Patches

Give me your thoughts on this group. Took my new E320 Bluetec to the dealer for an oil change. It had 7500 miles on it when the service indicator stated it was due. Got the service done, bring the car home (100 miles or so) and the next day I check the oil after it had sat overnight, but before starting the car. The stick reads in the middle versus when I bought the car it was reading right at maximum. Also, the oil was already black. What's your thoughts on this? Did they not add the 1/2 quart needed for the filter? I've never seen the filter, does it remain filled with oil at all times or does it sit upright? How quickly will the oil in this thing appear dirty? Anyway, give me some feedback of your own experiences with this?

Apparently the car received a software upgrade as well.

Thanks in advance.

TMAllison

Oil expands with heat.

It should be checked at operating temp and within a few minutes of turning off.

Fresh oil is going to get black pretty quick. Prob 1/2 qt stays in the oil cooler and lines when changed

Untertürkheim

Diesels turn oil black immediately, and the proper oil level is actually midway between min and max, right where it is.

240D 3.0T

Its a diesel with the Bluetec junk making the engine dump soot into the oil, it will always be black.

Untertürkheim

The oil would be black no matter what diesel model, Bluetec has nothing to do with it.

240D 3.0T

Bluetecs dump even more soot into the oil than normal, thats why they need special oil to handle the soot levels.

Danno4x4

Seriously dude, I am beginning to think that you are just making all of this stuff up!

Almost every post that I have recently seen from you contains significant inaccuracies....

Untertürkheim

This is not true, Bluetecs do not specify oil for higher soot levels.

C5DRVR

Well said Danno4x4. I find 240D 3.0T posts idiotic, irritating and inaccurate as well. He drives a 26+ year old diesel, and seems to harbor resentment toward any newer technology.

TMAllison

One could surmise that longer oil change intervals might result in higher soot levels. Don't bluetecs require the better quality fleece filters? Why?

Untertürkheim

All models with FSS+ (Assyst Plus ROW) require fleece filters for extended oil change intervals, gasoline, CDI, Bluetec, etc.

Danno4x4

There are two main reasons why the newer diesels need a special oil...

1.) The oil does capture some soot... It keeps it in suspension... The longer oil drain intervals (10K for the Bluetecs) mean that the oil has to resist breaking down, and effectively keep the soot in suspension for longer... The newer 229.51 oils do this very effectively.

2.) The diesel particulate filters in the exhaust that capture the particulate instead of allowing it to go into the environment (soot is actually really bad for your lungs) are very sensitive to sulfur... Thus the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel specification... On any engine, there is some oil (fairly small amounts) that makes it past the piston rings and into the combustion chamber. The older spec oils actually contain enough sulfur to potentially cause damage to the particulate filter... Therefore, the 229.51 (and API CJ-4) spec oils are reformulated to reduce the amount of sulfur they contain.

Danno4x4

Its unfortunate, because I really like his car and what he has done with it... I had a 1985 300D Turbo myself that I tweeked a bit as well for more power...

The problem is that given his knowledge of diesels and how they work in general, and the fact that he has tweeked his car may give some people the impression that he is a subject matter expert when it comes to diesel engines... Based on what I have seen in his posts, he still has a lot to learn about fact vs. guess vs. opinon when it comes sharing information...

240D 3.0T, I am not trying to be a dick, I just want to you to check your info before declaring it as fact, since it might confuse a lot of the newcomers to diesel technology.

harkgar

What are fleece filters? MB filters all look paper to me.

harkgar

Are you an engineer Danno? If you are not your knowledge of diesel engines must have come from regular pints of good old liquid gold with the creamy head and black body.

My Goodness.
My Guinness.

Danno4x4

Ha HA! Actually no, I am not an engineer... At least that is not how I make a living... Most of what I have learned was through extreme curiosity... Reading lots of engineering books and researching things.

Many of my friends who are engineers (one of which is a combustion specialist with a MS in mechanical engineering) tell me that I should have been an engineer...

You are right though... much of what I know was from sitting down with lots of smart people and having long conversations over a couple of cold frosties. These are the kinds of conversations where my wife swears we are speaking in a completely different language... Although we are using english.

Untertürkheim

They are not, the material on the OEM filter for your CDI is very different from the paper on the old filters you would have used on the 560SEL. Paper can simply not last for the intervals in the FSS system.