower so I suspect clearance might be an issue
 

Craiglxviii

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The AMG Line just carries on the old Avantgarde suspension setup.

One can tow with Avantgarde...

I have AMG Line and there is a towbar option available for it.

As to the blank MGTW, there will be a type approval for the E220 estate as a whole. From memory it is 1695kg loaded which means a 1200kg caravan. Not that I’ve looked into it or anything!!!
 
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Deborah Burton

Deborah Burton

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The AMG Line just carries on the old Avantgarde suspension setup.

One can tow with Avantgarde...

I have AMG Line and there is a towbar option available for it.

As to the blank MGTW, there will be a type approval for the E220 estate as a whole. From memory it is 1695kg loaded which means a 1200kg caravan. Not that I’ve looked into it or anything!!!

Thank you for the information it's very helpful.

Can I ask where you sourced this information regarding "type approval", my knowledge of such things is very limited.

Many Thanks.
 

M80

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I would expect a GVW sticker somewhere on the vehicle.
I've seen them in the estate area on the floor below mats,
and on door pillars visible when the door is opened.
 
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Deborah Burton

Deborah Burton

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I would expect a GVW sticker somewhere on the vehicle.
I've seen them in the estate area on the floor below mats,
and on door pillars visible when the door is opened.
We have read the VIN plate but it only gives the Gross vehicle weight along with the front and rear axel weights, the gross train weight, also known as the gross combination weight has not been entered it just show ----, without this weight you cannot check the legal weight you can tow, this then invalidates your insurance and is, according to DVSA is illegal!!
 

SRE

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Mercedes may have included it on the V5 (Section O1 and O2) but if it is not on the plate I doubt it will be on the Registration Document. If the Tow Bar is an optional extra they may argue that they do not have to include it as standard but one could then argue that a new VIN plate should be fitted when fitting the Tow Bar.
 

Craiglxviii

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We have read the VIN plate but it only gives the Gross vehicle weight along with the front and rear axel weights, the gross train weight, also known as the gross combination weight has not been entered it just show ----, without this weight you cannot check the legal weight you can tow, this then invalidates your insurance and is, according to DVSA is illegal!!
We had a member with exactly this problem some time ago and I cannot remember if he ever resolved it.

You need to find out if your car is type approved for towing. First port of call has to be the dealer who has sold you a car unfit for your purposes and holds a duty of care to rectify it.

Secondly I’d go speaking to MB Technical Services in Milton Keynes...
 
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Deborah Burton

Deborah Burton

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We had a member with exactly this problem some time ago and I cannot remember if he ever resolved it.

You need to find out if your car is type approved for towing. First port of call has to be the dealer who has sold you a car unfit for your purposes and holds a duty of care to rectify it.

Secondly I’d go speaking to MB Technical Services in Milton Keynes...

MB dealer sent us an email with an attachment from their 2015 E Class brochure stating that the towing weight is 2000kg.
This still does not solve the issue with the VIN plate. Without the VIN plate stating a tow weight, the vehicle cannot tow!

We will call MB Milton Keynes first thing tomorrow and see what they have to say.

Thanks again.
 

Wighty

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MB dealer sent us an email with an attachment from their 2015 E Class brochure stating that the towing weight is 2000kg.
This still does not solve the issue with the VIN plate. Without the VIN plate stating a tow weight, the vehicle cannot tow!

We will call MB Milton Keynes first thing tomorrow and see what they have to say.

Thanks again.
People get tow bars fitted after the vehicle is made , I can't see the vin plate getting changed when a tow bar is fitted by the second owner ?
 
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Deborah Burton

Deborah Burton

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I have just been advised by someone who had a similar problem with tow bar fitting. It appears my model - E220 Blue TEC SE has an add blue box in the boot containing the add blue that is sprayed into the exhaust to break down mono- nitrogen oxides. This is a feature of the Blue Tec technology.

We will confirm this with Technical Support at Milton Keynes tomorrow.

Blimey, what ever happened to just hitching your caravan and driving off into the sunset.
 

mikestrivens

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wasn't there something about additional oil cooling required if towing, or maybe I'm thinking of a different model.
 

EmilysDad

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People get tow bars fitted after the vehicle is made , I can't see the vin plate getting changed when a tow bar is fitted by the second owner ?

But as above, not all vehicles are type approved to tow. Sometimes the 'go-faster' version of a standard car isn't type approved due to being too low or the go-faster add on spoilers & exhausts etc get in the way. e.g. A bog standard Astra J can tow, but the Irmscher version has a centre exhaust.
 

Craiglxviii

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wasn't there something about additional oil cooling required if towing, or maybe I'm thinking of a different model.
That’s on the ML/ GLE, not the E. The SUV is rated to tow a much heavier load.
 

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