new E220 CDI

[fwb44]

What reports of the new E220 CDI please? Has anyone got, or driven, the manual version?

 

[c250 turbo diesel]

e 220 cdi

Too small an engine for too big a body, the smallest engine for an e class i would pick a 270 People i have know who have opted for smaller engines, have allways regreted it !

 

[Rory]

Interesting that BMW have just launched a 520d (4 cyl) - the old 5 Series was always available in Europe as a 520d but it was never offered in the UK.
One of the car magazines did a longterm test on the E180K (petrol, auto) and they said it was perfectly adequate.

Having said all that, I looked at (and drove) several C220CDi, but then took the chance to get a C270CDi - it's 'effortlessness' makes me glad I choose the 270.

Your biggest issue might be the manual - E Class's with manual gearboxes must be very rare indeed. Selling it again might be very difficult.

 

[fwb44]

manual E220 CDI

A leasing company was advertising manual E220 CDIs at tolerably attractive rates which aroused my interest. I do 70K+ miles p.a. so alas with a 4-year leasing contract resale value is not a prime consideration for me! I just have no idea what a manual M-B gearchange is like, or what it's like to live with the foot-operated parking brake on a daily basis since I've only ever driven automatic M-Bs in the last 23 years. But the 55 m.p.g. quoted for the manual E220 CDI caught my eye, and I think it might be possible to get its ECU tweaked up to about 175 b.h.p. which would at least make it a contender on our crowded motorways ...

 

[Rory]

Did the rates apply to 70K miles per year? Are you really putting 280K on cars, over 4 yrs - if so, I would have expected that the leasing company would just set the residual value to zero (which would make the lease expensive)? Also, just out of interest, who pays for the maintenance - I got a quote from MB for 30K/yr and it was £115/mth + VAT and that was without tyres.

I also think you'd be on dodgy ground chipping the car - MB would know and the leasing company wouldn't be very happy.

On the fuel consumption, I have a C270CDi estate auto, and I can get high 40's out of it on steady motorway runs (49.9 is best ever on a 400 mile trip). This is driving at 75ish - it 'seems' more economical at this speed than any other, perhaps because it has very high gearing. Normal, suburban, driving takes it down to 33-35MPG.

I've had my car for 4 mths but I still wonder whether I ought to have got an E - I think it's a great looking car with fabulous 'presence'.

 

[fwb44]

Hi Rory

Thanks for expressing your concerns. The leasing co. in question specialises in unlimited mileage vehicles for private hire/chauffeur use, which is what I do for a living at the moment. They guarantee sufficient value in the vehicle at the end of the term, provided its maintenance schedule has been correctly adhered to, to provide the deposit for the next one; in other words they make the bulk of their money not out of the vehicle, but out of the finance on it.

Now, I hadn't thought that I would be 'reported' to M-B for chipping the car. Is this really the case? It's not an absolute necessity but when I had a 2.5 TD Volvo chipped, the difference of 30+ extra b.h.p. was amazing and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking to get better performance and consumption out of their smaller-engined turbo-diesel vehicle ...

The E is a good-looking car I agree, although it's about as standard-issue as a pair of M&S white underpants in my field! I'd love to get an E class that was a bit different from the run-of-the-mill, but when I know I'm going to destroy it inside 4 years there's no point. Perhaps I'll save up for that W124 cabrio to frolic in at the weekend ... or better still a 1971 280 SE 3.5 cabrio which is my real dream ... In the meantime I'd say that the C class is a well-designed and handsome series of compact vehicles with economies of scale that should lead to decent performance even out of the smaller engines - not to mention what the larger engined models can achieve? I wouldn't lose too much time over regrets at not having an E class - they're good, but really not that special!

Kind regards

 

[Rory]

Thanks for the feedback - I'm not concerned, just interested. I looked at an E Class as a company car (30K/yr, full maint, 3 yrs) but the cost jumps up such a lot from the base 10K/yr quotes that it ended up being way more than I was prepared to pay. So I opted out (obviously not an option for you) and bought my own C Class.

I don?t know for definite, but would be amazed if chipping the car (any car) didn?t invalidate its warranty (unless the work is carried out ?officially?).

I know what you mean about the car?s popularity in your field ? I had to pick someone up at Heathrow the other day and most of the cars in the short term car park seemed to be E?s. However, ?oop North? they?re a bit rarer.

 

[fwb44]

I don?t know for definite, but would be amazed if chipping the car (any car) didn?t invalidate its warranty (unless the work is carried out ?officially?)

Can anyone add to this?

 

[cjcor]

AFAIK if the car is chipped (ie. an external device fitted) it will most likely invalidate the warranty - most people who do this to their cars remove the device when taking their cars for the dealer.

If the car's ECU is re-programmed, it is not detectable UNLESS the garage becomes suspicious and carries out a thorough investigation. There is a also a school of thought that in order to prevent this type of 'tinkering' some garages 'reflash' the ECU on a regular basis - in effect restoring the default setttings.

 

[fwb44]

Having been in a 4 car pile-up on the M25 10 days before Christmas (no-one seriously hurt) and being no-fault I got from RAC DriveAssist the next day a brand new E220 CDi saloon loan car while my old estate's being rebuilt, and while I'm lucky and grateful enough to have it and it's free, I also find the passenger cabin more cramped than the W210; there really isn't enough room for 3 adults in the back; the climate control is impossible to adjust properly; and the 2.2 is willing enough for a 4-pot but the performance is just - dull. And what a strange choppy little ride it has! And only about 38 m.p.g. average - 33 if I stay around town. I'll be glad to hand it back and would never buy one. I feel like the Americans do - if it hasn't got at least 6 cylinders it just isn't a car. The ultimate nadir for me came when a rich American customer I was taking to the airport in it said: "Take the badges off and it could be a Hyundai couldn't it?" and I cringed for shame ... (all you Hyundai drivers out there, those were his words not mine OK?)

 

[jberks]

Francis,
Apples and Oranges I suspect. The 220 is not going to be as lively as a 300 but I was actually very impressed with the one I drove, and that was as a comparison to my W210 V6 petrol. Ok I ended up with the 270 for that extra kick,but I would hardly call the 220 sluggish.

Ride wise, was it an elegance? I switched to the Avantgarde and sure it's firmer, but it also sticks in situations that would have my old elegance 210 spinning. At times I miss the ride of the elegance, but not on a fast road or a tight roundabout. The elegance with the comfort set up will give a 210 a fair run. As far as the 'hyundai' comment goes, sit in a plastic food blender/hyundai and then say that. There really isn't any comparison.

 

[fwb44]

No, not sluggish, if you work it hard enough - just entirely lacking in zest somehow. As you say the extra kick of the 270 would probably resolve that. It is an Elegance and I keep it in the Comfort setting where as you rightly say it acquits itself much better especially on roundabouts than the wallowy old W210. I still love that model's big sloppy comfort but it's perceived by my customers as an 'old' car now and I'm going to have a look at some W211 estates I think when deciding how to replace it.

Plastic food blender ha! Never been in a Hyundai but for a few weeks last year I borrowed a diesel Kia Sedona from a friend - a John Deere-powered kebab van. The nastiest car I have ever driven!

That makes me think of a new thread to start, unless it's been done to death already - The Nastiest Car I Have Ever Driven ... do you think we'd end up copping libel suits though ...

 

[SJMaxson]

Hyundai comparisons

As far as the 'hyundai' comment goes, sit in a plastic food blender/hyundai and then say that. There really isn't any comparison.

Absolutely correct. When we first got our E220 some years ago, I took it to have a towbar fitted. The garage gave us a loan car - a Hyundai Accent with a rather garish chequered flag advertising livery!

It was an appalling car - the drive, the performance, the seats, the dash, everything!

OK, so I'd just got out of a W124 Mercedes, so perhaps I wasn't being fair. When I got home, I got into our then second car, a VW Polo - and there was no comparison there, either. The Polo was streets ahead of the Accent, in spite of being absolutely base model 1.0L.

 

[Rory]

I had a Kia Amanti (which is E Class size) as a hire car in California a few mths ago - the front resembles the Bentley Continental (I live near the Bentley factory and often see the cars being road tested, so this irked me). The inside *looked' very luxurious - all 'wood', leather, electric etc.
But it was staggeringly horrible to drive - scary on tight freeway on/off ramps. It also had horrendous wind noise at 35! MPH.

The big Hyundai in the US is the Azera - I looked at some write-ups, generally not too bad, and one of them talks about 'Mercedes like touches'!

 

[fwb44]

The big Hyundai in the US is the Azera - I looked at some write-ups, generally not too bad, and one of them talks about 'Mercedes like touches'!

Where's it all going to end. I'm in the process of replacing my '98 289K W210 E300 TD estate with an 03 W210 E320 CDI estate, the latest I can find of the last model. When I've worn that out, what will there be? Will the W211s stand the test of time? Or will we all be in Daimler-Chrysler-Hyundais by then? :-(

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Good choice, I think the stright six is a smoother engine anyway, always has been, ask B"W. I've owned a 320CDi for a year now and I'm still smiling I can't get over how good the engine is for a diesel, certianly a huge step forward.
Hope you enjoy yours as much!

 

[fwb44]

Good news! I'm looking forward to it! That trusty old E300 TD estate is the best car I ever had