Which engine to buy
Hi All, I want to buy a SWB G wagen for off-roading and general use, I've found some 4 litre diesel and 2.7 diesels and a G55, some say that the 4 litre and the G55 are too powerfull for off-roading and the best is the 300 and the 2,7 because power comes in slower? :?
Hey man, you must have a lot of cash to burn when you are here considering buying a fairly new G-Wagen for loads of cash only to take it off-road.
The reason I am saying this is that all the engines you mention (G55, G270 CDI and G400CDI) are all fairly new and that means that the oldest G that you can find with any of these engines is a 2000 car and that means a minimum of £ 30,000!!!!
And I am sorry but in my experience and with the things I do with my G, I would never buy one of those to take them off road.... I would probably buy a John Fish's 560 GE (Ex Tony Baskill and ex- Howard Green) and enjoy myself with the titanic power and torque without worries for the paintjob:
Let's start again... what was your budget?
Cheers
The 400 CDI has arguably the worst reputation amongst Mercedes engines.
For G bits: http://www.orc.de
Cheers
Whats bad about the 400 engine :?
I didn't think merc made a bad engine :(
Help :?
Now Mortinson has put dout in my mind :cry: I've booked flights for monday to buy this car can anbody tell me whats wrong with these engines?
I don't know the details but apparently too much electronic and general complication make this engine prone to very expensive repair bills, so much so that the G400 CDI is cheaper in the second-hand market that the G300 Turbodiesel it replaced.
In the UK we've had very little exposure to this engine but the German G-forums are full of examples of trouble with it. You can also try the US BenzWorld forum, which is often visited by German enthusiasts http://www.mbnz.org/forums/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=30 if you want to investigate further
problems I heard where overheating and head gaskets. It has trouble dipersing heat in that tight engine bay. Still wouldnt mind one though.
Paint works not a problem I get that done free :lol:
I've found a 2003 G400 with 10000 miles on the clock owned by a merc dealer for one of there managers. Any thing to worry about? :?
I run a 2 year old discovery at the moment but i'm fed up of things breaking all the time, 5 diffs,1cv joint and 2 complete axles and an engine that is always letting me down :cry:
Where would I find off road bits for these vehicles i.e. bumpers, protection and a snorkel?
sounds like a quality motor. Good job its not an early V8 as I hear they have recalled 19,000 disco's and Rangies because of faulty fuel tanks. Talking of tanks, if you do buy a G Wagen you'll find there built like one :wink:
There seemsto be problems with all new CDI's, I run a prestige hire car company of which 40 of them have the 270 merc engine and at least one breaks down every day, most will reset by turning them off and on again and is alway electronic problems not mechanical. :?
I know common rail diesel engines in any car are delicate and you must be carefull what you put through them we have 10 a yearwith petrol put through them in merc bmw and landrover and always cost around £1500 for replacing tank,pipes and pumps :cry:
I've alway had discovery's for the past 5 years and they are so un-reliable and weak without changing all the diffs,half shafts and cv joints and the engine is so underpowerd for a 2.5 ton car, chipping them makes the worst, I went through 5 manifolds due to warping, 5 diffs and 2 compete axles in 2 years(most replaced under warranty).
So as long as the rest of the car(transmission, axles) is strong enough and the engine has plenty of power as standard then i'll put up with the small mishaps with the engine which leads me to my next question...
Is there any software and conection leads to reset and find problems for the G400? :D
As you can imagine our knowledge on later model g wagens is very limited, especially the 270 and 400cdi as they never came here officially except via small imports and we can only relay what we have heard.
If its any consolation they are still producing the 400 and this will be an option in the new G-wagen to be made in the states so maybe the faults will have been ironed out by then, what ever they may be.
There is an american forum that you can ask the same questions as they have had 400cdi over there so you may get a better response. There is a guy that visits this forum that brought a new 400cdi from Germany and drove it straight into Brabus for some tuning before he brought it home. However it was written off a year later so not sure if hes replaced it with a new 400 but it does seems that 400 seem to be on the market sooner than 500's. :?:
So as long as the rest of the car(transmission, axles) is strong enough and the engine has plenty of power as standard then i'll put up with the small mishaps with the engine which leads me to my next question...
you could say G axles, diffs and half shafts and auto boxes were over engineered, I say they were made properly. You wont have any trouble in that dept :wink: . But like anything look after it as it says in the service manual and you should have many miles of fun. You could of course buy a Toyota :idea:
Hi Peterand everyone thanks for the input.
A toyota wouldn't be fun it would be too reliable and boring I use to be a mechanic and still like to tinker with my car sometimes :lol:
then stick with landrover you'll be happy for ever and a day.
I'm struggling to find a new G400 so I'm starting to look at 500's :roll: what the real mpg that people are getting out of them? :?:
I'm struggling to find a new G400 so I'm starting to look at 500's :roll: what the real mpg that people are getting out of them? :?:
I believe 14-16 mpg
I notice the same posts in benzworld. There are only a few lucky ones in here with G500's that may be able to advise you on the mpg .As there are no members I am aware of that have G400 in the club we are limited on how we can help. But in my opinion I would go for the G500, its a proven engine.
JOIN THE GWOA
This website and forum are provided for the benefit of enthusiasts and owners of all Mercedes Benz off road vehicles, in particular the G Wagen. The costs of development, upkeep and provision of the site are met entirely by the annual subscriptions of club members. If you are using the site and are not a member of the G Wagen Owners Association please consider joining. You will have access to areas on the site that are not open to non members, to club trips and meetings and to technical assistance. In addition your contribution (only £25 annually) will help us maintain and develop our website for future users.
Who's new
- Jaffa_JIM_23
- Wrabstar
- GG
- KTMSCANIA22
- 280ge
Paint works not a problem I get that done free :lol:
I've found a 2003 G400 with 10000 miles on the clock owned by a merc dealer for one of there managers. Any thing to worry about? :?
I run a 2 year old discovery at the moment but i'm fed up of things breaking all the time, 5 diffs,1cv joint and 2 complete axles and an engine that is always letting me down :cry:
Where would I find off road bits for these vehicles i.e. bumpers, protection and a snorkel?