new owner - advice please

[hardflipman]

hi folks, just got myself a 98 e240 estate to replace my legacy turbo estate and i've got a couple of questions:

the main thing is the fuel econoy which currently would appear to be worse than my subaru which surprises me greatly. i've read through the fuel economy thread and it's left me with a couple of questions. am i likely to get better fuel economy with it in sports mode? i do mostly town driving and had a thought that the in s mode it appears to engage the gears much quicker when pulling away etc.

also it has 18" amg style alloys on it with 255/265 tyres. i would think that given that the manual states it should be 205 tyres the extra drag would negsatively affect fuel economy. also i just had a thought that given the diameter of the tyres is, i think, bigger the mileage reported by the computer that i'm doing will be lower than real life.
would it be a good idea to replace the wheels?

other than that i periodically get a lamp failure warning which i think might be the brake light. is there a way to get the computer to tell you what the fault actually is?

cheers

edit:
just remembered due to me cycling to work with the car key that we only have 1 key! is this likely to be very expensive to get another one?

 

[verytalldave]

Welcome to the forum.................

Its seems to be endemic that Mercedes buyers only ever get one key. Its a common problem. New ones are only available from dealers and are about £150-200 EACH.
Fuel economy is so variable that its almost impossible to point to one area for the blame.
A 1998 e240 Estate should return about 35-40mpg depending on driving style. Anything less than 35 mpg should be looked at.

C (or W depending) mode is generally kinder to fuel consumption. S mode tends return around 5mpg less.

Its true wider tyres do contribute extra drag, but to go to the expense of changing them for greater fuel economy would appear to be rather self defeating. Change them when they need it, but not before.

 

[television]

Yes as Dave the keys are £150.
Re economy I would have said more up to 30 and on a run 32-33mpg

 

[hardflipman]

there were other reasons to replacing the wheels.
1. they are brand new with brand new tyres - i could surely get more money for tehm than i would need to spend on a set of used 15s or 16s
2. new tyres will be very expensive!
3. ride quality should be improved by not having low profile tyres

i reckoned i got about 18-20 mpg out of my subaru and the merc *seems* to be worse!
i put 40 litres in from just about empty and i'm down to a quarter full and have done about 70miles. at least according to the computer

 

[jberks]

as per economy - I'd go more towards Malcolms figures - If you can get it over 35 I'd be very impressed! I think the best I ever got from my 4 cylinder C220 was around 35!
On the tyres, yes 255s will sap economy. Not greatly but 2mpg or so I'd imagine. After all, the 240 engine isn't the torquiest of motors so any drag will affect it. Its worse in the wet were I notice a severe drop in economy on my diesel with 245 tyres. Rain on the road costs me 3 mpg ast least.
There are downsides to those tyres but apart from looks, no real upside so if the opportunity presents and you're not too attached, swap them for some nice 205s . The ride should improve, the noise reduce and the economy improve - but you'll never see the far side of 35mpg unless there is an underfueling fault! (I had a ford with this. Phenominally economical until it died!)
Around town - 13-26 depending on conditions. Thats what I got out of my E240 anyway.

 

[verytalldave]

That is steep. It needs looking at. Quickly.
As far as the wheels/tyres go, 16" would be a good compromise. 15"s are a tad small. Not too wide as well. Why not try to swap with someones standard set? That would be a no-cost change then.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Hi Hardflipman,
Re fuel economy, this is a really bad time of year to monitor fuel economy. I'd say most people are suffering 10-20% less mpg due to the low temperatures. Better to wait until the weather warms up to above 10 degrees and monitor then. The 240 petrol is not renowned for its fuel economy, with mixed motoring I would think 25-30mpg in winter and if you do a lot of town it could drop to 15-20, its a big car.

Good idea about the wheels apart from asthetics the 18in rims are heavy on the wallet re fuel and tyres and provide a harsh ride. The 205s on 15in rims are the most cost effective solution but if the car is an Avantgarde it should be equipped with 215s on 16in rims.

The car should have come with 2 working keys. Any chance of chasing the seller? The replacement cost is in excess of £150.

If the brake switch starts to play up you will get BAS, ASD warnings on the dash, the solution is to replace the brake switch. The lamp failure warning could just be a dry connection withe a bulb somewhere, fairly easy to investigate.

Hope this helps!

 

[hardflipman]

thanks for the advice. we live in edinburgh and just do small trips mostly no more than 2 miles at a time which probably explains the poor economy.
i'll see if i can get a swap for some more reasonable wheels.
it's an elegance so i'd be quite happy with 15s

i just read in another thread about 30yr rust warranty. my cars an s reg so is it possible it might be covered? there's a tiny spot of bubbling on the tailgate and i think a tiny spot again on the drivers door
all in all though it seems in pretty good condition. although it does seem to ground out going over speedbumps at anything more than 15 mph - woder if it's been lowered?

 

[dieselman]

Regarding the economy I'd be amazed if an E240 estate could manage 20mpg around town, especially on 2 mile journeys. The 240 engine is renowned for being juicy.

Expect approx 24mpg average with some open road use.

Just as an aside a petrol engine uses four times as much fuel as a diesel in the first 2km of driving and 2.5 times as much over the first 4km.