Oil change bulletin- change to 5W40
 

The other day i got my oil changed and the dealer said they switched to 5W40 now due to a bulletin by MB that changed it to 5w40.
Is anyone aware of this bulletin? I have a 08' c300.

Yeah, they changed the standard to 5W-40 because that's their new diesel requirement (but is compatible with gasoline engines). It's much cheaper and easier to stock drums of just 5W-40, than that and 0W-40. I believe AMG models are still on 0W-40 though.

no i think even AMGs were switched to 5w40 and the dealer said even Porsche switched to 5w40(dont know if that's true).

5W-40 is a US thing for lazy dealers. They still have to carry separate products for Gasoline & Diesel. Namely 229.5 & 229.51. 5W-40 is cheaper to produce than a 0W-40.

Approved products have not changed. You must still use approved products. Products like Mobil 1 0W-40 Euro formulation are still fine and preferred by many.

More US Dealer BS. Will it ever end? 229.51 and 229.5 are not cross compatible.

Correct Matt - they are mutually exclusive. Benz applied ash limits so that no one product can meet both specs.

Just another reason I will be going to an Indy for service.

Actually, they stopped using 0W-40 a year or two back, and stocked 5W-40 Formula-M in the big tanks for gas engines. At the local dealer, they supplied the Diesel 5W-40 Formula M ESP in bottles only.

The recent change was to put the Diesel oil in the big tanks for both gas and diesel vehicles, consistent with what the bottle says, but contrary to a prior MB practice.

Mobil1_ESP_Formula_M_5W-40

"Mobil 1 ESP Formula M 5W-40 is engineered to help prolong the life and maintain the efficiency of emission systems in both diesel and gasoline powered automobiles ... "


.

^ This! :y I was going to say.... this is OLD news! :slap:

Mobil1_ESP_Formula_M_5W-40 - http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lub...a_M_5W-40.aspx

Yes & please note that the ESP Formula is not approved for use in MB gasoline engines. Only diesel engines.

Latest Mobil approvals against 229.5

Mobil 1 0W-40 x Exxon Mobil Corporation, FAIRFAX, Virginia/USA
Mobil 1 Arctic 0W-40 x Exxon Mobil Corporation, FAIRFAX, Virginia/USA
Mobil 1 Formula M 5W-40 x Exxon Mobil Corporation, FAIRFAX, Virginia/USA
Mobil 1 New Life 0W-40 x Exxon Mobil Corporation, FAIRFAX, Virginia/USA
Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel 0W-40 x Exxon Mobil Corporation, FAIRFAX, Virginia/USA
Mobil SHC Formula MB 5W-30 x Exxon Mobil Corporation, FAIRFAX, Virginia/USA
Mobil Super 3000 Formula M 5W-30 x Exxon Mobil Corporation, FAIRFAX, Virginia/USA

Hello. I'm curious if this may be an initiative to help cope with the challenges of direct injection. I notice that both the 0w-40 and the ESP 5w-40 have a stout 3.8 hths but the low SAPS oil ESP 5w-40 has only 0.6 ash while the 0w-40 has a higher 1.3 percent. Would it be a good idea to use these low saps oils for now until MB comes up with a better solution to carcon buildups in direct injection engines? Thanks
Cheers! Mike

Should i get it changed again to 0w40. I bet they are going to charge me for this again.

When I first posted about this, we assumed it was just my dealer and perhaps a few others. Now it sounds like a USA thing. Should (or has) MB put out a "TSB" type thing about this to dealers, explaining the decision and the contradiction?

Pehaps the approved products list has not beem updated, although they are pretty good at that. This sounds like a recent MB change in oil matters.

.

The approved products listing was updated 01/09/2012.

Please understand one thing guys. Relating sulphated ash levels in oil to inlet deposits at these small %ages is a long shot.

Secondly - low ash oils by definition (even taking into regard some asless/low ash additives) have less additive treat.

Dropping additive treat to diesel levels places the valve train at risk. There is no way Benz will do this. Our European tech center replied to me today. We will have an answer to Benz mitigation of inlet deposits on DI engines in the next few days.

In the words of a very senior exec at Benz who shall remain nameless. MBUSA is a loose cannon.

Are you sure they did not put Mobil 1 Formula M 5W-40 in your car which is approved & not the ESP which is not.

You should only run an approved oil. If they want you to pay again I would refuse. If you don't win the argument then run the oil for 5K to get some life out of it & change again to an approved product.

This is putting it mildly. Mercedes has been very concerned with quality and reliability perceptions since the early W203 and W210 disasters, and rightfully so. It's taken a while but now Mercedes is getting back to being perceived as a maker of world class quality automobiles.. only for MBUSA to jeopardize everything with their maintenance practices.

+1:y