Can anyone help tow a twin axle bailey lousina and would like to consider a 2003/4 e320 est auto any members use one with views towing with mpg, loading caravan, nose weights etc at present tow with a disco but is heavy to drive and dogs have trouble getting up have tried a ramp but they will not use it.
Have an 05 plate E320. Tows really well a 1520kg van, which is almost on the limit if you want to achieve the ideal 7% noseweight limit, (85kg for the Merc). Without incurring the wrath of the 85% rule brigade, I would be happy to tow up to about 1600kgs, but no more. You don't state what weight your van is?
It tows well, power wise, and you can get up to a comfy 60 ish very quickly. Also car has the self levelling suspension and ESP in addition to the standard Merc safety features. Is excellent in cross winds and with lorries passing, but I have found this is better when the car is as loaded with weight(awning, luggage etc.) Had a bit of a scare in the early days when towing the van for a service with both it and the car unladen and a coach went by at high speed really upsetting the combination and starting a snake.Recently had to do an emergency stop on the motorway, due to a pillock in a truck, and the whole unit stopped in a dead straight line with caravan tyres smoking and ABS working like a mad thing on the car. Ordinary Mondeo, not towing, alongside me, in lane 2, actually took longer to stop!
Everyday MPG on the car is about 35-36 and this drops to 27-28 when towing, which I think is a fair return. This also means we can go about 400 miles on tankful when towing, which is useful as we go to Europe a lot.
Practically the car is superb, with loads of space and as we have the Avantgarde it has all the Merc toys. I used to use a large 4x4, which was comparable as a tow car but the Merc is hundreds of time better when being used as an ordinary car, which lets face it, is most of the time.
Finally you mention an 03-04 plate, most experts reckon to ensure you get the newer designed engine, which changed over on 2004. Sorry cant recall exactly what the change was.
Thanks for your help our van is 1640kg but we could lighten it as there our only two of us so put more in car as you suggest . We plan to have found a dealer who deals with merc and ask him when he has a 320 with a tow bar to try first. looking forward to more replys
I used to tow with a Merc 190E 2.0 litre petrol and loved it. Traction was an issue if it got muddy though, but that's normal for rear wheel drives, the only way to get around that is to join the 4x4 brigade.
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Topic: merc e320 est
