I am going to go down to the garage again, but the oil filler tank is bent at a funny angle and I am not sure how I am going to get the hose down there and be confident I have struck the bottom to suck the oil out.

Anybody have experience with this oddity? Tips?

 

You suck the oil out of a little tube that should be near the right rear corner of the supercharger casing. It's about 1/2" in diameter, and points forward, up, and toward the left headlight.

This is a C32, and you can see it as the little black tube coming up at an angle, tucked in near the inside rear corner of the right surge tank. Mine has a black male plug with a dot of yellow paint.

 

It's a C55 (V8) according to the title - so there is no supercharger casing.

As far as my two cents are concerned - I challenge the effectiveness of the suction method. I fully understand it is the MB method per instruction - however - I also understand that they are interested in bay time and turnover. I can't see how you're going to get a tube down there to suck out all the oil - plus - all the schmutz that has settled at the drain plug or near it is naturally drained when you take out the plug.

PLEASE NOTE: The C55 V8 has two drain plugs - one before and one after the crossmember. The front plug will drain about 1 - 1.5 qts. and rear drain the majority at about 7.5 to 8 qts. If you were to use the suction method - I'm assuming you suck from the dipstick tube and the oil filter housing once you've removed the oil filter assembly. I strongly suggest buying a dipstick (Baum tools) (MB 120 589 07 21 00 - specifically for 113 engines) which will measure 160mm when filled to the correct level. If you drain the engine completely you should fill exactly to 160mm with 9qts. which is the listed capacity for an oil and filter change. Insert dipstick with the number readings facing you.

I used Mobil 1 0W-40 meeting MB spec 229.3 and 229.5 as specifically noted by AMG and the exact same oil as factory fill.

 

Well, I have to agree with kjb55 on this one. I have done vacuum oil changes on other MB's and althought the method is superior, it is not feasible on this engine. As far as I know, you can't drain the oil out of the filter reservoir because it is baffled from the main tank, hence the two separate drain plugs.

I ended up using the drain plug and found the AMG location for the drain plug to be quite good. I went out and bought some Rhino ramps and that just made the drainage better from the main reservoir as it is on the back of the oil pan pointing backwards rather than down. This way, the car leaned back and improved the flow. With the front end raised I got 7.5 qts out of the main pan side and 1 qt out of the filter pan side. Something about how the filler path is routed is very tortuous and nearly impossible to snake a poly vinyl tube through.

If you lease you should definitely go with that Mobil oil and should keep the itemized receipt showing you purchased it for your records. Ditto for the MB original FLEECE filter. The fleece filter lasts as long as the oil while other types of paper filters fail before 10k miles. If you own, you might want to check out AMSOIL. I have heard good things....very good things. Don't know about the price though....I can get Mobil Supersyn 0w40 on the mega cheap, and it is good stuff, and if anything ever goes wrong with the engine I can point to the 229.5 standard stamped on the back of the bottle and the "AMG and Mobil One" logo under my hood.

As for the beard fragments, for those who read the other post, AMSOIL makes a chaser fluid that mobilizes sludge and gets the goop left by draining through the plugs. Again, this is similar to an additive and might get MB's panties in a bunch if they ever find out about it.

 

Wow! You just made my day! I've been looking for a dipstick for the C55. Can you confirm this Part Number?

MB 120 589 07 21 00 - specifically for 113 engines

Thanks!

 

[QUOTE=kjb55]It's a C55 (V8) according to the title - so there is no supercharger casing.QUOTE]

I am aware of that.

Look at the orange plug in the upper right of this photo.
It's located in the same area as posted earlier.
It's not the transmission dipstuck tube, as that one has a locking cap instead of the slip-fit plug that is in the oil tube.
Mine's black, yours is orange.

The effectiveness of oil extraction versus conventional draining has been thoroughly discussed on these forums.

All I'll say is that once you change oil with suction, you'll not want to go back to drain plugs.



Credit for photo goes to cntlaw...nice car!

 

I see an orange plug in the middle top part of the photo (by the DS strut tower) however, it's the red plug in the left side of the photo looking straight up from the coolant resovoir that is the oil tube. Not sure what orange plug you see in the right side of the photo.

C55s don't have a transmission dipstick tube.

I'm sure from a convenience stand point - suction is a nice method. From a complete drainage stand point - it's tough to beat gravity. Moreover - rguy brings a very valid point in that you can't snake a tube down the oil filter housing to get that 1+ quart. I'd rather change 100% of my oil, not just 83%.

The dip stick noted is correct - here's a picture from startek.