No oil change in 2 years, panicking, need your help
 

Hi, vehicle in question is a 2014 ML350 Bluetec.
So my parents have been driving my ML350 around the beginning of COVID, late2019. They never change the oil, and the last dealer service was in 2019 MAY24.
They drove about 16000km or 10k miles since. They stopped the insurance and parked it for a few months in 2020.
The god damn B2 service reminder only pop up a few days ago, saying it's overdue for 351 days, and that's when my parents told me.
I've never missed any oil change in any of my cars and I never had any engine problem before, so I'm quite worried right now.

How serious is the situation?

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That's what happen in the country, where oil changes are dictated by lawyers.
Relax, 2 years and up to 20,000 km is normal interval in Europe.

You need to have the oil changed immediately assuming that it hasn't congealed yet. That's *exactly* how the OM642 gets gummed up and then people complain about spun bearings and thrown rods. It's a diesel - they need to be changing the oil every 8,000 km at the most regardless of what Mercedes may have said for marketing purposes.

(a) It is not and especially not on a diesel, and more importantly, (b) Europe doesn't have the ~20% biodiesel content that various US states pump put, which is what significantly contributes to the problems there.

Neither does US or Canada.
B20 fuels are sold at truck stops on West Coast with big banners saying so.
By the law, fuel can be sold as diesel without additional warnings when it has max of 5% bio.
Just like 5% of ethanol in gasoline.
Strangely my Ford Powerstroke run on B20 better than on regural diesel. I record each fill on fuelly, so have solid records.
FYI motor oils don't age and have infinite shelf life.
The reason for time-based oil change is due to some climates, where there might be water condensation dripping into oil pan.
That doesn't apply to warm climates, or vehicles park in garage.
My low mileage motorhomes in CA had oils not changed for up to 8 years. So did my tractor with Kubota engine.

I wouldn't worry about it. Just get the motor super hot by taking it on a long highway drive and change the oil. If you have a star, see when last regeneration of the dpf took place. If long ago, force regeneration and change oil.
best

What's the current mileage? Looks like the car had 3000 miles oil changes before. That can be actually harmful.
Also make sure you get correct oil from bevmo.
You will find long topic here, where those engines were killed by dealers using bulk oil design for older diesels, who in this particular motor turned into gelatin.

This is what I'm fearing of. It is parked right now and I planned to do an oil/filter change right away, drive it for a couple of hours on the highway, then do Another oil/filter change.
First, change with Pennzoil Platinum Euro LX(229.52) and Wix filter. Second change with MB dealer oil(only 5w-30 is available) and filter.

Yup, Plan on doing it, but I don't have a star. I've seen a few youtube vids where people have a laptop and xentry installed, with a mini vci cable directly to OBD2 port. don't know how it works, can someone explain?
the Star tool under $1000 on amazon/ebay/etc look quite fishy to me.

Currently a bit over 70000miles, updated logs and photo. 3000miles oil change due to all local short trips(within 5 miles), the engine rarely warms up. can you explain how it can be harmful.

Yes bulk oil, I Highly suspect the 229.51 they used to put in there is the culprit for trashing both NOx sensors(upstream and down).
And regardless of 229.51 or 229.52, they insisted even is DIY should use their 5W-30, not what I prefer 0W-30 pennzoil in winter and 0W-40 liquimoly/motul in Summer(all 229.52 approved)

If you are going to dump the oil twice, I would also do an engine flush after your highway run to remove any residual sludge buildup. There are a number of engine flush detergent additives that you can use. Do NOT drive the car with the additive in the sump unless the bottle specifically says it is safe to do so (I think most of them tell you to add it and then just let the engine idle for a certain amount of time before you dump the oil out).

You don't need STAR / DAS / XENTRY to only do an oil change and reset the service reminder. You do need STAR / DAS / XENTRY if you are replacing air filters for example as the MAF needs to be re-calibrated for the air flow rate through the new filters.

I too would VERY MUCH like to find out how a 3000 km oil change interval can be harmful. :rolf:

The OEM Mererdes oil now has additional additives to combat the effects of the higher biodiesel content in the USA, which results in excessive fuel dilution and also creates different combustion byproducts from "dino juice" diesel. In the winter when I don't tow the race car to various tracks and drive the ML almost exclusively (i.e. a lot of short trips), I usually change the oil after 3000 km myself. In the summer the ML gets used less frequently and furthermore gets properly exercised (so any moisture in the sump has a chance to fully evaporate) when going on longer trips and/or towing, I do about 6000 km between changes.

Canada is indeed limited to B5 at most gas stations, which is in large part responsible for the considerably lower number of engine issues with the diesels on this side of the border than the SNAFU in the USA (and 86% of all MLs and GLs sold here were diesels). However, pumps in multiple states in the USA regularly spit out anything from B5 to B20 especially during the summer months. While most pumps do have stickers to that effect, some of them don't or are placed where they are easy to miss. In Minnesota for example you can't even buy diesel that has less than 20% biodiesel content.

The reason for time-based oil changes is not due to the climate, but it is because of moisture in the oil pan. Moisture is a combustion byproduct and unless you always run your car for several hours at a time when the oil has a chance to get up to temperature and stay there for a sufficiently long period of time for the moisture to fully evaporate every time you drive it, it will stay in the sump resulting in oxidation of various parts and ultimately premature engine failure. And, while pure (unused) oil does have a considerably long shelf life, once there's moisture (water), soot, unburnt fuel and all sorts of other garbage in it, it will mechanically separate and gunk up in a considerably shorter period.

Use 229.52 oils in this engine only.
Modern oils (for last 40 years) do have detergents and chem packs to neutralize engine chemistry. They come in big overdose with new oil and wear out gradually to be at perfect balance at about 1/2 of recommended interval, than become low. That is why oil addition between changes is highly recommended.
Now changing oil at 3000 miles makes the engine running on high overdose of detergents and acids all the time.
It is not making huge difference, but when engines had oil changed at 3000, they very seldom would reach 300-400,000 miles modern engines do.

Again, that is incorrect. Yes, all oils absolutely have additives to neutralize combustion chemistry. However, there is no "overdosing" of anything (unless you add stuff to it yourself). There are no detergents in the oil that strip anything nor is the oil acidic - quite to the contrary. The oil has additives like ash and sulphur to PREVENT it from becoming acidic a result of moisture. There are additives in the oil to keep solid soot particles suspended in the oil instead of adhering to engine surfaces, but the problem are the soot particles themselves. Furthermore, oil starts mechanically breaking down due to shear forces from the very second you put it in and start the engine. The absolute best engine protection is fresh oil. Always.

You can't go back and un-do it. Just change the oil and don't give it a second thought.

You can feel better about the fact that the average car gets treated way worse.

/

You seem to lack basic knowledge about oils. When Wikipedia is not really technical publication - it is good start to learn.

Not quite. ;)

You should visit the midwest USA soy belt sometime, and specifically MN or IL, where B20 is mandated. Granted, it says so right on all the pumps but that's all you're gonna find here in the summer. (Producers are permitted to back off to B5 in the winter due to bio issues in extreme cold.) The good news the engines run fine on the bio blend. The bad news is bio is hell for everything else.

FWIW, I religiously complete 5K oil changes instead of the MB service interval specifically due to bio.

LOL. My father-in-law bragged about how he never changed the oil on his daily driver 68' Cutlass 442 in 5 yrs. Scrapped it on the 6th yr. Yeah, oil changes are definitely not really necessary on a regular basis.

Double-tap....

Watch dia..... as he Googles to find out what doubletap means....

Such statement is senseless without disclosured mileage.

Is that so? I can't find any confirmation on the net. I have been to those states few years back and don't recall troubles with fuel, although I remember that Chicago historically has very high fuel prices, so I always fill up before going there.
Still my note was addressed to opinion that biodiesel creates problem. I drove several vehicles on B20 and I drove older MB diesel on 100% bio. Beside noticeable power drop, never had other issue. Even predicted fuel filter clog never happen.
And I always change oils per FSS recommendations, what is average 13,000 miles on sedans and 22,000 miles on Sprinters.
Sprinter engines have bigger oil pan, comparing to the same engine in sedan.
I am in contact with several new owners of MB diesels who I drove in the past.
2 of them passed 300k miles, the 2007 Bluetec passed 200k miles. Bluetec needed injector replacement, but other than that the engines run perfect.

I definitely want to have a cheaper genuine C3 on hand, just in case I need to use them.
I've also heard that if you don't recalibrate after air filter change, it will recalibrate itself SLOWLY.

I know, that's all I can do anyway, everyone was telling me that at the dinner table the other night, but I'm meticulous, and I've trying to tell people, maintenances are cheap can be scheduled ahead, while breakdowns are expensive and almost always a surprise.

The engine is pretty robust, the exhaust part is horrifying.
I hated myself for changing those NOx sensors when they were out, should have gone the full deleted route. we don't have airbill in BC.

The horror stories are about pricing, not really about reliability. I drove/drive those diesels for years and when 1 DPF failed at 180,000 miles and on other car NOx sensor, those are not numbers of parts that are higher than on gasoline cars. Lot of Bluetec Sprinters logged over 1/2 milion miles with minimal number of parts replaced.
It is the 3-4 grands part cost that makes owners scratching their heads.
Stupid DEF heater comes in very expensive assemble on cars, when Sprinters have it integrated in $3000 reservoir.
Still with some driver education and ScanGauge for monitoring for DPF regeneration and DEF level monitoring, those drivetrains last for high hundred thousands miles.
New DPF went from $3000 to $1500 and I hope they will last longer. Aftermarket kicked -in and offers new DPF as low as $600, when NOx probes sell for $70.
That sure can quiet some horrors.

Uh, yeah it's real. I live in here in MN and B20 placards are on all the pumps.

FWIW, the state mandated bio blend in MN is really just a farm program to artificially support soy prices. I'm assuming that IL did it for the same reason.