RobStar

I bought my GL350 as a CPO with 25,900 miles. Specifically asked them to make sure the AdBlue was full.

Last week at roughly 35,500 miles the AdBlue warning came on.

Based on information from this forum I bought a 1/2 gallon bottle AdBlue from VW and two 2.5 gallon jugs of BlueDef from a local auto parts store.

No one at MB was able or willing to give me the quantity left in the tank when the light comes on other than saying I'd have about 1000 miles left of AdBlue +/- so I just figured I use what I had and see how far it got me.

As you'll see from the photos, I emptied the 1/2 gal dealer jug and then cut a hole in the bottom for the nozzle of the 2.5 gal jugs.

I lined the back of the interior compartment with old towels not knowing if it would overflow or splatter. It did neither.

It was a simple process that took about 25-30 mins to complete and I'm not mechanical at all. The warning light went off within the first few miles of driving.

Photos attached below from my cell phone.

Thanks to those who went before me on this for sharing info and saving me several hundred dollars!

Robert

nynd

Good job - it is super easy.

gocargo

Hi, am considering a 2013/14 GL diesel. I read you spent $50 to fill therefore saving $200.. which appears that you're inferring that MB dealers charge +/- $250 just to fill the GL cdi with AdBlue?

Furthermore, is this dealer charge of $250 only lasting for 10,000 or 11,000 miles in your GL ?? That computes to 2.7-cents per mile or an additional 65-cents per 25 miles (or gallon of fuel).

That additional cost appears to me to negate the higher MPG purpose of purchasing a CDI in the 1st place? Surely I must be missing something? -Thanks

tbal

Nice

43221B

Dealers are all different. Check with whatever dealer will service your vehicle on how they price adblue. $200+ is way too expensive. You can also negotiate the price at a lot of dealerships. You should be paying less than $100.

gocargo

Phew, I was somewhat concerned.. thanks for clearing it up >thumbs up<

carpersn

I've never needed AdBlue when the car didn't already need service, so I usually purchase mine at Walmart and take it along for the dealer to fill-good to see that I can get by with doing it myself as well.

Don't the newer models have the nozzle under the fuel flap now?

listerone

I went a slightly different route with that 1/2 gallon special bottle with the blue top...I clipped the crimps at the bottom of the blue part so that the top now easily screws on and off so that refilling it is easy.My AdBlue warning just came on recently at about 17K miles.I'm gonna allow it to get down to the "20 more starts" warning before I put about 1.5 gallons in to make sure the warnings stop.I'll then refill shortly thereafter.

I think 18K miles (almost all Interstate miles) on a tank of AdBlue isn't bad at all.

listerone

Consumer Reports Magazine reported,a year or so ago,that a Mercedes dealer near them charged them $300+ in parts and labor to fill their AdBlue tank.

43221B

I know what article you are talking about. That was over 2 and a half years ago when German cars were the only non commercial vehicles using diesel exhaust fluid. Times have changed. The Ford and Chevrolet diesels are using Adblue (DEF) now and a lot more of it than our 5500 lb suvs. Truck stops are selling it for $2 a gallon through dispensers for trucks. If your dealership is still trying to charge over a $100 for the service, by all means question it. Ask them if they are crazy. It is a 10 minute job for their tech. I know because I watched as my tech filled up my tank from start to finish using the same fluid you buy in a 2.5 gal jug at walmart or NAPA.

Ask them to break down the $300 by parts and labor. That would be entertaining.

zoink

Pardon my stupid question....

Why did you mix the vw adblue and he bludef? Are they two different things and we need to have certain composition for each?

BlownV8

Should be the same. MB just charges much more for theirs.

ethansun

we can reuse vw jug to fill the tank without overflow
that's why OP bought it from vw

hcetzneb

Not exactlly sure what we charge at my dealer but just something to think about that when
you fill the tank from empty the cdi and src modules are soposed to be reset and the fill
level reset... Now most of the times you wont have a problem but ive seen issues come
up when there not reset..... no start issues and visit workshop lights come on... I know when i do it i flush the tank out of old and fill.. reset system and update the software so its not just a 20 min fill

But also if someone spends 30 min doing something to your car dont you think they should be
paid for there time... not saying 200 or 300 is fair at all..

If you go and shop around for cheap add blue of corse it will be cheaper than the dealer
If you do the work your self of corse its free you spent your own time

comparing apples to apples would be comparing dealer prices to other dealers not to
your self doing it

FastMoneyPlaya

I agree the Mercedes dealer should get paid for doing work, but $300+ for this job is highway robbery. A fair price is about $50. Maybe I'd be okay with $100. But $300 for something that is simpler than an oil change is ludicrous. How would you feel if your dealer charged $300 for an oil change?

This is precisely the reason why I don't trust dealers. They deserve to make a profit, but to take advantage of their customers leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. I know they all do it, not just Mercedes, but the point is consumers need to be smart to avoid being taken advantage of. I am sure most Mercedes drivers are weathy enough and don't care, but personally, I don't like burning money even if I have it to burn.

BlownV8

My dealer charges $250 for an oil change and service reset. Not far from $300. I buy my own oil and filter and take to a shop that does the change for $12. They even threw in a new drain plug with crush washer for no extra charge last time. My total out the door with filter, Mobil 1, and labor is $90.

I don't necessarily recommend doing this with any oil change shop. The shop I use has been changing my oil for many years and multiple Mercedes. They have always done a good job and I can watch them while they work so I can make sure it is done right.

ddruker

AdBlue is just Mercedes' trade name for Diesel Exhaust Fluid, aka DEF. It is completely standardized stuff - there is in fact an ISO standard for the formula - so there is no material difference between the gold plated half gallons from the Mercedes dealer, the 2.5 gallon cubes at Autozone and the stuff in the bulk tank at the truck stop.

Filling your entire tank from empty is less than $50 worth of DEF and 10 minutes - I just did a complete flush of mine at 20,000 miles and it took about 15 minutes including pumping the old fluid out by hand. If you want to pay the dealer $100 or $200 or more for this - well I think plenty of Mercedes owners are not real price sensitive and Mercedes will charge what the market will bear.

On the topic of dealer rip offs - I just had the opposite example. My local dealer was just running a special for $98 for an oil change for any model Mercedes - that's cheaper than I could buy the oil and filter alone for my GL. Plus they do a free inspection and wash. Great deal.

BlownV8

If they were using synthetic, it was a very good deal.

ddruker

I asked - Mobil 1 ESP Formula M and an OEM filter...

I think that they just come up with an average price - with 9 quarts of oil that costs close to $12 per quart retail our GLs are not exactly average...

When I last changed my oil, I started looking for the periodic Mobil 1 sale at O'Reilly's about 90 days before I was due for a change - so I got it for $5 per quart on sale. These sales also don't differentiate between the type of Mobil 1 - even our super pricy ESP Formula M went on sale for the same price as the basic stuff.

I forgot to do this for my 20k change, so the dealer was the lowest price option.

jimmyp

The dealers in md charge about 7.25 a qt

hcetzneb

If you read my post correctly you would see I think 300 is unfair.... My post was to just give you the dangers of not resetting the system that I've seen happen..but also remember Mercedes dictates prices of parts so they tell them what to price to set for wholesale ,list .., and retail..

43221B

The only way you should be running out of Adblue is if you aren't following the recommended service interval which is 10,000 miles. The GL320/350 uses about 5 gallons of DEF per 10,000 miles unless you are doing a lot of towing. That leaves you with about a 50% reserve (or to be more accurate, about 33% of the tank is for reserve) if you are following the recommended service schedule. You shouldn't need to reset anything.

I wasn't going to say anything but I doubt the original poster had his Adblue tank topped off by the dealership before purchasing his GL. The tank was probably last serviced at 20,000 miles by the previous owner's dealership. The mileage when the light came on would seem to indicate that.

hcetzneb

Well your sort of right but also alittle wrong the add blue tank does hold that much but even under normal city driving I've seen it get down to counting starts in 10k . Also it has 3 level sensors in it in theory if you fill it from empty you should be fine but as I said in the beginging this is what I have noticed not the norm or what should happen .

The system has a control module the scr module this is we're we put logic in to the system it logs when each sensor is not 'wet' and if not reset it stores this data and I've seen the module go in to a limp mode because it was filled and not reset... Not saying this always is the case but have seen it numerous times

Now with that said Im just trying to save some one getting stranded so It really doesn't bother me what who believes I've been a diag tech with Benz for 15 years so belive whom you want

43221B

Ok...it helps to know that you are a MB Tech. This is confusing because the manual clearly states that an owner can refill the adblue tank his/herself as long as a "Adblue refill container" is used. It says nothing about taking the vehicle to the dealership to reset anything after refilling the tank. In fact, it says that the display message should turn off after 1 minute of driving over 10 mph. Perhaps a recall or some sort of fix is in order even if this problem occurs only occasionally. I agree with you, someone shouldn't be getting stranded if there is a known problem with these sensors. And...we shouldn't feel like we have to pay >$100 to have a tank of urea refilled because there are defective parts or software installed on our cars.

hcetzneb

I give up this forum is such a joke all there are are shade tree mechanics that think they know everthing in the world and bark at people whom are just trying to help... Did I design the car NO .... Am I responsible for problems, defects, break downs. NO am I just tring to share infor that I took the time to learn and test and figure out myself
And pass some knowledge to others yes but evertime
You do it here joe schmoe whom change his light bulb
In his drive way knows more or knows why your wrong

I see every day why olord left this place and for the decent
90% of the members I apologies .. Leson learned