aolsen

Hey everyone. I just bought my '03 c230 sedan last week. About how often do you guys put oil in your car, and what are your driving styles? Thanks!

BlackLiquorish8

weekly driving style average/spirited

sludge

Same car, '03 sedan, and I haven't had to put oil in it. I have the car about a year, and it has 41k miles. I'm an average driver, lots of stop and go during the week. I like to take corners quick, but I'm not really a speeder.

KIRA

wait oil change or gas fill-up???

now i am doing oil change every 3000miles
and fill up 3times/week

and i drive like an azn mom

aolsen

I want to see how often people add oil to there car...how often the car asks for oil, etc...

Cloudz

the car doesnt usually ask for oil on its own I don't think (unless it burned off or something)

The last time I put oil in (C240 2003) was last year winter time I think... (which was also the first time it ever asked to get oil to be added)

Johnsct

In 5 years my oil indicator came on only once asking for 1 quart.

tommy

I add about a quart every 6-7 months, then get an additional 1-1.5k between changes. I change when it tells me to, and don't see any reason to do otherwise. I'm at 98k, heavily modded, and drive like the idiot I am.

MJ50

60k miles, 6 oil changes...

Buellwinkle

No additional oil on my 2004.5 outside of the standard oil changes as called out by the car. Same on our SLK230. This contrasts with my 2002 which need 2 quarts in between oil changes.

BlackLiquorish8

i thought you were talkin bout gas fill up..... nah i never add oil in the car the car doesnt burn any oil just whenever i need to do oil changes

aolsen

what model do you drive?

aolsen

amazing how these cars barely use oil, IF they even use any...I used to drive a 1994 corolla, if you weren't OCD about keeping oil in it, it would go dry within days, and I was not OCD about adding oil. hahah

Firemane

I have an '02 C240 w/ 13,400 miles. I've never once had to add oil to the engine. Then again, it doesn't really get driven enough to burn any either...

Mu9enx

i know this is kinda off topic, but how often should you change your car's oil?
i heard between 3000-5000 miles? should i change it every 3k for best results?

BlackLiquorish8

nah if your OCD do it every 5k you should be fine with synthetic mobil 1 but it should be able to go longer than that

tommy

nah, stick to the service interval. I really have no understanding why internet boneheads (no offense!) think that they have a bigger r&d budget than MB does.

Funny - my crx has 175k and has never had a leak. But yes, on that car, I do change the oil every 3k or 3 months.

Johnsct

I have an 03 C230 coupe. Following my service schedule, my oil gets changed on average, every 11,000 miles.

dmatre

Never added a drop to my '03 (89,900 miles). Always services by FSS (typically every 13k-15k miles).

ballot

I wouldn't wait for 13k to 15k to change the oil. By then it would be super dirty. Mercedes tells you to wait this long cause they don't want to see you for oil changes (especially if the car is under warranty). I would change the oil every 7k (max) and use Mobil-1 0W-40 Synthetic oil. You can go to any local mechanic for that they would charge you a portion of what the dealer charges (~80 vs. ~$300).

tommy

Actually, with the change to the free service program, Mercedes would theoretically want to see you more to do oil changes at the dealership, not less. Your logic is not logical.

QQQ

Do a oil change midway between FSS. Otherwise the car burns very little oil and I have only add 1L once on my own.

mleskovar

128,000 miles and never added oil between FSS interval changes. At about 110,000 miles it would be down 1/2 quart when I changed it. It also started smelling like burnt oil after parking it in the garage and after a long freeway drive. Not a powerful odor, but noticeable by me. Getting a light film of oil on the trans pan between changes so it's coming from somewhere....but I can't find it (not trans oil).

dmatre

There have been plenty of people who have sent their oil off for analysis after a 12k-15k interval, and the analysis returns perfectly fine. For this reason, I choose to continue to recommended service intervals. If changing earlier makes you feel safer, then so be it - but the actual facts that I have seen suggest that MB actually knows what they are doing . . .

dmatre

Yeah, I've got the same thing. No spots on the floor, no obvious leaks, but a whiff of burnt oil when you get out of the car . . .

These engines are known to leak at the cam seals, so that may be the place to start checking. . .