How difficult (or easy) is an oil change on one of these cars? Any tricks to it? What oil does the car come from the factory with and what are the approved oil filter brands? The dealer recommended 10k mile oil change intervals but, that seems a bit high without bypass filtration. Thanks, Ed B

Here is a list of approved oils. http://www.whnet.com/4x4/oil.html I believe that US dealers are putting in Mobil 1 ESP Formula M 5W-40 (for MY07+ diesel) which is a low ash version of Mobil 1 0W-40. Since your car doesn't have the new V6 diesel, you can use 0W-40 Mobil 1 obtained from places like AutoZone. I doubt you can find the low ash version (5W-40).

Dealers use an oil extractor to remove the oil. I don't know how easy or difficult it is to drain the oil from the crankcase. I use an oil extractor device (Topsider) to remove the oil from my E320. It's made for removing oil from inboard marine engines.

You should use oil filters that conform to OEM specs such as those from Internet sources or from dealers. I believe they are long-lasting fleece filters. Here is one source http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com...Oil+Filter+Kit

I don't know if you can find these filters from sources like AutoZone or other local auto parts stores.

I change my own oil on my 2005 E320 CDI every 5,000 miles. I did not like paying $200 for an oil change. The process is not easy compared to other cars. There are two methods: Suction extraction from the top with the tube at the back of the engine(red top) or by removing the bottom chassis covers and draining from the oil sump. I prefer the bottom extraction method (so does my dealer). I have experimented with both methods and you get more oil out by draining from the bottom. Access to the filter requires taking the top engine cover off and you need a special filter cover wrench attachment (from Mercedes) to access the filter housing top to which a filter media slides on with some replacement gaskets. You also need to reset the service system and there is a way to access the service system on the car to tell exactly how much oil is in the sump when you refill which if you do this I recommend using.

Thanks. I am thinking 5k oil changes for the E320 as well. I use the same interval on my Dodge/Cummins diesel truck and have been satisfied with the used oil analysis. Different engines I realize but, I will start out conservatively and go from there. Now all I need to do is round up the tools. Ed B