Is 16 miles per gallon normal on ML430

[DETANE]

I'm only getting 16 miles per gallon street and 18 miles per gallon Highway on my ML430. Is this normal?

[sosh]

Thats about normal around town and a bit on the low side for highway

[Blocks]

I'd say that's about normal for a 430, but I don't own one.

[bocabenz]

Depending on how I drive it, I can get as low as 14, 16 is about the highest I get in the city.

[Bogie]

If I used cruise control at the speed limit I can get as much as 21 mpg on the highway. I can make it as bad as 16 mpg. Check your air filter. If it's not clean, replace it. It will improve mpg.

[LOCHS 2]

Originally Posted by Bogie

If I used cruise control at the speed limit I can get as much as 21 mpg on the highway. I can make it as bad as 16 mpg. Check your air filter. If it's not clean, replace it. It will improve mpg.

I was getting 15 MPG and when I got my last oil change I told them to replace the air filter. I assumed it had been changed at EVERY oil change for the last 50K miles...despite my requests and assumptions and trust it was never changed (PITA to actually check it). FINALLY the last time it was done and my MPG jumped to 16 (on average). Sounds like not much but that is a 6.67% improvement.

I don't know what interval the filter should be changed but 50K miles has got to be past the overdue stage.

[DelJ]

I am getting about the same on my ML430. Seems like I used to get 1 mpg better. The engine is perfectly smooth, though it felt weak when I was driving recently with three adult male passengers (plus me). Perhaps the mass air flow sensor needs to be serviced.

DelJ

Originally Posted by DETANE

I'm only getting 16 miles per gallon street and 18 miles per gallon Highway on my ML430. Is this normal?

[fabbrisd1]

The OP post is about norm/avergae, but with any normal vehicle you can bring up the mileage 10%-15% to bring it back spot on... you can choose to go on the program or not too, your choice...people used to sniff at chasing the spot on efficiency, but it can make a 5%-10%-even 15% dent in your gas bill. If you trim up 10% in your mileage, then every USD$60 fill you will be saving USD$6 by getting a extra 10% in miles off that tank..clean and simple.

1) Air fliter replacement - especially in S. California I would put at around 5K miles. It's a easy DIY, better to Mahle or OE correct filter from internet or eBay than to use non-OE from general retail auto parts store..have a vacuum or at least a rag available when you pull out the old one to clean the inside of the airbox which is designed as a catch basin for larger chunks that enter the air intake..personally, I choose not to run a K&N snorkel, and choose to keep OE..even a good air filter, partially blocked within useable life, will decrease your optimum gas mileage.
I would rather invest my $6 a tank in buying the next air filter than giving the $6 as my contribution to the record breaking oil company profits.

2) Injection cleaner - you should run a good injection cleaner, like Techron large bottle you can buy at retail, or BG-44K which the mechanics RAVE about is a bit scarcer (consumer using BK 44 should followup a couple of tanks later with BG Power Enhancer) or it's consumer friendly BG CF5 which is single shot like Techron and does not require followup. A good injection cleaner is best used regularly before each oil change, and best not used more than twice during a single oil change..
Especially with the seasonal gas additives (up and down and all around) that gas stations are forced (ESPECIALLY in CA) to put into the gas they sell, a top cleaner is almost mandatory in my estimation (ESPECIALLY in CA)..

3) Oil - Your choice whether or not to do a 8 1/2 quart oil change before FSS, the essentail part here is a OE oil filter, best sourced from internet or eBay.. regardless of mileage effect (or no effect) a DIY oil change should get you a bit dirty but the result is you feel damn better about your car...

4) Visual inspection of the cats - Call your dealer with your VIN and ask them to pull up any/all cat nocitces for your car, and ask if your car qualifies for a free cat inspection...cracks in the cats can appear, which can drop fuel efficiency since too much air gets sucked into the cat, runs a bit too hot and clogs up a bit too fast... cat efficiency with some cracks is a common issue.. if a MB delaer does do a free cat inspection, but then tries to talk you into buying (rather than MBV replacement of cats) then if you need a cat replacement there are some very good non-OE cats out there much cheaper (and now some that ARE California approved.

5) Check for codes - after the basic stuff, get your codes read to detect any internal issues..

Sure driving style affects your gas mileage, but who wants to change their style ? My style is with gas over USD$3 a gallon where I am, my style is I want to take care of my cars and I want the choice of where my money is going to go - I choose my vehicles over the oil companies !

[AC_ML]

My ML 500 normally does around 16 mpg, in the city, and 18 miles on the highway.

But it depends on the formulation of the gas, too. I noticed that gas stations change their formulation depending on the season or for some other reasons. If they have %10 ethanol, then my ML will make around 1 mpg less. Though ethanol has a higher octane than gasoline, gasoline vehicle engines cannot take direct advantage of ethanol properly, since the engine will need a greater volume of ethanol flow, a higuer compression, and different timing settings, which our vehicles computers/programs/hardware/engine do not support at the moment.

i.e. If you use Ethanol E100, your engine will need to have a compression ratio of 19.5:1, and an increased timing setting in order to take advantage of the higher octane equivalent, and it will outperform any gasoline engine (ethanol designed engines have a much higuer thermal efficiency). Saab has tested flex fueled prototypes that have specialized variable direct injection and variable compression ratio features that makes the vehicle run more efficiently in ethanol than with gasoline..

Are you sure it is not a gas formulation difference..? I always fill my tank at the same gas station and I can notice when they begin to use a different gas formulation.

AC

[docg]

I had a 2000 ML 430 that got mileage similar to yours. Suprisingly, my 2002 ML500 gets better on the highway. My last interstate trip of 2000 miles at over 75mph average gave me 22 mpg.