History of the diesel car featured an aluminium block, DOHC chain driven valvetrain, common rail direct injection and variable geometry turbocharger. In Spring 2005, Mercedes-Benz unveiled their first application of a mass-produced aluminum block diesel engine for passenger vehicles and commercial use. While aluminum is traditionally considered of inferior strength and temperature resistance to withstand diesel applications, Mercedes engineers made extensive use of CAD/CAM design to arrive at an aluminum block that would meet with Mercedes' testing and reliability standards. First use was in 2006 model-year vehicles in the E-Class sedan and ML-class and GL-class SUVs. Similar in weight () to the five-cylinder it replaced,
Detroit Diesel Series 149 Detroit Diesel Series 149 The Detroit Diesel 149 is a series of two-stroke diesel engines manufactured by Detroit Diesel which were first announced in early 1966. After Detroit Diesel was spun off in 1988 and later acquired by MTU, production of Series 149 engines was discontinued around 2000. The first configuration was announced at the 50th anniversary SAE Tractor meeting. It was a naturally aspirated 12V149 rated at about soon followed by a naturally aspirated 16V149 rated at about . As manufacturers in the marine, construction, mining, and many other industries required more power output, Detroit added turbocharging and intercooling