Sorry guys, I was away.

First, this wasnt a B+ service. There was no/no break service done on the car ('06 E320 CDI)

9 qt oil $54.00
1 filter element 613-180-00-09 $15.00
1 ring, General 007603-014106 $.70
1 W/W solvent $2.50 ****Big story about this after****
1 Gasket, Transmission 140-271-00-80 $11.00
1 Filter 646-092-07-01 $47.50
1 Transmission oil filter 140-991-00-55 $ 14.50
1 Lock Pin 140-227-00-95
4 Transmission Fluid 001-989-21-03-10 $56.00
2 Clamp 916002-012100 $3.00

Parts: $204.90

So, here's the story, I took the car in as normal for my second B serivce, my last one was in April - that one cost me about $400. I had called in about a week and a half earlier to set up the appointment via the tele-aid system. I specifically asked what was included on the service - the customer service rep told me - it sounded lilke the last one so I said ok. I have to say that about 90% of my driving is highway.

****W/W story****I took the car in and before the shop opened up I opened the hood and filled the windshield washer fluid, because last time I got stiffed for $7.00 for MB to "top it off" I filled the thing to the absolute top. Then I dropped the car off, with nothing more than a "hello and we'll call you when it's done"

I received the call later that afternoon and was informed of my $847 bill. I drove back to the dealership and proceeded to look over the invoice. The first thing I noticed (outside of the $847) was that they were trying to charge me for the windshield washer fluid - I quickly called BS on that and proceeded to tell them that I wasnt going to pay for the extra service that I wasnt made aware of, and that I didnt approve. My arguement was this, the "customer service rep" is there to represent me - I am known pretty well at this dealership from my previous conversations about cars/diesels in general. Anyhow, the "rep" should have had (in my opinion) the awareness to say "hey, this B service is going to be more than double the last one, perhaps Mr. XXX would like to know this" I never received a call.

The end result was - the service manager kicked the final total down to $475 - he did this by basically taking all of the original $500+ in labor off.

I just wanted to make sure of two things for you guys.

1. Make sure you fill up your windshiled wiper fluid (and dont get charged)
2. Make sure you ask them specifically what is going to be done on your car. And to include what is scheduled to be done when "service whatever" appears on your dash - to include the mileage (that's the big thing.

 

Which washer fluid does MB use? Where is it available?

On my other cars, non-MB, they top off and check all fluids as part of the various services that aren't just an oil and filter change. There usually isn't a cost associated with them.

 

HA! Washer fluid is washer fluid...............$7.00 could buy quite a bit of non MB fluid..............

 

is it really the same ? bc its thicker. When I first bought my car there was not Window/washer fluid. so I filled it the autozone special. then after a few weeks I took the car in for service any they fill the window/washer and the fluid is thicker and darker. Also what is the solvent?

 

There are different washer fluids, some just basic blue water and some soap properties and others with Rain-X included in the solvent. You pay a few bucks more but cleans better than the $0.97/bottle blue water.

 

shoudl i get MB approved gas only?

 

Absolutely

 

Not all dealers are bad. I had my first oil change at 850 miles after I saw an 'Add Oil' message (after being an owner for less than a week) (not 10,000) miles I arranged an appointment with my local dealer at Cherry Hill NJ even though I ordered and purchased the vehicle from a PA dealer. I told the very polite SA, I need an oil change plus all checks they would do at 10,000 miles; he said no problem; it will cost $124 (fixed price). I left the vehicle at the dealership on Thursday evening for service on Friday. Friday lunch time he called me to tell me some oil had spurted out of the filler cap being the cause of oil warning; it was loose (I could not swear it was not me being curious under the hood or if the cap was loose from delivery). Nevertheless they removed the plastic trays etc. cleaned everything, took them several hours, they also apologized on behalf of MB and still charged me $124. They did a brilliant job, no sign of a spill, everything smelt fresh, clean and spotless.

Whats the point of the above story? Next morning when I opened the trunk, I found a sealed gallon container of MB washer fluid; since my vehicle obviously did not need any washer fluid after less than a week, they left me a complete gallon. Now that is what I call service. Despite the fact I changed the oil myself at 5500 miles, I will be taking it back there at 10,000.

 

$124 wow, please stop making me feel like I got ripped off. I'm just going to accept this $255 payment for my first service at 13000 miles for the C service and hope that it doesn't increase exponentially.

 

Just stating the facts.

 

For those of you who lease, why would you even take your car to the dealer for service? I have the oil/filter and a/c filter changed at a local shop ($50 or so) once a year on my leased cars and that's it. I've done this for Jaguar, MB, and Lexus cars on 3-year leases.

Why would you pay more if you are leasing the car?

 

can someone please explain to me what the service b or d is. it says on my car that i have another 4xxx miles until service. what do they do and how do they charge you.

 

Do a search on how to access the FSS on your car. I just learned this the day before I brought my car in for the 1st service (C). Mine showed a Service 3, 9, 12, and 13 but they only did 12 (oil change) and 13(bunch of fluid checks and misc) on top of that they did a tire rotation and balance and washed my car. There are different methods of getting to the FSS on the w211 and supposedly they eliminated that feature on the 06 model but it turned out that they just changed the process of getting there. On yours, turn key to on, go to Temp display, then press the reset knob for 5 seconds and you will see the menu. Please someone correct me because I only know the 06 method and not the other years.

 

I believe it is the same for 2007; I reset my FSS when I did an oil change at 5000 miles.

 

on 2006 you go to the Temp display and you hit the Reset knob 3 times and the menu shows up. should be different for 2003.

 

You could also do a few oil and oil filter changes yourself (only); see this thread https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/203915-e320-bluetec-2007-self-oil-change.html

 

I know a guy that leases, takes his car to indi shops, and puts regular in it. Not that I approve of putting regular in it.

 

Switches to non-synthetic oil? Even I wouldn't do that on my leased cars, and I treat my leased cars pretty badly...

 

I think he meant regular gas (87). But curious as to what the indy mechanic would put in it. If it is a MB indy, they would most likely use syn.

 

That makes more sense... I read it as "The indy shop puts regular in it"...

IMHO, any reputable indy shop should know to use the proper oil...

 

Oh I agree, if they're running a repair shop, they hopefully should know what oil to use.

 

So is it safe to say that the $130 I spent for my oil change is reasonable? My mechanic took care of it since my warranty expired this year, prior to that i was recieving my oil changes for free at my dealer. I thought all MB dealers give free oil changes??

 

$130 is decent... A little expensive, but decent...

No car dealer gives anything for free... They take a little piece of your soul each time you visit them...

 

Question...

If I do the service myself, is there anyway to have that work annotated in records such as the car fax report?

If not I guess I could just keep all the receipts of the work performed and use that as proof whenever I decide to sell the car.

 

Out of all the personally owned cars I've sold privately (over a dozen), not once has anyone ever asked for service records...