Mercedes Benz fuel challenges
Hubby and I have been looking at the Sprinter chassis with the Mercedes diesel engine for several years. We are almost to the point where we can buy. Recently, I have heard some rumblings from 2 fri...
Forum Discussion
Davydd wrote:
I live in Minnesota and am now 125,000 miles into driving Sprinter Bs trouble free. Is this another Chicken Little thread?
Certainly not.
First of all, I assume that you have added together the mileage of both of your Sprinters. I don't know whether your 2011 is BlueTec, but your earlier one certainly was not. The most worrisome issue concerning biodiesel has specifically to do with oil dilution during DEF regeneration (regeneration allows fuel into the oil, which is supposed to evaporate, but bio does not do so as quickly as dino diesel).
Secondly, Minnesota's B20 rules are not yet in effect, so previous experience is not relevant.
Thirdly, even if there is no objective problem with biodiesel at all, there is still the risk of MB denying warranty claims due to biodiesel usage. Until they state clearly that B20 use will not affect warranty (and they have not yet said that in any legally-meaningful document), this concern is very legitimate. "Talking to your service advisor" is no help. This will help you not at all if MB disallows a warranty claim.
A web search will reveal much documentation of the reality of this issue, up to and including in the New York Times. MB is in a bad situation, since the state governments are acting rather capriciously in passing these particular regulations. Their response to date has been to hedge. That isn't fair to their customers, current or potential, although it is not clear what else they can do.
I fully support legislative pressure in the direction of sustainable technologies, but it needs to be done responsibly.
