2003 Mercedes C-Class Owner's Manual - Page 333

Technical data Fuels, coolants, lubricants etc. Premium unleaded gasoline Fuel requirements Unleaded gasoline containing oxygenates such as Ethanol, IPA, IBA and TBA can be used provided the ratio of any one of these oxygenates to gasoline does not exceed 10%; MTBE not to exceed 15%. The ratio of Methanol to gasoline must not exceed 3% plus additional cosolvents. Using mixtures of Ethanol and Methanol is not allowed. Gasohol, which contains 10% Ethanol and 90% unleaded gasoline, can be used. These blends must also meet all other fuel requirements, such as resistance to spark knock, boiling range, vapor pressure etc. ! To maintain the engine's durability and performance, premium unleaded gasoline must be used. If premium unleaded is not available and low octane fuel is used, follow these precautions: Have the fuel tank only partially filled with unleaded regular and fill up with premium unleaded as soon as possible. Avoid full throttle driving and abrupt acceleration. Do not exceed an engine speed of 3000 rpm if the vehicle is loaded with a light load such as two persons and no luggage. Do not exceed 2/3 of maximum accelerator pedal position if the vehicle is fully loaded or operating in mountainous terrain. i Flexible Fuel Vehicles (MY 2003 Mercedes-Benz C 320 models, except those equipped with manual transmission or 4 - MATIC system*) are designed to operate on premium unleaded gasoline or Ethanol fuel (E85) or any mixture of these two. See notes on Flexible Fuel Vehicles ( page 334). Use only premium unleaded meeting ASTM standard D 439: The octane number (posted at the pump) must be 91 min. It is an average of both the Research (R) octane number and the Motor (M) octane number: (R+M)/2. This is also known as the ANTI-KNOCK INDEX. 333