Thanks sir!

 

let's read your report...

UOA report

Calcium + magnesium levels comps being vastly different suggest lab is comparing to a different reference oil chemistry: older SN vs. newer SP formula.

Then we look at the viscosity analysis...
your 4kMi oil sample has derated to W30 viscosity range of 11.08.cSt.

Consider using this oil for less distance (3kMi?) or find an upgrade that better meets your hot TT GDI needs.

I suggest you consider premium MB Approved PAO lubricants of your choice.


Did you notice an improvement in engine response right after clean oil service and for 500.Mi ??
That's from phasers reacting to better oil pressure of fresh oil.

 

German cars can last long, especially Mercedes however there are parts on the car which will fail, like modules. Also depending on your driving style, more parts could fail if you stress it more however if you do maintenance based on your driving and not the car's own maintenance, the moving parts should last long. Take note that as cars become more safe, their is more tech, and the more tech, the more a module can go bad however come of their modules are not fun to get it.. example: transmission module inside the transmission of many Benz. These module go bad because of heat but you can help reduce their by taking care of your transmission fluid.
There are some seals on the front of the turbo engines.. it's an easy repair and it must be done or you will cause the engine to get dirty and dirt is the engines enemy as corrosive chemicals stick the plastics in the engine. Clean your engines every years and repair and oil leaks. If you live a cold or extreme hot, all cars go through extremes especially if they are parked outside.
The current line as well as the previous years Benz engines are well built but other parts of the car will fail but it's all up to the owner to take care of the car. I've had a few Benz already and never had an engine problem.

 

Thanks for the advice Cosworth2000! Just recently we thoroughly (but gently) power washed the entire engine compartment. Such big difference! Now, about a thousand miles later after a fresh oil change...no seep off the cam phaser covers. I believe the poor appearance around the front of the engine was just an accumulation of gunk from the miles & miles of daily commute over 5 years + daily use.

Cali - the Blackstone report was a sample of (my third sequential) oil change of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum (PUP) Euro SP 5W-40. I have very recently changed back to Mobil 1 Euro 5W-40...as they came out with a "SQ" rating (!). The price point is way more affordable compared to PUP Euro 5W-40 via Amazon or Motul. I found it very interesting that the PUP Euro 5W-40 sheared out of viscosity in just under 4600 miles of daily (100 mile/day) commute. 90% highway with 10% stop & go/city miles. I'm careful to be warmed up before "hot-*******", but my daily commute only affords about three usable passing zones. All that to say, I'm not beating up my 158,000 mile C450...but hopefully spur her enough to keep carbon deposits at bay (with a straight diet of Shell V-Power 93). Hopefully the Mobil 1 SQ can yield better results for staying in viscosity.

 

It will be very interesting to see how long this new M1 API "SQ" formula stays within viscosity range.

If you want to cheat a little... simply change oil at 4000.Mi before too much visvosity is lost to polymer shearing.

Viscosity translates into pressure
Oil Pressure relates to spraying Rpm.

This is how viscosity relates to effective cooling besides bearing protection.

 

Reporting in at 162,028 miles. Just had my local redneck shade tree mechanic help me on a replacement of the A.O.S. (air oil separator) yesterday, since we noticed a dollop of engine oil under the passenger side engine air filter - while doing a routine interval replacement of a (NGK) set of spark plugs. I took the opportunity to buy the AOS and some camshaft magnet cover O-rings (from FCP Euro) to proactively replace when he was in there for the AOS. I would attempt the D.I.Y. repair myself, except I'm not proficient in the mechanic skill tree, nor do I have the patience & or tools/know-how to deal with bad mojo when things go wrong...and wrong it did go. The good news: we did not use the O-rings, as the covers were totally clean & without seep. The bad & ugly: when our redneck hero went to remove the AOS, the connecting crankcase breather pipe disintegrated in his gnarled hands at two different points (namely all three connection points). That necessitated an impromptu trip to the local stealership 40 miles away to retrieve another breather pipe replacement for a bit more than FCP Euro pricing <<small tears trickle; wallet empties>>. The heat cycling cookout of my 162,000+ miles had made for brittle and crumbling plastic that could not flex when my esteemed redneck wrench rassled those plastic evil eel pieces. I'm posting this (warning) for my C450/C43 brethren that trudge onward towards their own high mileage expectation...beware of the plastic fantastic nightmare that lays ahead.

Redemption was that the AOS was indeed plugged up pretty good - and the crankcase breather pipe ALSO had stress cracks prior to the wrestling session that were not immediately visible during prior "on lift" inspections. I had previously experienced intermittent "popping" of my engine oil dipstick (only about an 1/8' to 1/4" out; maybe 50% of the time I would check each week), accompanied by a faint "oily" smell after immediate shut down after the daily commute. I had previously associated the oil smell to an instance of an oil change gone horribly wrong - where the shop (a reputable one, not Jiffy Lube) happened to leave off my engine oil cap on top of the motor, and shut the hood. The story was one tech distracted the other while he was finishing up. A longer story for another time, but needless to say the car survived, never threw a light on the dashboard despite driving 10 miles home without a cap & blowing about 1/8th of a quart ALL OVER the underside of the hood & bathing the passenger side turbo, suspension, etc. The shop gently power washed top, bottom and sides - but on the ground and not up on a lift...so I figured there was a residual mess. Until we did those plugs and found the oil under the air filter element. Things that make you go "Hmm" and "Dammit"...

Thanks for reading

 

Curses to the perpetrators of this age of plastic en****ification of our endangered internal combustion vehicles!!!

 

Hmmm I’ve always wondered if there would be any possibility of replacing such plastics with “OEM+” longer-lasting materials... In my previous non-mb car I was able to get a full aluminium valve cover to replace a 15 year old OEM plastic one that was starting to seep.

I worry about what happens to my plastics in the engine 15-20 years from now :/

 

167,000 miles
Oh great, another thing to be paranoid about....well, my next oil change is also my 20k interval for air filters, I'll poke around when I'm there, and watch my dipstick. (to be fair, at 167k miles, I burn 1/2 qt every 5k, so it's much better than a BMW I had once, a quart every 1500-the e46 still made 334k before rust won, but I always had spare oil in the trunk). The air filters for this car are on the small side, I don't go to 30k.

I follow the service book for most things, usually slightly ahead of recommended interval.

I just did a full fluids exchange...Engine coolant and intercooler circuit. Front and rear diffs. Transmission service (yes, I debated this, I'd done it at 70k, but it appears to have slightly smoothed shifting, so no disaster) Brake flush. All at an indy, all in just under 3K with a wheel alignment included. I do as much work as I can DIY, but the trans wasn't something I was going to tackle-the price of failure is too high and the cost to have it done by someone who'd done it before not too bad-I read the instructions and viewed U of Youtube....nope.

My current minor battle is a flashing "gas cap loose" and minor evap leak obd code. I've ordered a new cap and hopefully that fixes it. Second CE in the car's history, the first was the oil solenoid, for which "the hack" was done.

In the past, I had the vacuum pump one way valve fail, but did that replacement with an ebay part....boost happy again.

I'll watch the plastic....I too occasionally get a whiff of oil when parking but can't find any real leaks.

 

For my torched crankcase breather pipes - the "cracking" plastic was on the engine or interior side of the pieces - meaning the plastic exposed to the hot engine side (inside) was the most dried and cracked portion...not visible until you pull it away from the engine. I was trying to monitor the appearance of the pieces previously, but of course the exterior of the plastic looks just fine from the outside! I never thought to pull them away or look on the backside of them. It's the inside portion exposed to the block and proximity to the turbo(s) that gets fried obviously. Breather pipe was $150 from the stealership.

I also agree that having the transmission serviced by the professional (Indy) shop is the way to go. My next interval is 180K, so maybe in 9 months from now (Dec 26')? Last time was $600.

My engine oil consumption is also right around 1/2 quart for 5,000 miles. It was double that with the plugged AOS/cracked breather pipe combination though.

I wish Mobil 1 would make their version of Valvoline Restore & Protect as an MB 229.5 approved. However, it seems the V R&P is only available as API "SN" rated, plus 5W-30 is currently the thickest offering.
Seems like the oil manufacturers are finally just catching up with synthetic "SQ" rated oils that are correct/best for our twin turbo applications about 10 years too late.