EQ Boost MHEV?

[Magnum 475]

Posting this here, not in car buying, to get the Mercedes folks view.

I'm looking at replacing my hideously unreliable 3 series with something larger and better for the family, and hopefully more reliable.

I'm looking at the GLC as one option, in petrol only. For some reason, the 300 with 'EQ Boost' seems to be significantly cheaper than the equivalent age / mileage 250 without 'EQ Boost'.

The wonders of the internet suggest no real problems with Mercedes EQ Boost - so my question is: is EQ Boost as decent reliable system, or is it going to leave me calling the RAC every few weeks?

[Happy Jim]

I’ve had my 2019 GLC300 for a year now, no issues so far!

[MustangGT]

Happy Jim said:

I’ve had my 2019 GLC300 for a year now, no issues so far!

What sort of fuel consumption do you get and what sort of driving please?

I was very disappointed with my C300d, only has the very mild electric boost but the fuel consumption was not good for the size of car. My view is the 2.0 diesel is nowhere near as good as the older 2.1. I run an early GLE 250d now, averaging over 40 mpg.

Edited by MustangGT on Wednesday 16th October 13:58

[Benson11]

The GLC is a lovely car but I'm not sure how it will compare size and space wise to your 3 series, the luggage space in the GLC isn't the greatest as is the general trend for SUV's that they're not a big inside as you might expect.

Personally I'd say to avoid the EQ boost 48v cars, they dont drive as well as the normal ICE variant, fuel economy isn't great (depending on your drive scene) and all the 48v parts are more to go wrong and are expensive to fix, obviously if you are going to have it on extended warranty the latter point might be less of an issue.

Its probably worth trying to get a drive in both cars and make your mind up from there. The other factor to consider is the telematics systems, from 2019 onwards you get the MBUX system which is better than the pre-facelift cars

[Happy Jim]

MustangGT said:

Happy Jim said:

I’ve had my 2019 GLC300 for a year now, no issues so far!

What sort of fuel consumption do you get and what sort of driving please?

I was very disappointed with my C300d, only has the very mild electric boost but the fuel consumption was not good for the size of car. My view is the 2.0 diesel is nowhere near as good as the older 2.1. I run an early GLE 250d now, averaging over 40 mpg.

Edited by MustangGT on Wednesday 16th October 13:58

Motorway run from Exeter to Fleet today (70-80 leptons) got me 38MPG, my real world figure is 30MPG but it’s lot of stty Devon lanes with maybe 15% A roads.

Cheers

Jim

[Magnum 475]

Thanks all for replies

Off to look at GLC & Q5 at the weekend, so will see how that goes.

Compared to a 3 series saloon, these two will both seem roomy!

[cerb4.5lee]

Magnum 475 said:

Thanks all for replies

Off to look at GLC & Q5 at the weekend, so will see how that goes.

Compared to a 3 series saloon, these two will both seem roomy!

That reminds me of when I was looking a few years back. I took an Audi SQ5 diesel out for a test drive, and I also took a GLC350d out on a test drive as well. I ended up buying a brand new GLC350d, but I did also really like the SQ5 though.

I liked the GLC350d so much, so I'm now in a GLE400d. I do like a nice diesel engine for doing higher miles in for sure. The GLC does seem like a small car to me now though, especially in comparison to the GLE, but when I had the GLC I thought it was a decent size to be honest.

[MustangGT]

Happy Jim said:

MustangGT said:

Happy Jim said:

I’ve had my 2019 GLC300 for a year now, no issues so far!

What sort of fuel consumption do you get and what sort of driving please?

I was very disappointed with my C300d, only has the very mild electric boost but the fuel consumption was not good for the size of car. My view is the 2.0 diesel is nowhere near as good as the older 2.1. I run an early GLE 250d now, averaging over 40 mpg.

Edited by MustangGT on Wednesday 16th October 13:58

Motorway run from Exeter to Fleet today (70-80 leptons) got me 38MPG, my real world figure is 30MPG but it’s lot of stty Devon lanes with maybe 15% A roads.

Cheers

Jim

Thanks Jim, to me that is not too bad considering your shortage of A roads.

[Dewi 2]

After driving a very reliable Mercedes for 21 years, cars have changed considerably (tech.) in that time, so am suddenly in a new era with an E Class which does include EQ Boost. I purposely avoided PHEV or EV, but felt the 48 volt system might not make the car scrap, in the event of battery failure.

Cannot yet comment on reliability, but the EQ Boost system does works very well. There is no need to continually switch off the Stop/Start system, because the engine restart is entirely silent. I use the car as a wafter, but have tried full acceleration. There seems sometimes to be slight initial hesitation, which is presumably electronics or gear selection, but you can feel the electrical boost as the electric motor is filling in for turbo lag.

When set in Eco mode, the EQ Boost enables free wheeling on downhill roads which must help consumption a tiny bit. Purely out of interest, I did try for good fuel consumption on one trip. It was entirely motorway so a bit of a cheat, but over a distance of 168 miles consumption was very nearly 50mpg. Petrol not diesel. What the overall consumption is I don't know, but after filling, the range shows as over 600 miles. That is a lot more than I have been used to, so have tended not to even think about fuel, but the nearly empty warning message has saved me embarrassment.

Overall the operation of the EQ Boost is impressive. Whether this car will match the longevity of our 24 year old, who knows, time will tell.