According to the EPA its cheaper to run a diesel vehicle with regard to fuel costs.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/noframes/21991.shtml

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/noframes/25977.shtml

Plus resale is much higher than the gasser. Take a look at the w210 diesels vs W210 Gassers, same goes with the w124 diesels vs the w124 gassers. You will recoup the "diesel premium" sooner or later.

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2005 SL65
1999 E300
1995 E300
1994 SL320
1988 560SL
1987 300TD
1982 300D
1955 300SL

Well I don't know where they are getting those cheap fuel prices from! For quite awhile diesel has been as much as $1 more a gallon than gas, I don't see that changing anytime soon. But even according to the EPA your only saving about $200 a year on fuel. If you have to pay $8k more to get the CDI well you will never make that back.

If your buying it new and don't have to have AWD than the diesel is a good choice. Better resale and better mileage.

If your buying it used, with the massive price difference than the gas one is cheaper to run.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The Price of diesel the EPA assumes in this comparison is higher than even the stated 70 cent difference in your area. I think the difference listed here is higher than normal but at the end of the day even with a ~80 cent price difference its cheaper to run the diesel vehicle. The more you drive the more you save.



Assumed Fuel Prices:

* Regular: 1.66
* Premium: 1.92
* Diesel: 2.42
* CNG: 2.55
* Electricity: 0.08 per kilowatt hour
* E85: 2.82
* LPG: 2.10

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2005 SL65
1999 E300
1995 E300
1994 SL320
1988 560SL
1987 300TD
1982 300D
1955 300SL

Well do the math with your local fuel prices. Thats how my math works out for probably about 8kish miles a year, E350 wins. If I was going to drive the car 30k+ a year the diesel would start to look good again. But I don't drive that much.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

If you read the notes it says based upon diesel fuel @ $1.66/Gal and gas at $1.92. Around here premium is about $2 and diesel is still close to $2.70. That's reality not EPA fantasy numbers and with those numbers is it about a wash. This table is closer to reality but still not correct:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/bymodel/2006_Mercedes-Benz_E-Class.shtml

It is based upon premium at $1.92 and diesel at $2.42 and shows about $170 difference between the CDI and the E350 4Matic. That goes to about zero if you add $.20 to the cost of diesel to reflect what it really is.

Also, the fact that you are starting out paying 20%-30% less for the gas model makes up for the faster depreciation - in other words the car's already depreciated faster and you are tying up less money in a gasser than a CDI.

I have learned that there are people on these boards which for whatever reason will never admit that a diesel car is impractical, but it is today. 25 years ago when gasoline engines required more maintenance and lasted half as long as a diesel and diesel fuel was cheaper than gas it made sense to drive a diesel car. Today none of those conditions exist. The maintenance is about the same, the engines last about as long and diesel is 30% more costly than gas, so why would anyone buy one and actually pay a premium for it, not to mention settle for RWD to boot. But, like I said, we will never convince those who can't have their minds changed.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Well if I was buying a new E class I would get the diesel. It doesn't cost any more new and I just prefer a diesel, also resale is much higher.

Its like a Dodge truck salesman said to me once, "I have clients that spend the extra $8k for the Cummins because they like the way it sounds."

People buy things on emotions, not logic.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

A. More diesels are sold in the south/southwest than the snow/rust belts, so 4matic is not important

B. 10 years from now the diesel car will be worth roughly twice what a gasser is worth....look at the E300;s from 95 they are worth twice what a gasser of the same vintage goes for.

C. No costly tune ups are necessary

D. The more you drive a diesel the more you save

E. Using your theory people wouldn't spend extra for any options, because they would not be able to recoup the costs...>Why do people by hybrids? Or add the diesel option to trucks? Or get heated seats? etc?

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2005 SL65
1999 E300
1995 E300
1994 SL320
1988 560SL
1987 300TD
1982 300D
1955 300SL

I get low 20s around town, without the AC. Basically 23 mpg.

Diesel engines are known to be rugged, delivering high mileage w/o overhauls. That's another reason why I drive 'em. It's the fuel economy aspect too.

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'06 E320 CDI - PEWTER/CHARCOAL
'17 Corvette (C7) Stingray Vert /M7-speed manual trans/3LT/MSRC/FE2/Z51 19"-20" Blk wheels - Arctic White / Jet Black Napa leather interior

Like I said, some people just can't be convinced

A) The standard E350 is even CHEAPER than the 4Matic on the second hand market, so if you don't need AWD you would save even more buying a used one over a CDI.

B) Again, it is supply and demand, but keep in mind that in the mid to late 90's they sold almost no diesel models in the USA so the supply of them on the second hand market is scarce. The price differential today is not as high as it was a few years ago and the price of the diesel models tops out at about $10K now, even for a relatively low miles turbo. The N/A's can be had for little more than a gasser...about $5K-$7K is typical. Yeah, so if you had spent $10K more for a used W210 turbo diesel 5 years ago than a E320 you would now have a car worth $5K more than the E320, I still don't see the advantage.

C) This one is my favorite. Today's gassers need "costly tune ups" every 100,000 miles/5 years. This basically consists of replacement of spark plugs as the only difference between a gasser and a diesel. I've replaced spark plugs in 4, 6 and 8 cylinder gas M-B engines and none required as much work as my OM606 is to replace glow plugs. 16 spark plugs for my C43 cost $85. 6 glow plugs for my E300 cost $150. PLUS, I have never heard of anyone breaking off a spark plug in an M-B gasser's head

D) As the prior posts have stated, the cost difference on fuel negates just about any difference in MPGs, so this is one dead horse which needs no more beating.

E) I don't even understand the point of E. Why do people buy hybrids? That's a good question, it certainly isn't to save money. I think most do because they think it is good for the planet, another misconception.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

I agree that buying new is different than used since both are very close to the same price and the diesel does seem to depreciate much more slowly. My posts were based upon the OP's questions about used CDIs, not new and the comparison to used gassers of the same era.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

For those of use using biodiesel, the CDI injected models are some trouble, so they shouldnt command any sort of premium price as they dont have much of an alt fuel mission.

must be a german thing.vw doesn't have 4motion diesels over here either.

I owned a 210 turbodiesel sedan for ~6 years and have been driving a 210 wagon with the M112 for ~5 years. In my experience the M112 is less expensive to own than the OM606. The spark plugs on the M112 cost less, last longer, and are easier to change than the glowplugs on the OM606. My OM606 needed glowplugs at 35K and 60K miles. In contrast the M112 was running fine when the plugs were changed at 55K miles. In fairness, the M112 requires plug changes every 5 years, so average folks won't get 100K miles out of a set.

Anyways, my experience has been the M112 is less fussy, less expensive to own, and has lower fuel costs (given the current petrol/diesel price spread in the U.S.).

That said, I do like driving the turbo OM606 better. There is no substitute for torque...

- JimY

We have one in the family (mother) and it's a great car that get fantastic fuel mileage. I'm not sure if the extra money spent on diesel fuel is worth the extra MPG. It's close. My gas 1996 120K E320 gets 26 MPG on the highway.

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Retired NYPD
Retired USMC
Life is good.

A lot of you seem pretty short-sighted. Sure, maybe right now the fuel price differential doesn't justify purchasing a diesel (all other reasons aside). But what about when gas is $4 a gallon like it was a few months ago? Even if diesel costs $5, it's still worth it. You need to look at the price differential as a percentage rather than an absolute difference. The CDI gets about 35% better fuel economy than the its gasoline sibling and that's what counts. Where else can you get a full-size sedan that has the torque of a big V8 and the economy of a 4 banger? I don't know of any other. Having said that, I admit that if you don't need the huge torque and prefer a wider power band and don't care much about mileage, the gasoline versions look pretty attractive.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL