When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Welcome to the club with DW.
As for too frequent oil change, it is doing harm to the engine. Not to degree average owner will ever notice and IMHO even if you run MB engine on cooking oil, it still should make 100K miles (not that I would try), but general idea should be easy to understand:
Modern oil (as of last 40 years) do have big dose of detergents and chemicals design to wash the residues and counteract engine chemistry.
The additive pack is wearable and is design for certain mileage, when initial overdose will wear to perfect balance, than to too low balance and at some point the oil should be changed.
When you change the oil before the pack wears to perfect balance, you are treating your engine to constant overdose of detergents and anti-acids.
For comparison, the same diesel engines who in cars and SUV are for initial 10k miles oil changes, in Sprinters have 20K oil changes.
That is due to much bigger oil pan, so the chem pack last in them much longer. Oil base itself is not wearable.
I would swear that you were a proponent of 5000 mile changes at one time. Someone here convinced me to do a semi annual oil change. As a matter of fact I just had mine changed this morning.
5000 miles changes were definitely not me.
Even my Ford Trucks had 5000 intervals, I was putting better oils in them and often exceeded 10,000 miles. Confirmed with lab tests to do just fine.
Presently we don't drive a lot and having 4 vehicles the mileage is pretty low.
So when time-based service come on my sedan with less than 6000 miles on the oil, I made paper trail about it and reset the counter to run it for another year.
Here is lab test after 2 years.
MartinC2S, can’t add any additional oil technical advice. All I can say is my 2014ML Bluetec purchased new and now has 114,000 miles with zero problems, not even oil cooler leak. Always serviced at Dealers from Mn, Iowa and Fl. Runs perfect and no plans to change anything. Oil changed min of once a year or between 7,500 and 9,000 miles. Good luck in your search
@Pmount1! Thanks for that info. I assume the dealers having been using the MB branded oil? Or is it M1 ESP?
I think I'm going to try to find a '17 or '18 450 but if a gem of a '16 350 comes along I'll give it strong consideration. I have 3 months to search for one so I'm not in an immediate rush.
I have 3 months to search for one so I'm not in an immediate rush.
When you find one you want, buy it! I waited to the last minute and all the ones I'd looked at were gone. Funny thing is, when I got desperate, I ended up buying one I'd looked at 2 months before, from a dealer who picked it up at auction, for considerably more money than I could have had it back then.
When you find one you want, buy it! I waited to the last minute and all the ones I'd looked at were gone. Funny thing is, when I got desperate, I ended up buying one I'd looked at 2 months before, from a dealer who picked it up at auction, for considerably more money than I could have had it back then.
On the 350, my unicorn spec is pretty ambitious as I want it basically fully loaded including the designo interior but chances of that are pretty slim. There's a nicely spec'ed out 450 near me with everything but the designo interior but the sale guy sent me over a picture of it sitting on the lot with the rear suspension sagging and is now trying to convince me there's nothing wrong with it and it's working as designed because it rises up to the proper ride height when you start the car. I'm telling him this is not how it supposed to operate and that they need to fix it before I even consider it. The other issue with it is that it's already at 90k kms so the CPO is effectively 2 years or 30k kms which concerns me.
@Pmount1! Thanks for that info. I assume the dealers having been using the MB branded oil? Or is it M1 ESP?
I think I'm going to try to find a '17 or '18 450 but if a gem of a '16 350 comes along I'll give it strong consideration. I have 3 months to search for one so I'm not in an immediate rush.
went back and looked at invoices since new. In the beginning it was listed asQ1-0900235 Mobil 1 esp
couple years later was 011-989-37-01 USA 9 mobil1 121270
After CONSIDERABLE looking, here is the cheapest per oz. MB 229.52 approved (not to mention VW 507 approved--an even tougher standard) oil available in north America:
You may want to make a note of it. Comes in 5 qt. jugs, 3 to an order, so 15 qts. for $78 making the oil $5.20/qt. You're not going to beat that price with a stick. It's literally HALF TO A THIRD of the cost of the OEM MB oil and the euro brands like Ravenol and LiquiMoly and also significantly less than the other MB approved American brands Mobil1 and Pennzoil (Pennzoil LX only comes in 0W-30 weight btw). I've picked up three years worth and I'm thinking of adding a fourth, pending the wife's insistence on having at least a few sq. ft. of garage space....
To have this amount of oil (just over two full changes for my OM651) purchased and changed at the dealership would cost me $550 with filters AND I'm out my car for 12-24 hrs. total AND out the time it takes me to drive to and from the dealership FOUR times (a single round trip there for me is actually longer than it takes me to extract and refill my oil and spin on a new filter), not to mention the mileage and wear and tear.
So, my cost for two full oil changes: $78 in oil and $16 in filters--and I still have a liter left over towards a third change. For those of you without your calculators pulled up, that's a measly $47 for an oil and filter change! We're approaching Kwikylube standard pricing here gang, on a modern diesel Benz with the latest oil spec and an OEM filter! So yeah, hit up Amazon and stop bending over at the dealership or buying the Euro brands/kits online at FCP/ECS/Pelican. Seriously guys!
Bonus pearl: Oil filter housing wrench for OM651: $11 on Amazon
This thing is perfect on a 3/8" ratchet and 3" extension, but if you have a 27mm socket you're in business with any ratchet. No engine harness disassembly needed--reaches right in there. On and off that filter like a pro! You can even use a torque wrench to get the exact torque spec if you're **** like me.
Finally, If you don't care about the 0.7% fuel economy hit and would rather save about $3 per 5 qt. jug, the cheapest 229.51 spec oil is here:
Pointing statistics without explanation what they apply to is waste of our time.
If you read long topic on this forum, modern OM642 engines develop a chemistry, who change oils below 229.52 classification into gelatin. When the issue is not fully diagnosed - for $5 or $ 10 savings on oil cost, I am not taking my chance on $15k engine.YMMV
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
