Towing car advice

Greetings.  Permit me to answer your question if I can.

Currently i have an Elddis Crusader which weighs in at kgs 1550 fully laden (same as your coachman) and I was until very recently pulling that we a Mercedes E Class E 220 Estate. 

The car to caravan ratio came in a 87% and it coped pretty well with anything we asked of it. 

The only possible challenge was the need to really watch the nose-weight due to the low 84 kgs set by Mercedes but we achieved this by putting weight stuff in the bed storage areas to the rear of the caravan wheels. 

That said there was only my wife and I in the car - plus two spaniel dogs - and to bolster the car weight I put as much heavy stuff as possible into the car.  The previous E class I had was also an E 220 diesel, but a saloon ... same engine and same comments but without self levelling suspension and a large rear boot overhang, the car would drop with the van on the back even when adhering to the recommended nose-weight (cannot remember what that was).  We upgraded to an Estate to get the self levelling suspension which I would strongly recommend you do.

Not sure if I would pull kgs 1675 with either of those two cars as you would be very very close to the published kerb weight.

The E 220 estate has now been replaced with an E 350 estate - the All Terrain model.  This tows like a dream and on our first outing a  few weeks back in very windy weather, the caravan did not budge.  The car was in control all the time.  Our return journey home saw us getting 24 mpg which with a relatively new vehicle I was happy with considering the car had only done 2000 miles.

Your 320 cdi would be about the same weight I imagine and thus I suggest that it would have no problems with your new  van.  However if you are opting for a saloon - I would strongly recommend that you do some searching for some rear spring assistors and get them fitted as that in my mind would make a good tow car and excellent one.  They are made as I looked into this with the E Class saloon but did not proceed due to Mercedes guarantee problems.  But I know they exist.

Good luck and I hope I have helped.

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

As you say, it seems that not all Mercs can be fitted with a towbar ..... http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/help-with-towing-advice.166886/

Irrespective of towing weights, I'd have the E320 for its V6 rather than the 220s 4 pot .... (twin?) turbo'd or not

Thank you all for your replies, I am torn between the Mercedes and Volvo XC 70, basically i am trying to avoid getting a big 4x4 :)

Oh, I’d go for a big 4x4 every time. Can't beat em for towing in my opinion. Our last tow car was a Shogun and we'd have another like a shot if we had the need.

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

As much as I would like a 4x4 and I do have a favourite, being a daddy taxi for the children after school doesn't go very well with 19mpg or less around town 

I think the 19mpg is towing?

Absolutely. 👍🏻 

We had two of them and seem to rememder the manual did more than that towing.

(The previous model to yours, Corners.)