E320 BLUETEC Shares Spotlight with High-Performance E63 AMG
The highly successful E-Class line of full-size sedans and wagons features an impressively broad and versatile range of models for 2008. Spanning from the thrifty, super-clean E320 BLUETEC diesel to the 507-hp E63 AMG, the E-Class offers the perfect car for an equally diverse range of consumer needs.
2008 Mercedes-Benz E300 BLUETEC and E350 CGI
The E320 BLUETEC luxury sedan delivers up to 32 miles per gallon (highway cycle), while at the other end of the product spectrum, the high-performance E63 AMG can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in an eye-popping 4.3 seconds.
New AMG Sport Package Offered
To complement its popular sport package (comprised of lowered sport suspension, 18-inch wheels, a sport rear bumper with dual chrome exhaust pipes, blue-tinted glass and white gauges), the E350 and E550 models are now available with an optional AMG Sport package that includes deeper front and rear aprons with dual exhausts, 18-inch AMG wheels and an AMG steering wheel that’s complete with manual shift “paddles.”
BLUETEC – A Blueprint For The World’s Cleanest Diesels
Combining several technologies to minimize diesel exhaust emissions, The E320 BLUETEC starts with a purpose-built 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine that includes four valves per cylinder, centrally located piezo-electric injectors, third-generation CDI direct injection, a turbocharger with variable nozzle turbine and exhaust gas recirculation.
The E320 BLUETEC incorporates four after-treatment units in the exhaust stream – an oxidizing catalytic converter, a particulate filter, a SCR catalytic converter and a “denox” storage converter that absorbs nitrogen oxides temporarily. During brief regeneration pulses of a richer fuel-air mixture, nitrogen oxides are released, reacting with other exhaust gas to form harmless nitrogen. These regeneration pulses also raise temperatures in the particulate filter, which burns off the accumulated deposits. The result – BLUETEC can make a diesel as clean as a modern gasoline engine.
BLUETEC depends on the use of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel (less than 15 parts per million) that became available in the U.S. in October of 2006. Sulfur is a natural element in most mineral oils that increases particulate emissions and has a corrosive effect on engine parts as well. The availability of very low-sulfur fuel enables the use of reliable particulate filters and efficient nitrogen-oxide after-treatment.
In October 2007, Mercedes-Benz unveiled a version of its E320 BLUETEC that is available through a special two year lease to a limited number of customers in California. California’s stringent emissions requirements have kept new diesel automobiles models off the California market for the better part of a decade. The new E320 BLUETEC, distinguished as the “2007 World Green Car” by an international panel of journalists, changes all that.
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