Towing with an ML250

[EmilysDad]

.... PERIOD.

FULL stop!

Thanks & women have periods ....

 

[ajlsl600]

The blame for this 4x4 towing thing can be laid at the feet of marketing departments.
Softroaders are the root cause. Mrs Joe Public decided she needed a 4x4 to drop the kids off at school yet all the mainstream ones were too big. Cue marketing directing the construction of smaller less capable 4x4s . These are often fitted with automated 4x4 systems such as Haldex which simply cannot deal with the demands of towing. The mainstream big stuff in the meantime is trying to justify its cost so moves up market to the luxury end, the buyers of which frequent cities and large towns. The 4x4 has transitioned from being a work horse into a fashion statement and suddenly towing capacity is unimportant so the necessary hardware removed as a cost cutting exercise.

fairly put,but still a crap scheme,and are we saying Benz provide their customers with the BARE minimum possible to sell a car? not a good marketing point methinks and there was me,previously believing there was quality/convenience involved i would still say that an intrinsic part of 4x4 is to have and maintain the capability of towing ,no matter what some bean counting marketing D/H might think. i buy into not fitting the bars/electrics ,but not having plug and play connections for joe public to hook into on a 4x4 is a nonsense . i found a place in auss that markets a tow harness that says it talks to the car and sorts it out itself without any (cant really believe i am saying it ) "programming " required . so it CAN be done ! IF the situation is CLEAR about this in the marketing ,good enough, but i bet it aint . benz and others have just bent over backwards to try to stop joe public from being able to deal with this matter themselves along with pretty much anything,except pay for it.. however i understand that one does not HAVE to buy them ,the reason why i did. i have spent some time learning to understand how they seem to work and i have spent a fair bit on tooling and equipment to maintain them.and i aint keen to have to repeat either exercise ref V/W. AUDI VOLVO or FORD.

 

[ajlsl600]

FULL stop!

Thanks & women have periods ....

 

[Blobcat]

I worry constantly when towing with my 110 Land Rover.... oh no my mistake I don’t give a fruska and just keep it pinned

 

[EmilysDad]

Obviously should've been Yanks ..... not Thanks
Bl00dy auto correct ...

 

[sonic]

As a ex caravaner of the 70's what an interesting thread to read. Brought up things I had never thought about.
Had none of these problems in the 70's except fitting an oil cooler on autos.

 

[EmilysDad]

Can I just say that towing with my ML350 is effortless

 

[ajlsl600]

Can I just say that towing with my ML350 is effortless

yet to try towing. but the 250 does seem surprisingly unstressed ,there is some engine noise when pushed .i just did 125 miles today to cherbourg and back it showed 42.1 mpg at 65 and 1600/1700 rpm. which tho some distance from benz figures (no surprise there ) i dont think is bad for a 2+ tonne car..
when i tow i will watch temps and IF required i will fit an extra cooler in the front and if required blind it to the same temp as recorded sans tow.

 

[EmilysDad]

I didn't fit extra coolers or fans to my previous Vauxhall tow cars & towed considerable distances here & in France with no temperature problems.

 

[ajlsl600]

I didn't fit extra coolers or fans to my previous Vauxhall tow cars & towed considerable distances here & in France with no temperature problems.

i hear you, however, accurate or not benz say it requires a different electric fan work on rad shutters ?(yet to work that out) and i believe a different trans cooler . beggars belief really given the lack of complication this was 10 yr ago.
as pointed out i will watch temps and may fit something to provide trans oil temps .then watch how things go , i wont be cooking the trans and IF required i will fit a non benz additional oil cooler paying attn to the need to stay at STD opp temps.

 

[Capra]

I've found this post very interesting, much of the technical bits went over my head, but still good to read. I never knew the reasons some cars as sold could not have a tow bar fitted. I wonder how many transmissions have been knackered by being over stressed over the year?

 

[ajlsl600]

I didn't fit extra coolers or fans to my previous Vauxhall tow cars & towed considerable distances here & in France with no temperature problems.

i never had any overheating issues on any of my older cars when fitted with tow bars either, which forces one to the conclusion that the whole issue is " engineered " to become an issue now. AND why would that be ? as i see it they all still run at about the same temps in std form. and if the diesels are so understressed how come it can get to be a problem on a more modern, allegedly better engineered(for who ? ) car? maybe the newer transmissions just are just not man enough?and built to minimal stds ? almost all my previous towers were auto and they managed pretty well.

 

[ajlsl600]

a 4x4 that cant tow as bought std aint a proper 4x4 ..thats it. period. i see dacia dusters round here towing sheds about ! its just benz expect the customer to pay more for any capability above going to tesco.. i knew the situation when i bought mine and i WILL get over it. i keep harping on back to good old days when they were built properly , i never once needed to consider if any of my three Gwagons could tow the makers must have CORRECTLY decided that a 4x4 that cant tow it not worth taking of the drawing board and thats exactly how i feel about the so called design plot ,and PLOT is exactly how i see it. soon we will be getting 2 decent wheels/tyres and 2 space savers as std unless we pay extra........ i am currently looking at cooling ,if/sorry,when i find a sensible solution i will post the results, however one COULD do without the ballache ,cheers mr benz. anyone know where an after market 850 w fan might be sourced? cooler will likely be simple enough, positioning may well not be.

 

[EmilysDad]

......thats it. period. ...

full stop!!!!!

 

[Garista]

Probably is not as important in your climate but I found my W163 with 270cdi motor experienced auto oil overheating when towing my 1600kg van here in Oz. The oil blackened quickly and smelled burnt. After any long hill climbs, the auto would not change into higher gears for quite a while after cresting the hill - an obvious attempt to increase the auto oil circulation through the heat exchanger to get the temp back to normal. I changed the oil quite often which was an expensive procedure. Cheaper then gearbox repairs tho'.
I eventually bit the bullet and inserted an extra front mounted cooling rad into the system through which the auto fluid was sent prior to going through the OE heat exchanger that is supposed to keep the fluid at a suitable temp. Completely cured the problem and oil now stays clear and gear changes never vary. Well worth the trouble. Not a huge expense.

Ian.

I tow trailer full with oak logs and with the back filled with logs in my ML 270 standard and I don't notice any difference, even in thick mud, snow, whatever. It is awesome. See Youtube of them cracking out Siberian lorries from the ice, etc.

 

[Garista]

I tow trailer full with oak logs and with the back filled with logs in my ML 270 standard and I don't notice any difference, even in thick mud, snow, whatever. It is awesome. See Youtube of them cracking out Siberian lorries from the ice, etc.

BTW over here in France Norauto (French Halfords type shop) fit towbars to ML.