Its a P.O.S.: Every 500 to 700 miles like clockwork you will have to stop and buy fuel. Simply inexcusable.

The key to making more power with a diesel is to throw more fuel and air at the combustion chamber. The more fuel the more soot. The more soot the faster the DPF plugs. The faster the DPF plugs the more often raw fuel will be dumped in the exhaust to burn accumulated soot out of the DPF.

In other words, "You are asking for trouble."

The simple route to diesel power and economy is to remove the DOC, DPF, and urea system. Of course this voids the warranty. Requires computer hacks. And faces a $10,000 Federal fine if caught.

 

I bought a 2010 blutech brand new and right right she's got like 18,000 miles on her... So far so good no problems and no hiccups. I have done the oil changes myself and have filled up the urea also.. Car gets great gas mileage especially if you are smart with your foot.. Only thing I would tell you to do is let the car warm up more then a regular gas car in the colder days.. Diesel fuel is more expensive but I have friends who have gas SUV and pound for pound this car runs circles around v8 suv.

I love this engine so much if I could put it in other vehicles I would.. I'm think of buying a 2010 gl bluetech I love the engine so much..

 

I love this engine so much if I could put it in other vehicles I would.. I'm think of buying a 2010 gl bluetech I love the engine so much..

You could buy a Sprinter van with this engine.

 

A sprinter van? I was kinda talking about putting the engine in other carsssss or SUV, not a work van..

 

I suggested that because I found the M-class coming from the Sprinter direction. Considering something a bit less excessive than my F-250 Powerstroke many have expressed great satisfaction with their Sprinter van as dirtbike hauler.

Guess that is true because I found my choice was 1) new, or 2) ragged out used. Or 3) a number of RV conversions with relatively low miles but high prices.

So I thought, "If the Sprinter has a Mercedes engine perhaps there is a Mercedes with that engine."

Found a lot of GL's coming off lease and a better selection of ML's than Sprinters. Bought an ML.

 

Finally is there any CPU/chip tuning, that will up the power and not affect the economy? Seems like most turbo diesels have lots of power gains with a simple CPU tune... Any advice about doing this without affecting the warranty?

Not without affecting the warranty - period.

You may wish to consider that the 2010 ML engine already has most of the boosts in place from the factory that otherwise the aftermarket tuners add. In my opinion, your choices of relatively reliable tuning boxes are Brabus and Carlsson. But you're going to spend $1500-2500 and get very little for it. If you had the earlier engines - say '06-'08 - that would be a different story - you could get about a 10% gain. But once MB went to the urea injection in '09, they re-tuned for power, again in '10, and again in '11. The engine was previously hobbled by the NOX emission restrictions.

Oh - BTW - be careful if you do decide to spend money - don't put a tuning box intended for an older engine on a new unit - there's some unscrupulous sellers out there who will claim they are all equal.

For comparison, the latest MB engine - still a 3.0L mind you (that's 183 cubic inches) is putting out 450 ft-lbs torque at 1750 and 240 hp at 3800 - that's a lot.

NOX emissions are created at high combustion temps. Lower temps, lower NOX - at least that's the old way. It required exhaust gas recirculation, and lower temps leading to lower power. The new way, let the temps (thus power) go back up, and treat the exhaust after the fact.

If you were to remove the cat, DPF, and urea system - you would increase power very little (yes, you would lower back pressure a bit), but your emissions would go through the roof.

The CAT takes care of HC emissions, the DFP along with smaller droplet injectors take care of soot, and the urea injection takes care of NOX. Modern cats have very little back pressure. Those old bead bed cats have gone to ceramic matrix - you can pretty much look through them. And now with all those emissions items being handled outside the engine, the factory tuned up the motor to a power level that they could still warrant. Could you get a bit more - perhaps, but also lower life.

The highest output 3.0L diesel engine (and not by much) on an MB car is currently in the 221 chassis (S-class), and that's because they can do some things with cooling that can't be done in the ML engine compartment packaging.

Torque is limited by piston diameter, stroke, and boost. The latter by how strong the crank and bottom end is. The only way to crank up HP is to spin the engine faster, but the burn speed of diesel is so much slower than gasoline that a diesel engine just can't burn the fuel fast enough to turn the high RPMs that gasoline engines do to put out those fantastic HP numbers. You can see that in the torque peak RPM numbers - diesels have torque peaks right around 1750 RPM, gasoline powered cars have torque peaks somewhere around 4800 RPM. Those are the points at which the fuel burn rate and the vertical piston speed are at or near optimum.

IMHO, you can't get much more than you already have.

 

There is very little for chip tuning or ecm programming on this continent. Most offer a tuning box which is a cheat and pretty useless. Upsolute offers a program and I think Malone tuning is working on em, they offer 10% range in boosted performance, not much but neither is their pricing (under $600).
You can also try a sprint booster to help with throttle lag, it fools the throttle pedal sensor and quickens response.
Keep fresh fluids in EVERYTHING-power steering, front and rear diffs, transfer case, trans, brakes, change it often and with the proper specs. There is a history of failed bearings in front diffs,center diffs, bad rack seals etc. Don't cut corners on maintenace even though Mercedes has "lifetime" fluids they need changing for long life.
Use the best fuel available to you and avoid biodiesel like a plague, they don't like it and dealers are always quick to out biodiesel user related failures and voiding warranties.
I use lots of fuel conditioners and am happy with the results, although they don't make the same difference as other diesels (ease of starting, fuel economy, noise).
There are some parts that will need periodic cleaning NOT replacement, for example temp sensors in the exhaust, diesel particulate filter, etc can be cleaned before replacing.
Greg