Frisco

My car was up for the first service B since it's been off warranty (a tad over 1k miles after warranty expired FWIW), and after reading through the list of things that they do and getting quoted $550 for what looked like a glorified oil change, I decided to do part of it myself and replaced the oil today. I picked up one of those Pela oil extractors and a replacement oil filter at the parts counter. It set me back about $200 so far, and the job took about a half hour and was easy. If anyone wants to do it and has any questions, LMK.

And fwiw, I know that Service B is a tad more than an oil change. Next I need to decide if I try to install the new brakes myself...

lauer87

Brakes arent that hard. Jack it up, compress the pistons, remove bolts holding on the brake, and swap pads. Of course theres alittle more to it than this, but its fairly simple.

Frisco

Thanks, It's a full brake job, including rotors, calipers, lines, and bleed. But it looks easy enough, as long as I don't have any problems with the existing parts being frozen. I have tools, jack, jackstands, etc, but I haven't ever done it. I just need to decide which method I use to bleed the brakes. Hopefully it's as easy as it looks. Any locals are welcome to help of course

Kanji

why use an extractor? could you just go under and put the car on jacks and drain the oil? Do all MB have an under body spoiler?

Frisco

Yeah you can either remove the underbody skidplate and drain it via the oil pan drain screw or use an extractor. I felt more compelled to spend $100 and pump it out than crawl under my car. The nice part about the extractor is that I didn't spill a drop - the only PITA part was that it didn't hold a vacuum very well and needed to be pumped more than advertised. Still easy enough though.

Frisco

The dipstick tube for the oil extractor tube is located between the firewall and airbox on the passenger side, and the oil filter assembly is right in the front. The dipstick tube does NOT have a red cap like many other mercedes models like you'll find via a search, so don't be confused. You do not need to pull off the airbox. Just pop the cap off the dipstick tube, pump out the oil, swap the filter, and refill with fresh oil.

This is all I needed:
Replacement OEM Oil Filter $25 PN A 000 180 29 09
Mobil-1 $50 0W40 8 Qts
Pela 14 Oil Extractor $100

Here is a pic:

Lebanese_AMG

how hard is it to change the oil filter? and what tools do you need?

StapleGun

As in the picture above, remove the plastic oil filter housing counter-clockwise, should be hand-tight. Yank upwards and replace the three o-rings within.

StapleGun

Substantially easier to do with a 'topsider' Don't get under car, don't have to remove any coverings, don't risk stripping drain plug and a lot tidier clean-up wise.

S2016

Mercedes are great cars but oil changes are one example where Mercedes has poor design. I wonder if they purposely make it hard to change oil.

I have another European made car. Oil changes are simple. I do it for that car. In return, the workmanship is better than at any dealership and the oil gets changed more often.

Mercedes should shape up and not have such an idiot design.

x-tian-230k

Frisco,

DId you reset the computer?? If so, how did u do it....

StapleGun

I agree, you should see what a proposition from hell it is to remove the starter from a C43. It's absolutely ridiculous...no wonder the Japanese marques are taking it away from Benz. There is no forethought to the access of parts that ARE going to require eventual repair and/or replacement.

shifty

to remove the oil filter cover, can you remove by hand or do you need a special tool? p/n?

to reset the service indicator is in the manual, double check it

Frisco

You need an oil filter wrench - mine was labeled size #7 if I recall correctly and works with a variety of different cars. It's not something that you need to buy through a dealer. I got mine at Kragen, and Autozone and any other parts store probably sells something like it. It cost $5 or so.

Chi500

What is the part # for a 2003 CLK500 oil filter? You have 000 180 29 09
written in the post but 000 180 26 09 in the picture. Thanks.

Also, do you know where to get Mobil 1 the cheapest?

Frisco

Oops - one must be a typo. I unfortunately don't remember which number is right at this point.