W204 C63 as a daily

W204 C63 as a daily

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prtyqwerty

Original Poster:

25 posts

54 months

Sunday 6th November 2022
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Thinking of buying a W204 C63 estate as a daily. Stumbling block for me is that I do quite a few 3/4 mile trips in slow traffic that take 20 min or do - with the 6.2 lump would the engine even get up to temperature on this short a run? Also, how is the gearbox in traffic when cold?

Tall_Blk

376 posts

198 months

Sunday 6th November 2022
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Mine takes about 5miles at 50-60 mph to get up to temperature in around 5mins if that helps.

mwstewart

8,038 posts

195 months

Sunday 6th November 2022
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I ran a CLK63 from 37k to 58k. No issues whatsoever - it's like a 'normal' car.

belleair302

6,921 posts

214 months

Monday 7th November 2022
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Mine takes 5 miles at 30-40 mph to warm up. Don’t use it daily but fuel economy in traffic is tragic.

mike_e

588 posts

270 months

Wednesday 9th November 2022
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I use mine as a daily drive, average mpg seems to hover between 18-20. Went to the Goodwood FOS, Fuelled up and reset the trip, shortish journey of 20 miles, arrived showing 18mpg. Sat in exceptionally slow traffic for 3/4 hour, went down to 8mpg! On the plus side, drove at a sedate near constant 60mph on a run and got 30mpg. My guess is you'll see 12-16 mpg. Water temp will take a while if you're not using a lot of revs due to traffic, the oil temp will be further behind and may only get to temp towards journeys end, dependent on the ambient temp.

Gearbox can be a pain when doing a cold start sometimes. Later models have the MCT7 transmission with a wet start-up clutch whose biting point seems to change, but it sorts itself out within a very short time. Gear shifts are fine as they use planetary clutches. I tend to reset the box before starting when the weather changes and it usually behaves itself.

sanguinary

1,401 posts

218 months

Thursday 10th November 2022
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The engine gets to temperature remarkably quickly. Mine’s usually pushing 80 degree oil temperature after 3 to 4 miles of general morning traffic. It’s under no load too on the first part of the commute, as I live on top of a hill.

I’ve covered 1,000 miles in mine this week, and it simply keeps on going. If you don’t mind the fuel costs, go for it.

For what it’s worth, I’ve averaged 18.5 mpg over the last 26,000 miles. At least 50% of that is a rush hour commute.

Edited by sanguinary on Thursday 10th November 21:37

Alpinestars

13,954 posts

251 months

Wednesday 16th November 2022
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mike_e said:
I use mine as a daily drive, average mpg seems to hover between 18-20. Went to the Goodwood FOS, Fuelled up and reset the trip, shortish journey of 20 miles, arrived showing 18mpg. Sat in exceptionally slow traffic for 3/4 hour, went down to 8mpg! On the plus side, drove at a sedate near constant 60mph on a run and got 30mpg. My guess is you'll see 12-16 mpg. Water temp will take a while if you're not using a lot of revs due to traffic, the oil temp will be further behind and may only get to temp towards journeys end, dependent on the ambient temp.

Gearbox can be a pain when doing a cold start sometimes. Later models have the MCT7 transmission with a wet start-up clutch whose biting point seems to change, but it sorts itself out within a very short time. Gear shifts are fine as they use planetary clutches. I tend to reset the box before starting when the weather changes and it usually behaves itself.
How do you reset the box and what does that do please?

cossey

149 posts

196 months

Wednesday 16th November 2022
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I have used mine since new for the last 10 years, 64k miles. For my 15 miles 25-30 minute commute it is normally up to temp in <5 mins with speeds 30-50mph. I normally get ~19-20mpg. For motorway cruise getting >25mpg is normal at sensible cruise speeds (keeping up with traffic, not sat it with the lorries).

when cold the gearbox is ok but the LSD gets very tight and trying to reverse up a slope is very difficult. That normally sorts itself within the first mile even at <30mph.

mike_e

588 posts

270 months

Thursday 17th November 2022
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Alpinestars said:
How do you reset the box and what does that do please?
The gearbox learns how you drive and that affects gear shifts. Sit in the car and turn on the ignition but do not start the car, ensure everything is off. Press the accelerator down until you feel the kickdown switch activate. Hold it in that position for 15 seconds and then turn off the ignition and release the pedal. Leave for a couple of minutes for the gearbox TCU to update before attempting to do anything else.

Alpinestars

13,954 posts

251 months

Thursday 17th November 2022
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mike_e said:
The gearbox learns how you drive and that affects gear shifts. Sit in the car and turn on the ignition but do not start the car, ensure everything is off. Press the accelerator down until you feel the kickdown switch activate. Hold it in that position for 15 seconds and then turn off the ignition and release the pedal. Leave for a couple of minutes for the gearbox TCU to update before attempting to do anything else.
Thank you. Really appreciate your response.

prtyqwerty

Original Poster:

25 posts

54 months

Monday 12th December 2022
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Went with a Forster STI in the end! Warms up nice and quick and I don't need to worry about destroying a lovely high end estate with dog hair and odor!

HotJambalaya

2,038 posts

187 months

Thursday 15th December 2022
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i was relatively fanatical about calculating my mpg with a proper app every time i filled up, then got a bit lazier.

I can say that living in central london, and using it as a daily driver over several years (and including some trips obviously) my mpg is 15.5

JAMSXR

1,682 posts

54 months

Friday 16th December 2022
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I was in a similar position last year. Test drove the W204 and W205, ended up going the W205 route as I felt it was a better daily. I prefer the W204 as a garage queen.

hungry_hog

2,395 posts

195 months

Tuesday 20th December 2022
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My W204 was getting about 12mpg around town on short trips

W205 now gets about 15mpg

If you can deal with the fuel prices both fine
W204 feels more solid. Magic car!

JAMSXR

1,682 posts

54 months

Thursday 22nd December 2022
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hungry_hog said:
My W204 was getting about 12mpg around town on short trips

W205 now gets about 15mpg

If you can deal with the fuel prices both fine
W204 feels more solid. Magic car!
Wow, is your W205 a track only car smile

I’m averaging 26mpg on the road.

Edited by JAMSXR on Thursday 22 December 07:27