Uphill Oil Change Interval
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2012 C300 4MATIC Sport
Uphill Oil Change Interval
Hello everyone,
I know that for my 2005 CLK 320, the service manual says oil changes, as per 229.5 spec, are to be carried out every 13,000 miles/21,000 km. That's what I used to do when I lived in Canada where roads were all flat.
Now though, I have moved back to Lebanon and the terrain is very different and uphill with altitude going from 300 feet to 9000 feet in the span of an hour drive.
The general consensus in the country, even with 229.5 oils, is to change the engine oil every 5,000 km/3,100 miles. I am yet to change the oil (waiting for the 5,000 km to come) in order for me to visually inspect the oil and see how it's doing.
I'd like to hear your opinion on this especially from owners who lives in hilly locations. Do you stick with 13,000 miles/21,000 km or do you reduce that?
Thanks,
I know that for my 2005 CLK 320, the service manual says oil changes, as per 229.5 spec, are to be carried out every 13,000 miles/21,000 km. That's what I used to do when I lived in Canada where roads were all flat.
Now though, I have moved back to Lebanon and the terrain is very different and uphill with altitude going from 300 feet to 9000 feet in the span of an hour drive.
The general consensus in the country, even with 229.5 oils, is to change the engine oil every 5,000 km/3,100 miles. I am yet to change the oil (waiting for the 5,000 km to come) in order for me to visually inspect the oil and see how it's doing.
I'd like to hear your opinion on this especially from owners who lives in hilly locations. Do you stick with 13,000 miles/21,000 km or do you reduce that?
Thanks,
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2008 CLK550 Cab
I don't ever drive 13,000 miles in a year, so I change mine every year - usually around 7,500 miles. I live in Colorado where lots of people live at over 9,000' and have never really heard too much about reduced oil change intervals. But even if you did reduce it, going from 13,000 to 3,000 is way overkill.
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It's fairly hilly where I live. It's not mountainous like Colorado, but it's hilly enough that a lot of economy cars can't do the 70mph speed limit on many of the highways. I have never changed my oil any more often than the car calls for, which in my case is once a year or about 12K miles.
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2012 C300 4MATIC Sport
I don't ever drive 13,000 miles in a year, so I change mine every year - usually around 7,500 miles. I live in Colorado where lots of people live at over 9,000' and have never really heard too much about reduced oil change intervals. But even if you did reduce it, going from 13,000 to 3,000 is way overkill.
It's fairly hilly where I live. It's not mountainous like Colorado, but it's hilly enough that a lot of economy cars can't do the 70mph speed limit on many of the highways. I have never changed my oil any more often than the car calls for, which in my case is once a year or about 12K miles.
I'm going to suck a sample at 5,000 km and see how the oil is doing in order to decide which oil interval change I am going to stick with.
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2012 C300 4MATIC Sport
I'll report back when it's due.
Thanks a lot for your input.
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2012 C300 4MATIC Sport
According to a Training Engineer/Instructor that works for the MB Training Center in Jordan, the poor quality of gas (octane levels) in Lebanon is one of the causes why oil+filter changes are performed every 5,000 km by the dealership.
I witnessed that myself when I drove 10,000 km with the same oil+filter: the oil came out in terrible/sludgy quality although it was 229.5-approved (Fuchs Titan SuperSyn).
Note that I only fill the car up with the highest-octane gas available in Lebanon: 98 (RON).
I witnessed that myself when I drove 10,000 km with the same oil+filter: the oil came out in terrible/sludgy quality although it was 229.5-approved (Fuchs Titan SuperSyn).
Note that I only fill the car up with the highest-octane gas available in Lebanon: 98 (RON).
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From: Atlanta Metro
2008 clk550 - Navigator - Frontier
I ran mine for 11K miles on an oil change once. I won't do that again...... The oil looked and felt like mud. I think BMW uses engine data (I guess RPM and other parameters) to warn of a needed oil change.
I change mine at 6K miles.
I change mine at 6K miles.
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MBZ used to have the Flexible Service System that would determine service intervals based on engine operating conditions. Now, it's just based on mileage or time, whichever comes first. My personal opinion is that 5K miles is way too short an interval to change oil in any car. This is an interval invented by the oil change industry. Some are now even suggesting going 3K mile intervals! And that's with more modern engines, oils and filters that are better than ever. Most manufacturers recommend changes at 7,500 with 4-5 quarts of standard oil. MBZ specifies very high-quality oil and uses 8-9 quarts plus a specialized synthetic fleece filter with about 5x the surface area of a standard filter. Then, the change interval is 12K miles. I'm probably coming up on 1M "MBZ" miles and I've followed their intervals and never had an issue related to lubrication. Yes, the oil that comes out is black and dirty, but it looks like that after 3K miles.
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2012 C300 4MATIC Sport
MBZ used to have the Flexible Service System that would determine service intervals based on engine operating conditions. Now, it's just based on mileage or time, whichever comes first. My personal opinion is that 5K miles is way too short an interval to change oil in any car. This is an interval invented by the oil change industry. Some are now even suggesting going 3K mile intervals! And that's with more modern engines, oils and filters that are better than ever. Most manufacturers recommend changes at 7,500 with 4-5 quarts of standard oil. MBZ specifies very high-quality oil and uses 8-9 quarts plus a specialized synthetic fleece filter with about 5x the surface area of a standard filter. Then, the change interval is 12K miles. I'm probably coming up on 1M "MBZ" miles and I've followed their intervals and never had an issue related to lubrication. Yes, the oil that comes out is black and dirty, but it looks like that after 3K miles.
When I left the same 229.5 oil+filter for 10,000 km = 6,213 miles, the oil came out as mud basically and I was terrified of the results. I kept hearing lifter noise until 3000 km on the new oil.
My conclusion is that Lebanon's air quality (dust), octane quality, and the fact that there's a lot of uphill driving requires shorter oil changes as compared to MB's recommended 13k miles as per 229.5.
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From: Lebanon
2007 BMW 550i
I agree, I've seen sludge build up in a M271 after 10,000KM and there is no way thats normal, it was literately like a gel in some areas. (I'm in Lebanon too, Xsever is a good friend thanks to this forum 
)
)
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From: Atlanta Metro
2008 clk550 - Navigator - Frontier
I drive my car pretty hard. I know many people think they also drive their cars hard. When I had a job.... 
and mostly drove in traffic and was only logging 5-6K miles a year the oil was brownish after a year and still felt fairly smooth between the fingers (I know that is not an accurate or scientific way to determine oil quality).
Now when I drive the car I am mostly just having fun and I do it daily. When the oil is black and feels gritty between the fingers, I figure that is too long between oil and filter service. BTW - I have sensitive fingers.....
and mostly drove in traffic and was only logging 5-6K miles a year the oil was brownish after a year and still felt fairly smooth between the fingers (I know that is not an accurate or scientific way to determine oil quality). Now when I drive the car I am mostly just having fun and I do it daily. When the oil is black and feels gritty between the fingers, I figure that is too long between oil and filter service. BTW - I have sensitive fingers.....
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From: Orlando, FL
05 CLK55 AMG (1 of 247) Cubanitsilber designo series
I consider 5K interval oil changes to be cheap insurance. Everyone has a different opinion on this subject, as they do on most preventive maintenance. I wouldn't encourage anyone to lengthen oil change intervals over what they personally think is best for their car.
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A buttery gel in the oil is not sludge - that's actually moisture. It could be from a leak allowing coolant into the oil, or just ambient moisture build up from lack of use (often seen in grandma's car where she drives twice a week, one two mile trip to the grocery, and another two mile trip to the salon). Sludge is when the oil is full of grit and grime and you see that in the pan. It's usually due to poor engine design or improper oil for the engine.
The oil that comes out of my car at 12K miles is black, the same black as when I check it at 3K miles. It's not as thin as fresh oil, but it's not the consistency of mud. It still feels slick and oil, but not at all gritty. If it were gritty or thick like mud, something would be wrong. Of course I am lucky to be in the USA where I have easy access to good fuels and oils and filters, and our air quality is not bad at all.
The oil that comes out of my car at 12K miles is black, the same black as when I check it at 3K miles. It's not as thin as fresh oil, but it's not the consistency of mud. It still feels slick and oil, but not at all gritty. If it were gritty or thick like mud, something would be wrong. Of course I am lucky to be in the USA where I have easy access to good fuels and oils and filters, and our air quality is not bad at all.
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From: NOVA/DC
20' RCF, 18' NX, 09' E350, 07' Solara, 05' STi, 01' Ranger
The ONLY way to know how long you can go on oil changes is to have the oil analyzed...
It's always fun to see how people are so religiously adamant about changing their oil at 3k miles, when in reality it could probably go a lot longer. I USED to change oil every 3k miles then realized what a waste of money and resources that was. Get the oil checked at any good lab and they will tell you how the oil is doing after you take a sample and let you know what they find in it.
I sent a sample of the Merc after 10k miles and it was still fine. I will have to post up some documents once I find the print out. The lab said according to the numbers I could extend oil changes to almost 15k without worry. IE: The oil was still doing what it's meant to do.
Looking at oil and feeling it will tell you nothing about the break down of it's properties or life of it. If you are draining oil and it's sludge or has junk in it then you have other issues that should be taken care of ASAP.
It might be harder to get your oil analyzed where you are at, but I'm sure you could contact http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ and ship them your oil... might take a little longer but you'd at least have a baseline and real facts about oil and how it's doing.
Who knows they might come back and say you should try changing the oil at XXXX intervals...
-Nigel
It's always fun to see how people are so religiously adamant about changing their oil at 3k miles, when in reality it could probably go a lot longer. I USED to change oil every 3k miles then realized what a waste of money and resources that was. Get the oil checked at any good lab and they will tell you how the oil is doing after you take a sample and let you know what they find in it.
I sent a sample of the Merc after 10k miles and it was still fine. I will have to post up some documents once I find the print out. The lab said according to the numbers I could extend oil changes to almost 15k without worry. IE: The oil was still doing what it's meant to do.
Looking at oil and feeling it will tell you nothing about the break down of it's properties or life of it. If you are draining oil and it's sludge or has junk in it then you have other issues that should be taken care of ASAP.
It might be harder to get your oil analyzed where you are at, but I'm sure you could contact http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ and ship them your oil... might take a little longer but you'd at least have a baseline and real facts about oil and how it's doing.
Who knows they might come back and say you should try changing the oil at XXXX intervals...
-Nigel
