Diesels in California - finally, a bluer shade of green

Apologies to Miles Davis, but Mercedes-Benz’s green initiative uses blue as its color. Unveiled at LA’s Fashion Week (although some of M-B’s execs still wore brown shoes with their black suits) in beautiful Culver City, is the new E320 Bluetec sedan. What the heck is Bluetec? Diesel technology—and it makes the car’s 3.0-liter diesel V6 engine as clean (and very nearly as quiet and smooth) as a gasoline-powered car.

So emissions-friendly that it satisfies the stringent demands of the California Air Resources Board. This will be the first diesel-powered passenger car for sale in the Golden State for years. Even Arnie sent M-B a letter of congratulations. And here’s the better news: 35mpg. From a luxury sedan.

Everything that makes a Mercedes a Mercedes is here: leather seats; a seven-speed auto transmission (excellent, by the way); a quiet, comfortable cabin; optional satellite navigation; all the trimmings. It’s just that it doesn’t visit a gas station so often. And it’s been voted the World Green Car of 2007.

The E320 Bluetec should also be gutsy enough to satisfy the demands of most drivers. Sure, 200hp doesn’t sound so hot, but that’s not how diesels roll. Being turbocharged, this engine kicks out 400lb-ft of torque from as low down as 1600rpm. It builds enough momentum to reach 60mph from standstill in an impressive 6.6 seconds.

Even though the engine is all-aluminum (with iron cylinder liners), the extra filters and catalytic convertors help bring the car’s curb weight to a less-than-svelte 3860 pounds, 120 more than the nearest gas-powered equivalent (the E350). But the extra 142lb-ft of torque more than makes up for it. Strategically placed and timed fuel injectors help the engine work at optimum efficiency. A balancer shaft smoothes out any vibrations. And the particulates and nitrous oxide emissions are nullified, along with the carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons. The old, noisy, smelly, lumpy, agricultural diesel engine is now firmly in the past. And all California passenger car diesel fuel is ultra-low sulfur.

Naturally, as things get less John Deere, they become dearer. Available now, the E320 Bluetec has an MSRP of $52,675, although Mercedes-Benz is offering a special lease deal that puts the car’s monthly payments within $20 dollars or so of the E350 (which retails at $1000 less). So we’re looking at roughly $600 to $700 per month, once the initial payment of $2850 has gone down.

With all 50 states open to Bluetec-equipped cars, Mercedes-Benz plans to produce versions of its ML, GL and R Class vehicles for 2008. This might just become the acceptable face of SUV ownership.

-- Colin Ryan