With its completely newly developed family of diesel engines, Mercedes-Benz says it is the first manufacturer to put diesel vehicles on the market that already fulfil the stricter emission limits planned for the EU as of September 2017.

The company says this has been achieved through an integrated technology approach, which includes new stepped combustion chambers and further developed exhaust-gas recirculation. The new engine design also allows all components for exhaust-gas recirculation to be positioned directly on the engine, instead of under the car floor as previously. This is said significantly to enhance the system’s overall effectiveness – largely independently of ambient temperatures and driving style.

The market launch of the completely newly developed four-cylinder diesel engine OM 654 is in the new E-Class where it delivers CO2 emissions of 102 grammes per kilometre.

The new four-cylinder engine is the first member of a modular engine family that will be applied throughout the entire portfolios of Mercedes-Benz Cars and also at Mercedes-Benz Vans. Several levels of power output are planned, as well as longitudinal and transverse installation in vehicles with front-, rear- and all-wheel drive. Mercedes will equip its entire range of diesel cars in Europe with this latest engine generation including SCR technology (selective catalytic reduction) by 2019 at the latest.

“Our customers’ trust is very important to us and we take our responsibility to the environment very seriously,” explained Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler Board of Management Member for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. “That’s why we decided five years ago to invest massively in the further development of diesel technology. But we are also continuously making our gasoline engines more efficient and more environment-friendly; because high-tech combustion engines will remain the backbone of individual mobility until the widespread market success of electric vehicles. For this reason, we are investing a total of about three billion euros to ensure further improvements in fuel consumption and emissions – in both future and current vehicles.”

Mercedes claims that in addition to its good fuel consumption, the new family of diesel engines also has the advantage of particularly low nitrogen-oxide emissions. This has now been confirmed by independent measurements by DEKRA, a German vehicle inspection company. The DEKRA experts carried out an extensive test program with a Mercedes-Benz E 220 d. The focus was on Real Driving Emissions (RDE), the method prescribed in the EU as of September 2017 in addition to measuring emissions on the test bench.

The RDE dynamic test program covers various stretches of road that include urban streets, country roads and freeways. The measurements were carried out at various temperatures between about two and 16 degrees Celsius, and with various numbers of occupants and varying loads. As a result, the E 220 d emitted less NOx than the limit of 80 mg/km on all applicable RDE routes. In some cases, the NOx emissions were at the very low level of between just 13 and 21 mg/km even at low ambient temperatures.

Mercedes says it is also making use of the knowledge gained from the development of the new family of diesel engines in order to improve the emissions of current vehicle models. With the entry-level engines of the compact cars (A- and B-Class and the CLA and GLA) and with the V-Class, Mercedes-Benz is offering the recent improvements as a software update on cars already in customers’ hands in the context of a voluntary service action to be implemented in the coming months, starting with the V-Class in June.

Mercedes-Benz also plans the large-scale use of particulate filters also for gasoline engines.