W124 'Official' MPG figures....

[Ednamillion]

Hi, newbie here and congratulations on a great forum....

Could any post-'93 (i.e. the '94/'95/'96 model years) W124 owner(s) out there post what Mercedes claim the mpg figures of the auto versions of the cars are - all engine sizes including diesel? I assume these are printed in the owners' manual?

MPG seems to be a popular question on the forum and as useful as owners own experiences are I would like to compare official figures to direct me to the correct model choice.

Yes, I am looking to become a W124 owner and my only concern - day-to-day - is fuel costs. A member about a year ago posted these figures from his/her 1986 230TE owners manual and, frankly, it has put me off the 2.3L engine - not as good as my current 2.5 Galant and distrubingly close to Lexus's claims for the MK2 LS400..... I think it may need to be the 3.0 diesel I opt for but I'd like some idea of the manufacturers' claims...

These figures would be of great use to me - any info would be appreciated.

Edna'...

 

[lindowkid]

Yeap, this is exactly my question too...

 

[PRS]

124 MPG

My 1994 E300td does 28-35 depending on town or open road use.

 

[500sl]

If fuel costs bother you buy a diesel and run it on red diesel 30p a litre.

 

[Ednamillion]

PRS,

Thanks for your reply - always useful to hear of other owners' experiences - but I am more interested in the 'claimed' figures from Mercedes. I can correlate these - to some degree - to my current cars' and figure from there what I might get, mpg wise, with my driving style, distances, road-type etc.

Would it be naughty of me to ask if you might check your manual to see what/if Mercedes are claiming for the W124 range... :roll: ?

500sl,

Not sure what the availability/costs of 'red' diesel is here in Ireland....if this is the diesel used specifically for agricultural use I know that the customs guys here don't take too kindly to joe public using it and they carry out quite a number of checks for said offence....Thanks for the reply though.

Edna'...

 

[mjtray]

MPG on my W124 1993 E280 was between 26-28mpg on day to day driving

MPG for my W124 300D always seems to come in at 36mpg

 

[sooper coop]

Gas Guzzles

I have a 300CE which does 28mpg on motorway 85mph. and about 18-20 round town. The difference between a 230 and a 300 is going to be pretty minimal I think.

If economy is very important to you, Diesels the only option.

Just my opinion.


if you got caught with Red Diesel customs could imprison you, but at least you'd be sharing a cell with motorists rather than burglars. :roll:

basically drive a hard bargain with seller of 230 and save £400 of the expected sale price and use the saving to buy petrol then cruise round Ireland with smug grin.

 

[bigt]

economy

In the book for my 190e ( 1990 2 ltr auto ) Mercedes quote the following:

urban 24.9 mpg
constant 56 39.5 mpg
constant 75 32.2 mpg


the reality is completely different - overall average of mixed town and country driving is about 26 mpg and I am getting just under 30 on the motorway at a steady 75 -80 mph. My driving is done with a very light right foot and I try to keep my driving style as economical as possible.

The moral here is dont take any notice of the book figures.

 

[Ednamillion]

mjtray,

Again, thanks for your reply and your personal mpg experience - the 300D figures look quite encouraging. But - call me stubborn - but I really am most interested in what Mercedes were claiming for the W124's in the owners' manual - it does give me a frame of reference.....

sooper coop,

The economy thing is becoming more important to me (since we just broached the 1Euro/litre petrol price... - it's all to do with psychology I guess) and I suppose the diesel is becoming the obvious choice.....I just want to be sure I'm getting the benefit I need to compensate for the probable 'lethargy' of the oil-burner.

Thanks for the reply though...

Edna'...

 

[Ednamillion]

bigt,

Thanks for your reply - I understand (only too well) that the book figures have only a nodding relationship with reality - but I'm hoping to correlate the difference between fact and fiction of my current car to the fact and fiction of the W124 series....

I wonder are there enough general enquiries regarding mpg and different models to deserve a 'sticky'? I know this question continually crops up in posts and it's probably only through the decency of the members that they continue to politely answer these queries....

Edna'...

 

[bigt]

economy

I think a sticky is an excellent idea - who is going to start the ball rolling??
It would be a useful reference point for many people both old and prospective owners.

 

[HZ123]

While you are at it what is the mpg actuals on the 250TD as I have looked at a number of late 90's but have had ranges from 34 - 40 ?

 

[bazza]

MPG figures taken from Autocar/Autocar & Motor road tests

First figure is the overall consumption, the second is typical

200E 5spd 23.3/29.9
230CE Auto 23.6/30.1
260E 5spd 23.6/27.4
300E-24 5spd Auto 18.5/24.5
280E Auto 22.2/29/2
300CE Auto 22.1/26.6
300D Auto 28.6/34.6
300E 5spd 25.2/28.4
300TE Auto 21.5/23.6
320E Auto 18.4/21.5
500E Auto 16.5/19.5


Will post more as I find them


Bazza

 

[230K]

Ednamillion

From 124 T model owners manual (although 93 not post 93 as requested)

250TD Urban 9.3l/100km, at 90km/h 6.3l/100km, at 120km/h 8.4l/100km
300TD Urban 9.4l/100km, at 90km/h 6.7l/100km, at 120km/h 8.8l/100km
200TE Urb 12.0l/100km, at 90km/h 8.0l/100km, at 120km/h 10.2l/100km
230TE Urb 12.0l/100km, at 90km/h 8.2l/100km, at 120km/h 10.3l/100km
300TE Urb 13.8l/100km, at 90km/h 9.4l/100km, at 120km/h 11.6l/100km

4.546litres = 1gallon
100km = 62miles

The manual is for the T model and the petrol models have CAT's

Hope this helps

230K

 

[Ednamillion]

Ooops, Thought this thread had come to an end!

Bazza, 230K,

Thanks for your respective replies - this is the kind of stuff I was looking for.

Bazza, I'm a little confused by the terms 'overall' and 'typical' in the mags stats - particularly the 'overall' being higher than the 'typical' :?

Again, thank you both for your replies. I think this kind of info will be useful to more than just myself.

To be completely selfish I would still like the post '93 owners manual figures.....if anyone has them out there I would be most grateful!

Edna'...

 

[Geoff_Slade]

Edna

Sorry but I'm also a pre-facelift (that's the car not me!) W124 owner. Its a standard 4 speed auto 300D saloon. The book quotes (I've converted using 4.55 litres to the gallon and 8km for every 5 miles and rounded to the nearest decimal point (the mathemiticians on the forum will be holding their hands up in despair at this stage!) :

Urban: 30.6mpg

56 mph: 46mpg

75mph: 35.9mpg

To give you an idea of how realistic these are the best I've got pussy footing around (although a 300D doesn't exactly burn rubber it just pussy foots a bit faster) was 42mpg on a combination of single and dual carriageways sticking to the speed limits i.e. 60 on single and 70 on dual with a/c off. The worst I've got doing urban only with a/c on most of the time was 27/28mpg. I've just come back from two highish speed trips (I'll leave you to guess what speed) on the M1 and M40 and got 35.6mpg (a/c off most of the time). I know it's not the post 93 figures but it will hopefully give you an idea that the figures quoted in the manuals are easily achievable. I don't know what changes were made to the gearbox and engine post facelift (more valves, 5 speed instead of 4 speed auto?) but I wouldn't have thought they would have changed the consumption figures much, after all it weighs almost 1 and a half tons unladen and almost 2 tons fully loaded.

The 300D is a great car especially on motorways where it will sit at the legal limit with ease. It's not the sort of car to complete tight overtaking moves in but it holds its own in most types of traffic and for a big auto is reasonably economical. I'm a fairly new owner and I'm very happy with it, its comfortable and considering the size easy to manoeuvre and park; the steering is a doddle, light for parking but at speed you don't feel that you've lost contact with the front wheels.

Happy to help with any general questions but I'm no technical wizard (Andy Gale does that for me!).

 

[Ednamillion]

Geoff,

Thanks for your comprehensive reply!

Your figures seem very encouraging - I believe the multivalve (later) 3.0 diesel is both a little quicker and a little less economical, but considering the figures you quote and your own experience I'm more or less of the opinion that the '94 - '96 multivalve diesel is for me....(where's Nick Froome when you need him... )

I do have a question for you regarding your own 300TD, Geoff, what is the noise/refinement like? Under acceleration and cruising? This would be first paddle in the diesel pool and - other than the economy question - the only other concern might be the refinement scenario...

Again, thanks for your help,

Edna'...

 

[Geoff_Slade]

Edna

Hi. My car is just the basic 300D not a TD. I don't think MB ever did a right hand drive W124 turbo in the UK due to problems fitting a turbo and a/c.

Anyway onto your question. Noise is muted most of the time with a little bit of a growl when accelerating hard. A friend who I took out in it didn't realise it was a diesel and he drives a diesel. At 70ish mph wind noise is minimal, engine noise is restrained and depending on the road surface there's very little tyre noise. It's a very relaxing place to be in and on top of the lack of noise it also smoothes out the bumps really well. Some roll if conering hard but that might be down to the fact that my car has done 134,000 and is still on the same suspension. This is my first MB so I'm not sure what's normal in terms of handling so if you're interested in that aspect perhaps someone else can comment on whether my experience is the norm. Oh and once the auto box has warmed up the changes are very smooth (although usually I'm in 4th at 30 and then just let it build up from there). Happy to help with any other questions

Cheers

 

[Jensen]

Count yourself lucky in Ireland since you pay 1 Euro per litre petrol equiv 65 pence. We pay 85 pence per litre in UK

 

[Ednamillion]

Geoff,

Thanks for that. I do think that the diesel really suits the W124 - and if the refinement levels are as you say then that would just re-inforce the feeling of relaxed 'well-being' I would hope to be getting from the car....

Jensen,

Take your point - we are fluctuating around the 1euro mark for petrol (and diesel) but it's really just swings and roundabouts.

If/when I purchase a 300D my motor tax (road fund tax in UK?) will be 1,109 euro/annum (£765). And adding some insult to injury - just checking new car prices - base C-class in UK is listed at equivalent of 29,000 euro, here in Ireland we're looking at 39,500.....and this 'block-exemption' removal the EU are in the process of will probably make cars more expensive over here....(dangerous thing complaining about motoring costs to the Irish )

Still, I suspect money will be spent in the New Year on my first Mercedes Benz.

Edna'...