smaction

So like all recent vintage vehicles, my C250 has recommended oil change every 5000 miles. My previous vehicle was a Jeep that lasted 15 years and 250K miles. I attribute that in no small part to changing the oil every 3000 miles.

Would this help on my C250? Am I right about my initial assumption with my Jeep?

Any advice/education is appreciated.

Scott

mac911

Hi Scott...Actually your C250 if it is USA, has a 10,000 mile oil change interval.

*IF* you always use the MB Spec oil 229.5 (don't accidentally get 229.51 it's for diesel engines), and you always use MB filter or identical Mann replacement, you should feel comfortable doing the 10,000 miles (or 1 year if it comes sooner), intervals.

The most easily found 229.5 spec oil is Mobil 1 0w40. It's very rich in additives and of high quality to last you the 10,000 miles.

I believe the C250 takes 5.8 quarts of oil (but be careful if you're filling yourself not to overfill, check level before pouring in all the oil).

With the conventional oils of the early to mid-90s, 3000-4000 mile oil change intervals were probably a good idea. You certainly didn't hurt your Jeep and probably kept the engine pretty clean with those regular intervals!

Now, I don't know if your car is preowned? If it was and you thought previous owner neglected oil changes, you could do a couple 5,000 mile intervals if you wanted, to in your mind, clean it up a bit.

The most important thing is to make sure you use the 229.5 spec oil and the correct oil filter.

MDMercedesGuy

Regardless of the 10,000 mile interval - I change every 5,000-6,000. I'm hopefully going to get around to Blackstoning some oil from this last change sometime soon.

Filter - $30, oil - $60 (or $45 if you do the Advance Auto 5qts+filter for $35 deal with some random filter for a Ford Pinto or such and buy the extra quart).

30 minutes of work + roughly $100 - not a bad price to pay for the assurance that what is pumping through my engine has plenty of life left.

stratman1954

Mobil 1 has been tested to still be good after 25,00 miles so 10,000 is more than safe.

black lavender

I use Mobil 0w40 and there is no way I'm going 10,000 miles between changes.

mac911

I went factory fill on my 2008 C300 to 13,000 miles. Of course, that is V6 with 8+ quart sump.

Honestly, unless we're finding in oil analysis that the direct injected, turbo 1.8 liter is extra hard on oil, 10,000 is not extraordinary for these cars and engines.

Nevertheless, people can change the oil more often, it's their car.

Now, I admit, I wouldn't go 13,000 miles again, but I'd go 10,000.


I recently got a pre-owned car from another manufacturer. It had oil changes done every 10-13k miles with 0w40 Mobil 1, and it is turbocharged engine with 65,000 miles. Engine is very clean inside.


I also send in oil samples to blackstone from time to time, but anymore than that it is a waste, because they tend to come back boring (thankfully).

The C250 filter shouldn't be $30 I wouldn't think. I think $19.50 at dealer and $15.60 online. Less if you find the Mann branded equivalent.

Honestly, I drive my cars much less now so at 1 year I change it, which is only 5-6k miles, but I would go to 10 if I started driving more.

Glyn M Ruck

The 10K recommended oil change on the V6 engines is conservative & the oil is in excellent condition at that mileage.

With the smaller sump & thus greater stress of the oil change on the M271 EVO Turbo I would be interested in people posting some oil sample analyses. The few I have seen locally have looked fine at 10K drain.

Pete7874

Just curious, who recommended it? According to the owner's manual, the interval is actually 10,000 miles, as was already noted. That's assuming you use the proper oil and filter.

Depends on what kind of oil you were using, but even if it was some cheap mineral oil, you could have most likely gone longer than 3,000 miles and would have still made it to 250K miles no problem.

mac911

This is a great point and as always, words of someone much more knowledgeable.

I feel a bit bad about so thoroughly enduring the 10,000 mile oil change interval. I knew it was so easy on the M272 V6 engines to go that distance as I had seen oil analysis including my own.

If I owned a car with the 4 cylinder, I would probably do an analysis 1/2 of 3/4 through the oil run if I was going to every single year go out to 10,000 miles. Otherwise, I might change it a little early, even though I want to trust the 10,000 mile recommendation with 229.5 oil.

MDMercedesGuy

It was $35 at my dealer, and the air filter was $52. They recently increased. I got a discount on both since I frequently buy stuff from them and have for years.

Carsy

Type of vehicle usage should be taken into consideration when deciding on length of time between oil changes.

e.g. Lots of short trips ,dusty & hot conditions or engine thrashing would shorten oil life.

I like to change my diesel engine oil every 10,000 km.

My 1994 405 Peugeot diesel oil was changed every 5,000 km & it is still running strongly without any major repair.

Glyn M Ruck

Indeed JC! You are correct. That's why I would like to see more sample analyses on the EVO engine to see what is typical. As I say the few samples I have seen were fine at 10K miles. Benz is usually conservative but MBUSA went 13K miles or 20,000Km on the V6 in the early days which I always thought to be pushing it a little although samples were not too bad. They then reverted to 10K miles like ROW.

With a diesel any sort of overfueling or long periods of idle can elevate soot levels in the oil which also needs to be watched.

Glyn M Ruck

No need to apologise Steve, You have taken the trouble to educate yourself on lubrication and have always taken quality & condition into account with your own vehicles & passed this on to other members.

JWH321

This will be my first post here -- I think, but I just wanted to thank every one who contributes here. have a 2008 C300 which I've owned since it came off the truck with 1.7 miles on it. I try very hard to protect it and keep everything properly serviced. The car now has 73K on it.

This will be the first time that I have done an oil change myself -- I've been taking it to the dealer, but the last time, I got very concerned because they tried to talk me out of Mobil 1, and after getting the car back, they had somehow managed to change the oil filter without disturbing any of the dust on the filter housing or the engine shroud.

Frustrating.

Thanks again, folks.

MJ50

Bought oil filter, cabin filter and air filter for service B from AutohausAZ.
Total came out under $60. Just need to buy oil locally now...

mac911

At least with the oil filter, I'm pretty sure they are charging more than Mercedes MSRP, which they are welcome to do I suppose.

I'd type the part number in at getmercedesparts.com next time, of course you'd have to pay shipping, but at least to get the MSRP.

JWH321

I'm a belt and suspenders guy from Missouri so I have to check everything 42 times.

I have a RWD C300 (W204). It uses 8.5 quarts of oil.

Am I correct in my assumption that I can pump MOSTLY ALL of its oil out using a "straw" sent down through the dip-stick tube? In other words, given that I do not have a 4-Matic car, the little fitting that seals to the top of the dip stick tube is NOT a requirement. For the last time, am I correct?

Sunster

How much oil needed for the 2010 C250?

MJ50

6qt should be enuf...

Sunster

What's that in the metric system?

MJ50

7L should be enough...

Sunster

Thanks. Any guides as to what equipment to get for a B-service?

kevink2

Some people, for whatever reason, will short change the 229.5 oil at 5K / 6mo or less. Would that open the door to use some 229.3 oils that are not on 229.5 list, in theory.

Also, from your excellent Definitive Oil thd, this MB quote:

229.5 engine oils must be used with fleece oil filter when used with the Mercedes Maintenance System (MY2005+) in M112, M113, M272 and M273 engines. With FSS paper filters are fine.

A bit confused ... I thought FSS was the current 229.5 exrtended range oil changes, with fleese only filters?

Thanks Glyn

.

Glyn M Ruck

Kevin. I probably need to do a few updates to that thread. Fleece on 6 cylinder & above is the way to go. SA still even uses fleece in M271 but they were withdrawn from the US.

The FSS is the old Flexible Service System with oil condition sensors & driver monitoring such as number of WOT applications etc etc that calculated when to service the car. The sensors are no longer fitted & the system is switched off on modern Benz products and the Assyst displays fixed time & distance servicing.

With the old FSS system if you used crap filters the car would just indicate shorter service & drain interval. Latest settings are all considered extended drain.

In theory one could use 229.3 oils at shorter drain but they are really obsolete & I would recommend 229.5 (which is the best you can get for Benz at present) for any drain interval. There are still benefits to be enjoyed even at shorter drain.

Carsy

When I joined my first & only triple expansion steam reciprocating ship as a young junior, the old chief engineer gave me some advice

I have never forgotten when he was showing me around the engine room he said "Son, if you use a little too much lubrication no one will ever notice but use too little & everyone will know !!

I think this is also the case with using the correct grade & interval.