scovit

For you older more experienced C55's....

I've got a Service A reminder message that came up yesterday telling me that I will need in 29 days Service A.

I currently have 4000 miles and exactly 4 months old, so what's that about? Isn't that premature?

And if so, why would this come up?

The car is perfect with no problems. and no excessive usage. What's the deal here?

dragonAMG

Service A is your 10k service. My service A light popped on at 9500 miles ( yesterday )

05C55

I don't recall getting a service light for it, but I did have the car inspected at around 1500 miles. A is usually an inspection and oil change.

jtc55

i have the same message saying service A due in 20 days. i only have 3000 miles and car is 4 months old. i think MB is suppose to reset service message to 10000 miles or 1 year when you take it in for courtesy inspection at the 1000-1500 miles mark. i'm going to call my sales rep to see if this is so.

scovit

Any way that the driver can just reset this?

PC Valkyrie

The whole point of the flexible service system (FSS) is that the computer will monitor the quality of the engine oil and engine systems. Normally, the Service intervals are every 15000km (in Canada). However, if the computer detects that your oil or engine needs changing or maintenance prior to the normal interval, the computer will tell you.

Do you drive short distances regularly (which is bad for the engine and can increase sludge formation from the oil)?

glomar83

my service is due in 1 day. i have 6000 miles and bought the car 6 months ago brand new. should i take it in or wait til i get closer to 10k? i do a lot of short distance driving and i drive pretty hard. my gauge says i'm getting 12.9 mpg total

scovit

Do you drive short distances regularly (which is bad for the engine and can increase sludge formation from the oil)?

Nope.

sax maniac

I've had mine for ~9 months and have a tick under 6000 miles on the odo. The "Service A in 30 days" indicator came up ~21 days ago.

dragonAMG

I'm planning on taking my in every 5k for an oil and filter change.

12.9 mpg ... OMG!!! Before the Kleemann conversion I was averaging 18.5 mpg on the streets and now I'm averaging 17.1 mpg. That's with getting on it at least once per day.

scovit

Well, I changed the oil today and reset the service indicator anyway. Opened both drain plugs & flushed 1 quart of new oil through, new fleece filter and used Mobil1 0-40. I'll see the dealer at the 10k interval and have him reset the Service B indicator so that it comes up at roughly 20k. If I leave it alone it will come up at roughly 14k.

It used to be that in the 1980's the mfg would suggest changing the "break-in oil after 600-1200 miles.

Don't know if this is what the mfg had in mind.

chitownC55

The same thing happened to me, just had my service A done after 5600 miles and 6 months. According to the Service people at my dealership the 12 months countdown starts the day it leaves the factory, I bought mine in March 2005 but it was built in September 2004.

Therefore, the day your service A indicator comes on, just count back and you will know exactly what day your car left the factory. You can then purchase a cake,candles..etc and celebrate its birthday every year

And yes, I was surprised that it there was such a large gap between leaving the factory and leaving the showroom floor. Judging the the above posts this seems to be quite common.

noka

This is exactly correct. My car had about 4500 mi. I decided to wait on the oil change because the car comes from the factory with full synthetic (no break-in oil). The master tech said it is better to leave the oil in longer and suggested maybe changing closer to 7500 mi. He said it is more difficult for the engine to break in with synthetic oil, so he recommended leaving the original oil in longer, since the miles were relatively low.

Rgds,
Norm

genechien

hmm, so what's the consensus?

A) take the car in for service at the time indicated by the computer even though you haven't reached 10K yet

(or)

B) give the car an oil change and wait until the 10K mark?

(or)

C) no nothing until 10K

A couple days ago my car was saying that service was in like 4500 miles and today (whether by coincedence or not) I was just about the pass the 6000 miles mark and the car now says that I need service in 29 days. I drive a lot of highway miles and it's only been 3 months since I've had the car.

scovit

I changed the oil and filter after 4000 miles and apparently 1 yr in the crankcase.

sax maniac

Ok, so my car did the whole countdown thing so I called to get an appointment. Apparently this "glorified oil change" is going to run me $250?!? For a 45 minute service? Was told it takes ~45 minutes so I don't get a loaner. WTF?

So, who in the Dallas area can lead me to a reputable shop to get this glorified oil change done? I'd do it myself but I don't know how to re-set the indicator.

MCOUPIN

Mine just went off as well. WTF? I have 3800 miles on the car and I far from drive it hard. My trips usually range in the 12-15 mile range so I guess that is a short distance? I am not changing the oil until I hit 5k.

Darba

Happened to me aswell, I took it for service and was told that it was a faulty sensor which they replaced free of charge. I have had my coolant light and oil light turn on and I was also told "faulty sensor" and again replaced for free.

Kanji

how much does Service A usually cost from the dealership? Is it basically oil&filter change and a computer reset? or is it something more??

sdsilverm3

I have owned my car for 3 months and 3600 miles. Got the 30 day notice that Service A is coming up. Should I take it in? :

jtc55

i just had my service A done 2 weeks ago and i only had 4000 miles and only had the car for 5 months. if you check on driver's side pillar w/ door open, it will tell you the build-date of your car. my was built on sept 2004 so the computer was right about the 1 year period. check your car, i bet it was built on oct 2004. if so, you should have service A perform.

AMG PWR

I had mine done recently, with 5000/6000 miles on the car. I wanna baby the engine and make sure it runs good so it sounds about right for me!!