dol4er

My dealer changed the oil a couple of weeks ago and I noticed something. According to the dashboard, the first oil change must be done in 20000km and now it shows that the second must be done in 15000km. Why is that? I thought all oil changes must be done in 1 year/20000km...

Glyn M Ruck

Where are you based? Complete your profile. Is the vehicle petrol or diesel?

Change intervals vary around the world dependent on fuels, severity etc.

Norms in most of ROW are.

15,000 Km or one year petrol vehicles.
20,000 Km or one year diesel vehicles. Some markets have taken this to 30,000 Km & 2 years.

Change interval can be reset with a Star. Sounds like your dealer has changed yours.

For gasoline engines 15,000Km's or 1year are sensible in normal operating conditions.

dol4er

It is petrol engine which explains why it is 15000km... but why was Service A in 20000km then? I guess just the first service is in 20000km then...

Carsy

Could have been a software loading mistake.

I always consider it a wise move to do the first change early:-

1. In case of any fine swarf left over in the manufacturing.

2. As the engine beds in & frees up there has to be added fine metal material in the oil circuit.

In days past every engine recommended an early change. Not so today.

Glyn M Ruck

I have little doubt it was a software set up problem. Benz vehicles come new with a running in oil produced for them by Shell. It should be left in for 15K Km's to allow the MOS2 coated rings running in alusil bores to run in. Then it must come out!

Carsy

I cannot say for sure what brand was in my diesels sump when I bought the car new but there was European Mobil 1 stickers all over the engine bay .

I changed the 'first oil' at 5700 km about 7 months after buying with Mobil 1ESP 5w30 .

If the dealer had done the first A service it would have been at about 10,000 km & 12 months.

Now at 68,000 km & there is minimal oil useage during the 10,000 km interval.Oil useage has lessened since new so maybe my rings took a little longer to "wear in"

I have not seen any mention in the of managing the ' running in' oil in the service manual.

Thanks Glyn.

mac911

Glyn

Would you say the 15km number is give or take for the break in Shell oil?

My SLK only had 7000+ miles at 1 year, but probably not too early? After all, I put my foot down enough in it.

And then my C Class had 13,000 miles, too much I guess, but probably ok I hope. ha.

kevink2

Glyn,

We already know that the "break-in" oil is a Shell 5W-30. In fact about 1/3 of the global approved oils per 229.5 are 30 wt muti's, vs the 40 wt like 0W-40. So should these lighter approved oils be used in hot climates like Florida?

Also, how well does the alusil bores hold up vs nikisil which is used in ferrari's and other performance cars?

.

mac911

I know you didn't ask me, but I wouldn't worry about the viscosity as long as it's not something particularly odd. The Mobil 1 0w40 quickly goes into a 30 weight range once ran a few hundred miles, from analysis I have ran on my own oil. In extreme hot temperatures, based on the old way of thinking, you'd actually want a heavier oil anyway.

Furthermore, most of the 30 weight oils on the other hand are on the heavier side, so there is less difference than it sounds between the approved products.

With the 0w40, you are protected for very cold startups as well as very hot engine use. 5w30 is likely fine too in most areas, but you will not find a 5w30 with MB approval in US stores.

Honestly, I don't even think about the viscosities.

I like Mobil 1 0w40, so I choose it, since it is approved. Shell's (Pennzoil) Euro 5w40 product is also approved, there is a Valvoline product 5w40 also approved (forget the specific name of this product), and there is the German Castrol 0w30 that is approved. Oh, there is also a dealer only Mobil 1 Formula M 5w40 (NOT the ESP product, but a gasoline engine product). Those are about the only other products you will find in the US that are MB approved. None are as easy to find as Mobil 1 0w40.

Glyn M Ruck

Benz says precisely nothing about running in oils in the owners manual. Dealers are instructed not to change it early. Your engine has obviously settled down fine so don't worry. While Mobil was a racing partner, there stickers were plastered everywhere regardless.

Glyn M Ruck

0W-40's were designed to be global oils & operate from the Arctic to the middle of a hot desert. 5W-30's are cheaper to formulate & just fine in most non extreme temperature conditions

Alusil is silica etc. infused into the aluminium alloy at casting. Nicasil is a post casting electrodeposited surface treatment usually confined to racing engines like 2 stroke racing motorcycles. Nicasil is as hard as hell, great for very high performance applications, highly sensitive to detonation & if it happens to flake or incur even minor surface damage requires to be redone.

Alusil bores will go a very long way.

Glyn M Ruck

Yeah it's give & take mac. The real measure of whether the break in oil was left in long enough is oil consumption.

Many people over baby their vehicles with modern oils during the break in period which is why Benz moved to a break in product.

The Benz ring/bore system is known to be difficult to break in & this is hindered by 229.5 oils. Result of an over gently run in engine was oil guzzling for most of it's life.

mac911

Awesome information. I haven't noticed any oil consumption whatsoever with my cars (knock on wood) thus far.

I guess the ring/bore system is different (or they break them in) in AMGs since they come with M1 0w40. I can certainly see how the 229.5 oil wouldn't allow the proper break-in. It makes perfect sense.

I have often wondered when Mobil 1 did the 1 million kilometer E350 (M272 engine), if they left the break in oil until 13,000 miles (or some other mark), or if they immediately put the M1 0w40 in the engine before beginning the test. Of course, these tests are so unrealistic to real world use.

KAMCAD

Is it normal to be down a quart of oil after 10k miles? I bought the 09 C300 with 27k on the OD.

mac911

I don't know how normal it is, but 1 quart in 10,000 miles doesn't sound like that much to me. Mine do not seem to go down at all (yet).

Are you sure it wasn't down the quart all along? Which oil is in the car?

Glyn M Ruck

The "normal" pattern with most MB's is slight oil consumption over the first 10,000 miles & then zero. One quart in 10,000 miles is certainly nothing to worry about but unusual unless break in was not achieved or you have a slight leak.

The most common leak on the M272/273 range of engines is the cam bore blankers in the rear of the heads. Redesigned & easy to change.







https://mbworld.org/forums/5136381-post21.html

KAMCAD

Well... good point. It may have been low when I bought the car. You would think when you get a CPO car it would be filled!!

I put Mobil 1 0/30 in last week. (Winter time in here)

mac911

Mobil's formulation of 0w30 is weaker in additives than the Mercedes approved products Plus, additives aren't necessarily sourced from the Mercedes specified source as it is with approved products.

You might not want to run the entire 10-13k interval with the non-approved oil as the protection might not last as long.

Otherwise, I imagine it's still a very good product.

KAMCAD

True, I have a free oil change coming up in June. I will change the grade then.
Thanks for the help