HELP!!! Gona have me one 300C Touring Disel... HELP!!!

Hello!

I living in Sweden(North Europe).

i planing to by a 300C Touring, with the new disel 320cdi from the
Mercedes.

What i is whondering is...
If the 300C touring 2,7l-3.5l or the 5,8l, has had any problem, and
what type in case of problem: Electrical, bad noices in the car
etc...?

How many miloes have youre car on the tripmeter....
Changing tyres yet? at what mile was it time for that...

Here in Sweden it have 225/60/18 tires byt in the state i have been
told that it is typ-registred whit 17" weels what more is the
tires...205-215/65-70/17 or what?

I`m going to run it as a Taxicab, so i whant it too work properly, and
not having it with the car-doctor.garage...

Hope some of you can give me any ideas.
Hopfully i did whrite so you did understand what i was refering to.

Have a nice day, take care...

Mike

 

Been there a few times. Nice place.

A diesel engine is not offered in North America for the Chrysler 300
series. Seeing that diesel fuel currently costs about 10% more than
regular gasoline, I don't know why you'd buy a car with a diesel
engine these days. They're noisy and they stink.

The 300 has many parts made by Mercedes (like the suspension and
transmission). For us here in USA/Canada, that usually means it will
be more expensive to repair these items compared to when all the parts
were made by Chrysler (or - made for Chrysler) by secondary parts
makers in north america. Because the 300 is an "exotic" car in
Sweden, I expect you will pay a lot for replacement parts.

Most versions of the 300 have 17" wheels. The all-wheel-drive version
of the 300 Touring does come with 18" wheels, and so does the AWD/RWD
versions of the 300C. The SRT-8 version comes with 20" wheels (and I
believe a 6.1 liter engine).

The 17" tire size is 215-65-17

I own a 2000 300M (the previous version of the 300, which is much
better looking then the
pimp-mobile-bently-SUV-front-end-in-your-face-no-class submarine new
version which you are asking about). I am completely satisfied with
how well my 300m has performed in the 5 years and 90,000 km I have
driven it.

Tire life is more dependant on the brand of tire and your own driving
style than on the car you put them on. That said, there are
pathetically few tire choices here in North America for the 17" wheels
on the 300 (215-65-17). Chrysler chose a stock tire size for the 300
where only shitty tires are available in that size.

You will be better off to change the tire slightly to 225-55-17 (more
choices).

Yea, I've seen a few 300m's in Netherlands used as Taxi's.

So that rules out Volkswagen, Saab and Volvo.

The 300 series has only been available for about a year. It may be
too early for repair information about them.

http://autos.yahoo.com/newcars/chrysler_300_base_2005/14703/style_reliability.html

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliability.aspx?modelid=11136&trimid=-1&src=GBT

Here's a web site you might find interesting:

http://www.daimlerchryslervehicleproblems.com/

 

Much better fuel economy, esp in city driving. That's why even in the UK,
which has been traditionally anti-diesel, the diesel car is on the rapid
rise, despite the fact that the price of the fuel is about the same as
petrol.

You'll have to update your view on smell when you see modern engines run on
modern, low-sulfur fuel.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]
I don't know why you'd buy a car with a diesel

[...]

 

Diesel engine costs more as an option:

"Volkswagen's midsize 2005 Passat diesel sedan has a starting MSRP of
$23,360. This compares with $22,070 for a comparable gasoline Passat
model." (1)

Prohibited by law:

"Diesel models are limited in their availability in the U.S. because
five states—California, New York, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont
prohibit their sale due to emission restrictions." (1)

But produce more torque:

"Yet the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine in the Passat TDI, as the
diesel versions are called, puts out an amazing 247 lb-ft of torque at
a low 1900 rpm vs. the 166 lb-ft of torque at 1950 rpm in the
1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine in the base Passat sedan." (1)

Get better gas milage:

"Thanks to its higher energy content and its efficient combustion
process, diesel performance enables cars to travel at least 30%
farther on a gallon of fuel than comparable gasoline models." (2)

But the savings will take time to pay-back the initial increased cost:

"Thus, if drivers maximized the diesel's fuel economy and got the 7
extra miles per gallon, it would take about four years to recoup the
approximately $1,200 extra cost for the Passat's diesel engine." (1)

Which will take more time to pay-back if diesel continues to be more
expensive to buy than gasoline. And, not every urban filling station
has a diesel pump. In some cases, drivers might need to venture
farther from suburban neighborhoods to locate a place to fill up.

And they are noisy (more than a comparible gas engine).

Diesel is more popular in Europe because it is taxed less than
gasoline:

"The demand for diesel in Europe is fueled by the high cost of
gasoline. (Unequal taxation of the two fuels results in diesel costing
about one dollar less per gallon in most European countries.)" (2)

It takes more oil to make a gallon of diesel than for gasoline, so the
relative efficiencies of diesel and the costs to consumer due to
taxation really make the attraction of diesel questionable:

"It should be noted, however, that it takes about 25% more oil to make
a gallon of diesel fuel than a gallon of gasoline, so we should really
look at how a vehicle does on fuel efficiency in terms of "oil
equivalents." Thus, we need to adjust the mileage claims for diesel
vehicles downward by about 20% when comparing them to gasoline-powered
vehicles." (2)

Although diesel engines generate less carbon dioxide (only because of
their slightly better fuel economy), they put out more smog-forming
pollutants than gasoline engines:

"when it comes to smog-forming pollutants and toxic particulate
matter, also known as soot, today's diesels are still a lot dirtier
than the average gasoline car." (2)

It will take more effort and cost than it's worth to make diesel
cleaner than gasoline:

"To meet the tougher pollution standards, high-tech diesel engines
need low-sulfur diesel fuel. Unfortunately, US Department of Energy
modeling has shown this fuel to be more oil and carbon-intensive than
reformulated gasoline. Making a gallon of diesel fuel requires 25%
more oil and emits 17% more heat-trapping greenhouse gases than
gasoline reformulated with MTBE. Similarly, diesel requires 17% more
oil and emits 18% more heat-trapping gases than gasoline reformulated
with ethanol. This means that diesel fuel's advantages from its higher
per-gallon energy content and better performance on greenhouse gases
are partially offset by the impact of diesel's fuel-production
process."

(1)
http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4022630

(2)
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/04-12/diesel-vs-gasoline-article.htm

For more info, see here:

The Diesel Dilemma
Diesel's Role in the Race for Clean Cars

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/cars_and_suvs/page.cfm?pageID=1307

 

Last year I was in the UK and had a 90 minute ride to the airport in a
Chrysler diesel minivan. The only way I knew it was a diesel was because
the driver told me so. It was quiet, no smell, and acceleration was no
different (from a passenger point of view) than gasoline engine.

 

A number of your points are US-centric, others contain sweeping
generalisations, others are interesting and instructive.

See below.

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

FROM DAS: Not with Mercedes, and differentials are coming down. Can't
speak about US.

FROM DAS: A US problem only.

FROM DAS: I agree. Not everyone thinks it through (where it applies).

[...]

FROM DAS: US-centric. In Europe it's ubiquitous.

FROM DAS: True, but difference is getting less. Inside the car it is hard
to tell.

FROM DAS: As I said, in Britain diesel costs about the same as petrol.
However, in other countries there are varying differentials. In some (all?)
there is 'compensation' by extra taxes on the cars, either at purchase or on
the road-usage tax. I suppose it's a way of helping commercial traffic
without giving the same advantage to private transport.

FROM DAS: Very instructive. I wonder what the real-world situation is,
i.e. the marginal cost of making diesel in the general refining process.

FROM DAS: True, but modern engines have increasingly efficient particulate
filters such that the difference is not so great any more and shrinking.

FROM DAS: Not so in the real world. The forthcoming filters on Mercedes
(and probably other) cars should be very interesting. Everyone will follow
suit in the end.

FROM DAS: As above.

What are Ann Job's credentials? Well-known motoring journalist or stringer
who happens to be doing an article on a topical motoring subject? (Sorry, I
don't know who she is.)

FROM DAS: Something about the article makes me think it takes a US-centric
view and does not take European developments fully into account, e.g. modern
soot filters.

FROM DAS: It is sometimes a dilema but the article isn't entirely accurate,
e.g the comment about low-tax diesel fuel. For a Brit to take his/her car
to, say, the Netherlands and fill up with much cheaper diesel is great fun
while it lasts, bu the locals pay in other ways, as mentioned above.

For commercial traffic it is, apparently, no contest. All heavy goods
vehicles run on diesels. And they are all turbocharged, of course, hence
the small engine compartments. Well, passenger cars have turbodiesels as
well.

 

The simple and best fix in the US would be to do as the military did
and go over to the JP-8 spec which is good for all diesels and gas
turbines. Euro on-road diesel is almost there now.

At any rate, US car buyers are not as anti-diesel as the US car dealer
network is. Modern common rail tech WILL work with current US onroad
diesel-the Duramax is HP common rail and runs on any US onroad diesel.

 

I have been in touch with the cardealer, and he had neu info for
mee...

it is a 3,0disel engin, vith 218horsepower and 520torq wen the engin
is spinnin at 1800...

Top speed 230km/h
0-100km/h is done in 8,3sec.

And the middleconsumtion is 8-9Liter/100km

I recond thats ok for that kind of car... :lol:

Now the only thing yhat i´m wored about is how it will handel, in the
snow, bicuse of the fat tire 225/60-18, it might be a bit of a
challinge...

Take care...
Mike