I completely agree that diesel engines offer more economy. My objections were to the slowness, noise, vibration and smoke. Even the improved E300D of 1990's was still slow and clatters loudly after a few years. The latest diesel engines may or may not fix all this, but the past for diesels has been nothing to crow about.
My other big gripe is with all the nonsense one hears from the diesel crowd, such as less maintenance just because a gas engine requires new spark plugs every 100,000 miles. They seem to forget that diesel engines require more frequent oil changes. You can count even more maintenance for the new hi-tech diesels engines.
Finally, I would like hear just once from someone who is honest enough to simply admit that they bought a diesel to save money. I don't need to hear about locomotive transmissions or how hybrid cars were really invented 100 years ago.
DelJ
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Andrew - 3/31/2005 12:07 PM
DelJ, Your evaluation of a diesel engine is falling a little short, today no other engine in practical use offers higher conversion of fuel energy into mechanical energy than a Diesel engine and further more there is ample room for continual improvement in the conversion rate.
DelJ - 3/29/2005 8:14 AM
Here in the USA diesel cost the same as gas and there are no difference in vehicle fees between gas and diesel variants, and so we Americans choose gas or diesel based soley on their respective merits. In this fair situation, diesel does not fare very well.
DelJ, the main difference between Europe and the US is that the cost of gas and diesel fuel is significantly higher in Europe. Once it becomes more expensive in the US one can expect a significantly increased diesel market share.
I completely agree that diesel engines offer more economy. My objections were to the slowness, noise, vibration and smoke. Even the improved E300D of 1990's was still slow and clatters loudly after a few years. The latest diesel engines may or may not fix all this, but the past for diesels has been nothing to crow about.
You need to go to your local MBZ dealer and evaluate the E320CDI. You will be amazed. In fact, you could probably test drive one and not even know it was a diesel if you didn’t see the badge on the trunk lid. The engine noise and vibration are well muted. Even under full-throttle acceleration, there is no smoke and the engine sound is very pleasing, only surpassed by the G-forces you will feel as you are pushed back into your seat under the acceleration that comes darn close to that of the E500, all while getting somewhere between 50 and 100% better MPG.
My only complaints are that it does lack some throttle response at highway speeds (70-90mph range) that you feel with the E500. Also, the lack of a 4Matic version is a disappointment. Finally, diesel fuel is not as readily available on every street corner like gasoline. Otherwise, I see no real reason not to choose the CDI if I were buying an E-Class, unless of course I wanted the AMG version (and rumor has it that there is an AMG diesel coming in the near future).
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My other big gripe is with all the nonsense one hears from the diesel crowd, such as less maintenance just because a gas engine requires new spark plugs every 100,000 miles. They seem to forget that diesel engines require more frequent oil changes. You can count even more maintenance for the new hi-tech diesels engines.
As for oil changes, they E320CDI is programmed for more frequent oil changes than the MBZ gasoline engines: every 10K miles vs. 13K miles. Otherwise, the service schedules are the same. As for the high-tech features, the only component that concerns me is the variable-vane turbo charger. Anything that is exposed to exhaust gases is destined to fail. Otherwise, there are no more high tech items specific to the CDI engines.
Like I said, you need to go drive one, then come back and let us know if you still have the same opinions.
...and rumor has it that there is an AMG diesel coming in the near future.
Ahhhhh, Rodney. Checked with some AMG freaks and they say there were lots of AMG diesels already. Was news for me too. The first ones were based on the OM616 and OM617, starting with W115, W460 (first G-wagen series, 1979-1990), W123, C123 etc. Here is the more recent C30 CDI AMG:
Linear Mode
