Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - KAI5406

I want to buy a new Mercedes E Class estate. However, I live in London and will be using it around town and rarely on a long trip.

I am aware diesels need to go on a run every so often to clean out the DPF.

I have considered a 250CGI but I know it will be underpowered.

I had had an Audi A6 which I had to do a run and currently have a BMW 5 touring diesel which in 1 year I've had to call Bmw out to clean out a valve, which worked. I have been told by Mercedes that a light will come on and then it has to go into Mercedes for a re-generation. A run will not make the warning light go back to normal.

Do all Mercedes diesel drivers have to go on a run? Some Mercedes garages have said there service depts are full of cars needing regenerations and some say none. All a bit suspicious.

Has anyone got an answer other than petrol? The Bluetec versions have a resovoir of additive, which is supposed to help but again different dealers say different things. Will buying a hybrid really help? It's still diesel.

Do I really have to buy a Lexus?

I want a Mercedes as they are a much softer ride around town compared to my BMW.

All help appreciated.

Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - RobJP

Mercedes do make the E class estate with a 'E250' petrol engine - 2.0 litre petrol turbo, with 211 bhp. Not exactly underpowered.

That would be far better suited to urban driving than a diesel, if you really want an E class estate.

Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - Happy Blue!

If you are living in London and do not do many, if any, long journeys a diesel is not the engine for you. You will not need huge reserves of power but a petrol turbo engine will have sufficient torque for the traffic light grand prix without clogging up. The aforementioned 250CGI sounds like exactly what you need.

I have owned two largish cars with this type of engine and they both gave more than adequate performance without the noise rattles or smell of a diesel.

Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - E Class Diesel

I am in the middle of this and hope I can help.

I have a 70k miles Mercedes E 220 diesel estate which I bought in April last year.

The DPF has been an utter nightmare and the car has been in the garage in:

1. September

2. November

3. December

4. and I dropped it off again yesterday

I live in London and do short runs and the last time I took the car out of the dealership (franchise, bill £700) they told me that I'd need to keep the fuel above half a tank and keep it running about 2.5k revs for 30 miles or so it could regenerate.

Over Xmas we went to visit relatives and put on 1k motorway miles so I thought I'd have done all I needed to for a few weeks.

Low and behold it goes off again this week!

The garage have told me I do too many short runs but also agree that a few weeks of short runs after a thousand miles in a week should be enough.

I wish I'd bought a petrol car.

I hate it.

Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - RobJP

Nothing wrong with the car. Everything wrong with the driving it's being put through.

We've got a BMW 325d estate (2013 car). since my working location changed, it usually has :

3 or 4 days of the week, me. 6 miles each way. (occasionally I have to go to the Chester office, 30 miles away)

1 day of the week, my wife uses it for her part-time job. 25 miles each way, including a nice run on a open-traffic dual carriageway.

Weekends, varies. Sometimes it doesn't move, sometimes it might just pop into town (6 miles away), sometimes 100 mile round trips.

We've not had any problems with the DPF as yet.

The point is though, DPF diesels need to have decent runs, at speed, AT LEAST weekly. Every month just isn't going to cut it.

You've got 2 choices.

1. Accept you made a mistake. Sell it, buy a petrol.

2. Keep it. Continuous big bills.

Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - daveyjp
Even with regens they can still clog up and 70,000 is what I have read for some cars requiring major work to fix the problem.

OP. A 250CGI E class will have plenty of poke for pootling around London! I tried a C180 with the 1.6T and it was far from being a slouch.
Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - xtrailman

I have been doing short trips locally only putting 7K miles on the clock a year, and never had a DPF problem thats took me to a garage. And that over 7 years in three different DPF cars.

But i don't do much city driving, no car is suited for that other than an electric car. Why don't you try a tesla?

My daughter does less miles and zero motorway with her c class and has never reported a DPF problem, i don't think she even knows what one is, but she has a new car every few month, usually 6months. And always a merk.

Edited by xtrailman on 23/01/2016 at 08:58

Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - RobJP

My daughter does less miles and zero motorway with her c class and has never reported a DPF problem, i don't think she even knows what one is, but she has a new car every few month, usually 6months. And always a merk.

A bit different to buying an older car with 70k miles on it (so with a DPF possibly already heavily clogged up), and expecting it to cope with city use.

Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - xtrailman

I didn't think the op had mentioned buying a car with 70K on it?

DPF are a wear item same as a cambelt etc.

Mercedes E Class estate 2015 - Mercedes DPF problems - RobJP

No, the OP didn't.

But this thread was started in Jan 2015, had a couple of replies, and then went dormant until earlier this week (nearly exactly a year dormant), when a person who has bought one of these cars with 70k, just doing short urban trips, posted up, complaining about the number of faults with their car in the last few months.