JRGD4L

Thanks to the post by CDIKEN I decided to do my own oil change and I am glad I did.

I have always changed the oil in all my other vehicles but was a little hesitant due to the different filter, engine covers and undercarriage cover setup. However, $200 dollars for a change at the dealer, my discomfort of a 13500 mile change interval, and the dealer screw up of not tightening the drain plug one time which resulted in a quart of oil on my garage floor all drove me to attempt it.

Here is my experience:

Top engine covers come off easy. Make sure you have a torx #30. Bottom undecarriage covers come of easy as well using small socket set. I used some drive on Rhino ramps to lift the car. I removed the filter housing using the Mercedes oil filter adapter I bought from the dealer. It works well. The filter is also easy to change. When I went to remove the drain plug I found the dealer had tightened it so tight during the previous oil change/leak incident that the head was starting to strip with my hand socket. It was at this point I decided to do my own experiment of the vacuum out method versus removing the drain bolt. I used a marine drill pump suction setup and let it run for about 10 minutes. The suction port is at the back of the engine with a red cap. I made sure to get the suction tube all the way into the sump. It seemed to work pretty well. Next just to see how much oil was left I decided I had to get the oil drain plug off. I had to use an air wrench at full torque to get if off. Now I was pissed at the dealer. There is no way that drain plug should have been tightened that tight. Now, to my surprise I got about another 1/8 quart out of the engine. I might add that I had also jacked the rear of the car to level it out on stands for the suction process. I replaced the drain bolt with a new unstripped one and also used a new copper washer.

My overall observations:

The tech that over tightened my drain bolt during the last oil change is an idiot.
I am NOT convinced that the vacuum method works that great. Convenient and quick and no jacking/raising of the car ? Yes, but not very thorough in oil removal.
When working on/under this car I realized how well engineered it really is compared to my other vehicles and why Mercedes cost the money they do.
I will defintely be changing my oil every 6500 not 13,500 miles. It was so black you would never believe it.
Don't be intimidated about the covers and different filter housing.

JimPurdy

I would recommend the MityVac vacuum removal pump. The reservoir on mine holds 8.8 quarts so it is easy to see how much oil is pumped out. I too have been upset with the torque required to remove the sump plug. The spec is for 25nm and that shouldn't require an air wrench.

paulv

There's many people on this forum who like the siphon method vs draining from the pan. I prefer the draining method as it gives me a chance to check things out under the car. I have a gas E320 and the oil pan is aluminum and the drain plug has a torque value -- over-tightening the plug could cause the threads to strip -- don't know why a MB tech would do this -- understandable for a quick lub place, though.

Since you're uncomfortable with the oil change interval (and many people are, both for gas & diesel), I suggest you start taking samples when changing and send them to a place like Blackstone's lab for analysis. Then you can get a better feel for when the oil should be changed. I go between 15K miles on my car and the oil anaysis was very good -- engine showed the same wear if I changed the oil at 7.5K miles. But we all know that diesels contaminate oil faster and worse than gas engines, so we can't compare our cars.

Doing used oil analysis can at least show you wear trends in your engine over time. Years ago, I had a non-MB diesel and did the analysis on every oil change. Watched the engine wear out and sold the car for parts after driving it for 10 years.

Regards,
paul...

khaug

JRGD4L: Thanks for a great post! Your conclusions square exactly with mine after three oil changes on our CDI

Long ago, I remember reading a TUV (German standards and testing organization) study which established that vacuum extraction of crankcase oil doesn't work as effectively as draining the sump in the traditional manner: Not all the oil is extracted and the lack of the flushing action of a traditional drain allows the heaviest and most abrasive contaminants to settle to the bottom of the pan, there to be missed by vacuum extraction. The study was prompted by a German "Green" party initiative to ban crankcase drain plugs on the grounds that they encourage improper disposal of used motor oil. As I recall, the Greens prevailed and crankcase drain plugs were banned in Germany. Your test affirms the TUV finding.

What your post didn't explicitly state but implied is that oil changes in the CDI are a bit of a PITA (worse than any other car I've owned): The car is hard to lift and much plastic stuff must be removed above and below to provide access to drain the oil and change the filter. BTW, what are Rhino Ramps and where does one find them?

Used Diesel oil is nasty stuff - full of soot, black as coal and probably highly carcinogenic. But I'm not comfortable with the M-B recommended oil change intervals and plan to feed our CDI fresh Mobil 1 0w-40 at c. 6K mile intervals. We're going to be keeping this car for a long time!

Best regards.

jimbo1mcm

I use a Liquidynamics Oil Evacuator. Takes about 3 minutes to pull the oil out. No drip. Use Mobil1 Delvac at 5000 mile intervals with new filter.. Torque wrench on all. If I am really slow, it takes me 20 minutes.

unclebenz

i just purchsed a used 2003 E500 with 19k miles on it and now it has 21500 i dont know when the last service was done? will i recieve a message on the dash after 3000k miles?

jimbo1mcm

Change the engine oil immediately and find a BG transmission flush machine and supply MB Tranny oil and get a complete fluid replacement. Good luck.

mmgrad

if you scroll through your cluster, it will tell you how many more miles before you need to perform a service on your car

JRGD4L

The Rhino Ramps are some low profile/ heavy duty/polymer drive on ramps. They are now availble at Walmart. I have used them with my Corvettes and other vehicles for years for oil changes.

93eng

Hi

Can you please post the link to the original post by CDiken? I have tried to search but he posted too many times before. Thanks.

JRGD4L

Here is the thread.

https://mbworld.org/forums/diesel-forum/127865-performed-my-own-oil-change-today-easy.html

Here is another thread I found helpful in using the service menus.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/121945-re-setting-service-indicator.html

X72

JRGD4L, I would be upset also if I found an overtorqued drain bolt.

I agree with paulv, since we have both done used oil analysis on our gasoline engines and found that the FSS is not recommending oil changes too late. Especially in your case JRGD4L with a diesel engine, the motor oil turns black almost immediately in diesel engines. That means the oil is doing its job. Nothing wrong with doing more frequent oil changes, so I am not trying to convince you otherwise.

dwh

Hi Karl,
Do you have the original wheels for the car and are you willing to sell them?
thanks
Donald

khaug

Sorry, but that post was > 3 years old. The OE wheels are long gone, and we haven't owned the car since last June.