Engines

Everything was fine until I braked for a red light about a mile down the road. Then the engine started sputtering and "lurching" - felt like...

The memory settings on my '97 E420 only work for the seats. I know the drivers side is also to include the mirrors and steering wheel, but it is only working for the seat. Anyone else had this issue and know what it takes to fix it?

200 cdi to 220cdi upgrade

In 1998, Mercedes introduced its Flexible Service System (FSS) oil life monitoring system. When used with approved long-life oils, FSS allows owners to extend their oil change interval to 10,000 to 20,000 miles, depending on driving conditions. The use of high quality, synthetic, long-life oils and long-life fleece oil filters is critical to going the extended distance between oil changes without harming the engine. A list of approved synthetic oils follows.

If there’s one word that most people associate with older Mercedes, it’s “diesel.” A few years ago I owned a 1980 450SL convertible. During the 1970s, the 450SL was nearly everyone’s dream sports car. I’d get offended about once a month when someone would ask if me if my car was a diesel. Sometimes I shoot back: Do you really think they’d put a diesel in a sports car?

All these conversations just show my own ignorance. The fact is, diesels are no longer the slow, smelly, noisy, clunky oil burners that they used to be. And yes, they really do put a diesel in a sports car. You can can even buy an SL400 CDI in Europe. If it hadn’t been for General Motors ruining the public’s perception of diesel motors, we’d probably all be driving diesels today. Modern turbodiesels — like the ones available in the E-class — often outperform gas (petrol to you Brits!) engines of the same size!

Made a 650+ mile trip from Michigan to Virginia this week in my 1998 E320 4Matic sedan this week. Average fuel economy for the trip: 29.8 MPG (@ ~70 MPH). Not bad for a four-wheel drive luxury car that weighs close to two tons and has an ungoverned top speed north of 140 MPH!