My car is 2017 C300 with 17,000 km (Canada). I have an idea what Service B includes but not sure about the "4".
Any idea what such a service would cost in Canada (East Coast).
Would you recommend that I change my own filters(OEM) to save some money?
Thanks.

 

Your dealership probably labeled 4 as 4th year service.

 

Change your own filters by all means but you'll lose out long term because you won't have a full service history which will affect the value when you come to change cars.

 

this is an interesting dilemma. Does one pay MB levels of $ (sorry, don’t have the # sign!) expense on normal maintenance items (oil changes, filter changes, etc) or does the $ savings by a DIY equal or exceed the assumed loss of vale you imply (and I think that’s a big assumption) at trade in?

i bought a 2015 W205 C300 4Matic in Nov 2018 with 14,000 miles. Car now has 62,000 miles. I’ve performed all work DIY on the car with the exception of one spark plug install (I bought the plugs) and the AT filter/fluid service. All parts are OEM (since I also bought an extended warranty I need to use OEM parts to maintain coverage). All services are documented via receipts and tons of photos taken during the DIY’s, in order to maintain the warranty.

I’ve performed 5 oil changes, two cabin filter changes, one air filter change, one brake fluid change, one spark plug change, one serpentine belt, one set of wipers, and one AT fluid change. I’m not including tires since they aren’t a maintenance item, no alignments. No problems with the car, other than the windshield replacement due to noise. So significant differences in MB v DIY costs such as a full brake pad/rotor replacement isn’t factored in.

My costs for the Supplies for all the DIY work currently stands at $516. My total maintenance expense to date is $1303.

According to Edmunds.com, the 5 year Dealer maintenance cost on a 2015 C300 4Matic is $8868, or about $1700/year at 15,000 miles/year. I’ll extrapolate that to $5500 to get to year 4 (60,000 miles).

So I’ve saved about $3700 to date.

The car is currently worth around $18,000 according to KBB.com

is the car worth 20% less due to have normal maintenance items performed DIY instead of at MB? Is it a myth that the car is worth less, in order to “force” owners to pay for dealer services?

 

It’s a myth. Keep written records of your DYI work and it’s all good.

 

B4 means the 4th B service. I recommend you do it at the dealer and keep the receipt. As a buyer i would like to see where this car has been serviced/maintained. I wont be interested in DIY records or pictures.

 

its a myth, dealers are as thief as any other car sellers when it comes for used cars. I just got screwed by a mercedes dealer. I bought a certified pre-own car. 2 years after a big patch of rust appeared. Turns out the car was repainted outside of insurance claims, so no car proof. Dealers said they could not have know. Their own body shop looked at it and almost laugh at how easy it was to spot that the car was repainted when they checked the paint thickness...so I could not claim anything for rust warranty...I love the car, but I don't trust them for 2 cents anymore. I am just happy that I could get the wrist pin fix under the extended warranty.

 

Yea, I think under-the-radar repairs happen to some of the more expensive cars in order to avoid a Carfax record. And the work done can be of questionable quality and still pass a CPO inspection. My opinion.

I had a similar experience buying a CPO 2013 SL from a MB dealer. I found the CPO warranty useful, but had to fix a number of appearance details myself. One of more interesting issues was a 2" wood screw that somebody ran up under the front bumper cover on one side to secure it. The CPO inspection somehow missed that one? Turned out that the cover only had to be tucked back into a tab in the chassis. Can't imagine a legit shop doing something like that. After I acquired a paint thickness gauge I also discovered a repainted section of a panel near some scratches I had to buff out. The Carfax showed "no accidents or damage reported".

My experience is that the CPO warranty was useful for mechanical issues, but don't assume a CPO car will be perfect from an appearance standpoint. I made that bad assumption on this purchase, but won't do that again.

 

So, to follow up on my original post, first of all thanks for the responses.
I went to the dealer yesterday and they advised that the B service would cost $585. CAD and that I would need a brake fluid flush for $210. and clean and lube panarama roof at $34.48. So with tax and whatever else they can throw in, the cost will be $1000. CAD +/-. They said I could change my own filters if I wanted to, but they would not change the cost of the service.
I guess when you are the only dealer within 3 hours drive, you can do what you want!!

 

bah its just an oil change, filter change, cabin and fan filter. That's literally all it is. You can lube the sunroof yourself. They do a brake fluid flush too, its recommended every 2 years but idk how critical it really is.

 

Just had the B1 service done on my 2013 SL. They did not flush the brake system and I don't think it was ever previously done. Car has about 40K miles. Go figure.

 

B4 is the service B with a brake flush. The maintenance guide calls for 2 year changes on the brake fluid.