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MB WANTS $209.95 PLUS MATERIALS AND TAX ... INSANE!!! QUESTIONS ON CHANGING MYSELF
HAVE A TOPSIDER TO CHANGE OIL. CHANGED OIL MYSELF ON MY 2007 CROSSFIRE WITHOUT A PROBLEM. HOWEVER, ON MY 2006 CLS55 AMG I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS.
1. CAN I USE AN EXTRACTOR? BY PUTTING THE LINE DOWN THE OIL CHECK TUBE AND SUCKING IT OUT? OR, WILL I RUN INTO TROUBLE?
2. I HAVE A STAR DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM BUT HAVEN'T USED IT YET. HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT RESETTING THE COMMAND SYSTEM TO STOP THE NOTICES THAT I HAVE 29 - 28 - 27 ETC... DAYS TO A "C" MAINTENANCE CYCLE WITH THAT STAR DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM.
3. DO I USE MOBILE 1 SYNTHETIC OIL? IF SO WHAT WEIGHT. I CANNOT FIND THAT INFORMATION IN MY BOOKLET. I USED MOBILE 1 0-40W AND MY CROSSFIRE WAS ALL MERCEDES BENZ UNDERNEATH. THINK IT USED 8 QUARTS. HOW MANY QUARTS OF OIL DO I USE ON THE CLS55 AMG?
SO MUCH I CAN'T FIND IN MY MAINTENANCE MANUAL, THAT THING IS ALMOST USELESS. THEY WANT ME TO GO TO MB AND SPEND MONEY!!
IF YOU CAN POINT ME TO SOMETHING ALREADY HERE ON THIS BOARD I WOULD APPRECIATE IT. IF NOT, ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. $209.95 PLUS COSTS AND TAX IS JUST OUT OF THE QUESTION, WHEN I CAN GO TO WALMART AND GET IT CHANGED FOR $20 BUCKS OR SO ... WTF IS MB THINKING?
Ok breaking this down......take a deep breath. Listen to some music.
You bought a premium car from a premium brand so shop hours and dealer expectations of their clientele might be a but elevated compared to your previous experiences with Chrysler -- no matter how much was MB under the hood. OK?
$200+ is a going rate for MB, Audi and BMW for a simple oil change -- shop hours and materials are more expensive. You could do the oil change yourself. Anybody can unscrew the belly pan off the bottom, find the oil drain plug and drain the oil -- all 9 quarts. I do it myself and it's as simple as you'd expect. There are threads about a secondary oil drain but I have been successful being patient and letting the main drain go for about a 1/2 hour. You cannot suck it out of the tube under the hood (is my understanding and I don't consider that a proper oil drain anyway) Oil filters are available everywhere online. There are a number of O-rings that need to be replaced at the that time and they are included with the filter. FWIW Audi wants $325 to change oil on my S8 V10. I do it myself for about 100 bucks.
So, that being said, you would then have to have the maintenance reset by a scan tool or by the dealership. There in lies the rub. Many will not reset that for you just because you did your own maintenance and rolled up requesting they do it for free. Make friends with an MB or Audi tech -- often they have the tools needed to do this on the side because they work on all three major German mfctrs on the side. One might reset it for you.
Oil: I switched to Mobil 1 0W40 and I am very pleased with the performance/price. 9 quarts after you have really drained the old stuff out. Your manual states this clearly. There is also a procedure for checking your oil level through the Command system -- it's electronic. That little dipstick will not help you.
Any other questions Google it in detail and it will bring you back to this forum and to the correct thread for information.
After looking around and Googling some different things it looks like even it I change the oil myself, I won't save that much money. When I consider the cabin filter, oil, filter, wrench and other stuff it all ads up.
You are right, it seems that $200 +- is about right. Wow, this ten year old Mercedes is expensive to own. But I love it. Such a great ride.
Oh! SinCity had put a gift to a newby on how to reset the maintenance in the command system for all different models of MB. Will go out and try it today even though I still have 28 days until I need to change that oil etc ...
Thanks to all for the info. I am seeing this notice because it's coming up on a year since I bought my baby and had MB do a valve cover gasket change and oil change at the same time. I asked them to do an inspection to see what I had. Fortunately only brakes were nearing the point they would need new pucks and a small leak at the rear seal. Since then I have put a grand total of almost 4000 miles on her. So think will reset the service for another year since this oil is still good. Doesn't get hard use so think am safe.
A CLS55 is one of the few MB cars which must be drained from the bottom. There are two separate sumps, each with its own drain bolt. A topsider only gets the smaller rear sump. I've owned several E55k cars, which under the skin are pretty much the same car as the 219.
It's an easy job. 2- 5qrt. jugs of Mobile 1 0-40 from walmart= $50. $10 Mann filter from amazon. 2 new copper washers and drain plugs from Pelican parts if you feel like it. I just do washers about every 3rd time. I also padded my filter wrench with a paper towel tube because it was too big for the small filter cap. A tiny bit of grease on the top engine cover clips lets them pull off easier next time. You may find some of the bottom cover screws stripped from over zealous mechanics, I think pelican parts sells them. I pour the oil down the filter hole, it's easier.
It's an easy job. 2- 5qrt. jugs of Mobile 1 0-40 from walmart= $50. $10 Mann filter from amazon. 2 new copper washers and drain plugs from Pelican parts if you feel like it. I just do washers about every 3rd time. I also padded my filter wrench with a paper towel tube because it was too big for the small filter cap. A tiny bit of grease on the top engine cover clips lets them pull off easier next time. You may find some of the bottom cover screws stripped from over zealous mechanics, I think pelican parts sells them. I pour the oil down the filter hole, it's easier.
Everything he said, save I swap copper crush washers each time. I'll spend about $60-70 in oil, washers and filter. I just lift car up, take sheilds off and let her drain one plug at a time. Takes less than an hour, super easy and worth saving $100. All your questions can be found via search though. The cabin filter will take all of 5 minutes if you really want to bother swapping it out. I DO NOT trust anyone else working on my car...ruly the people they have changing oil aren't paying attention to crap.
MB says it's $209.95 just for oil and putting it in...
I thought for all that money that MB might be putting a cabin filter or the engine air filters too. NO, THAT'S NOT HAPPENING. So, for that kind of money I will just buy the cabin filter and the engine air filters and use my topsider to suck out the oil and put in a new filter and O'rings. I will accumulate over the next few months and change it next summer. Boy MB really does sock it to their customers. ...
Yeah there are baffles in the oil pan that will prevent you from getting a decent amount of the oil (I'd guess up to a quart) if sucking it out topside. Just take out the front two shields under your car (maybe 8-10 bolts/screws), throw pan underneath first plug and pull the plug. Get two rush washer (copper rings) to put back onto plugs before reinstallation (hell by 8, they are cheap).
Get the Mann filter only, don't mess with any other brand or try to go cheaper on an oil filter. The OEM(from dealer) filter is a Mann filter I'm pretty sure.
Walmart has the best price on the European spec oil. Mobile One, it'll say 'for european cars; or something on front. Its 0w-40, they have the bigger 5 quarts bottles for like $25..but you want the 229.5 spec oil (it'll say on back of bottle...just get the 'European' mobile one...)
The MANN paper filter is the cheapest route I'd recommend (still made in Germany) if you change your oil around 5-7k miles like I do. The MANN fleece filter is the exact same as the Mercedes brand. They're MANN too.
If you remove the oil filter first, and let it drain down, and then let both sides of the sump drain you can get out as much as 9.5-10 quarts on a change (assuming the car is level enough to let the oil cooler drain).
The only oil I would recommend is the 229.5 AMG spec. Autonation sells it for $6.50 a quart (it's Mercedes brand now, versus the older "M" Mobil One bottles), so it's hard to beat the real deal for that price.
If you let the dealer suck it out through the top, then you get what you deserve. Reset the maintenance through the ASSYST module in STAR.
To properly check the oil level you really need to pull up the Motor Electronics under STAR, and get the MM readings or make your own dipstick like I did. I attached the official fill level from WIS. The electronic "it's full" "it's empty" messages from the computer are only within a half to a full quart reading.
Last edited by equitiesguy; 12-17-2015 at 10:27 AM.
Interesting exercise making your own dipstick. My understanding was that the electronic report on screen was within fractions of a quart. If you're right it's within 1/2 quart that's good enough for me Vs building my own dipstick. I wonder why Mercedes didn't want one in there in the first place?
Interesting exercise making your own dipstick. My understanding was that the electronic report on screen was within fractions of a quart. If you're right it's within 1/2 quart that's good enough for me Vs building my own dipstick. I wonder why Mercedes didn't want one in there in the first place?
I put the dipstick in there like a tool when I need it, same as the transmission dipstick tool. It usually resides in my trunk.
Mercedes is ultra clear about exactly how much oil they want in the engine. Running it over that quantity can't be good long term.
I check it with STAR instead of the instrument cluster. That reading is precise.
I've been draining both plugs and refilling with 10 quarts for 100,000 miles. I used to check it on the dash running and off, but I don't anymore, because I know exactly how much is in there-10qrts.
11-18-2015, 03:30 PM
