The initial service is scheduled at 10,000 miles and, of course, includes an oil change. However, it just doesn't make good mechanical sense to me to wait that long, especially for an initial oil change. Though they use synthetic oil, I believe the longevity of the engine will suffer waiting that long between oil changes. I took mine in today for an oil change at 4200 miles. It was not covered under warranty and cost me $78. Anybody else agree. Perhaps the average Mercedes owner is wealthy enough that he will only keep his vehicle 4 years or 60,000 miles so he may not care about the longevity of the engine. I may keep mine long term.

 

Lots of disagreement on the oil change intervals but --

Quickly -- Synthetic is better than regular motor oil and, as a result, does not break down as fast. Therefore, oil changes are required less frequently.

A few years ago, when they were saying 7500 intervals on cars with synthetic oil, there was no way to tell how you were driving during that interval time. As a result, most cars were fine but the people that really drove their cars hard may have needed to change the oil earlier.

Today's engine computer monitors your driving habits and determines 'when' the oil should be changed. Aggressive, fast drivers may get the change oil message at 5000 miles while more conservative drivers may not get the message untill 10,000 or so.

Old habits are hard to break so many people still change their oil long before the recommended service intervals.

 

I have 750 on mine now. I plan on changing oil at 1000, 5000, and 10,000.

 

Do a search on this subject. It has been hotly discussed many times.

My view, 10,000 miles is nuts. Change it eairler. The oil filter is small and I doubt it will filter for 10,000 miles properly.

 

Mmm... surely MB employs clever engineers who can calculate this need quite accurately? Surely if they saw the need to do it more frequently they would not hesitate to say so (revenue)?

Michael

 

Another big factor in my view, besides the synthetic oil and the monitoring of the oil via electronics, is the 8.5 quart capacity versus the 5 quarts in most US engines. Much more oil to dilute and disperse impurities.....but each person can make their own judgment. MB pays for changes based upon either the FSS or calendar year anniversaries, whichever comes first.

 

Keep in mind this FSS 10,000 deal came about when Mercedes started to offer the 4/yr, 48000 mile free service plan.

This has been one hot debate. I still feel 10,000 miles is crazy. The synthetic oil will hold up, but again, I'm concerned about the oil filter.

 

So who has done an earlier change? Any repercussions from MB on this? I am inclined to change at 500, 1000 then 10000 . Sure has served me well over years to do this pattern. Synthetic or not!

MBTECH want to jump in here?

 

I spoke with my service advisor about this when I got my 98 E430. I asked about changing it every 5,000 (with Mobil 1) and his first question was whether I leased it or bought it. He feels if purchased and you plan on keeping the car for a while change every 5K. I will be taking my E500 in next week when I hit 5K to have the oil changed. I therefore pay for every other oil change, not bad for some peace of mind.

 

Every 5000 miles is probably execessive. I'll change at 5K, and will follow suggested schedule from that point on. Mechanic parts break in, you know.

 

I only drive about 5,000 to 6,000 miles a year--lots of very short trips. And I plan to keep the car a long time (17+ years for my last Mercedes, which was in amazing shape when I sold it a few days ago). I plan to change oil at least 3 times a year.

 

I leased my E320 for 39 months with 39,000 allowable miles
The vehicle will be covered under warranty with free scheduled maintenance for that period
I will turn the car back at end of lease
If Mercedes says that the car can go 10,000 miles before an oil change and they are going to pay for maintenance, that is fine with me.
Go ahead and feel free to unnecessarily line somebodys pockets if you feel the need to

 

If I were leasing as you are, I would do the same. But as I said in my post, I purchased and plan on keeping the car for quite some time. I don't consider spending $75 every 5,000 miles "lining someone's pockets" on something that cost 65K. I tend to put a lot of miles on my cars and the extra peace of mind is worth it to me. It's fine if it isn't to you.

 

I concur. If you plan to keep the car past the 48k / 4 year warranty, changing oil and filter every 5,000 miles is great piece of mind and a good plan that can't hurt at all.

 

Eh.. it can certainly hurt the environment. It seems to me that if it is necessary to change every 5000 miles, or if it has demonstrable benefit: great. But if it does not have any benefit, it is surely an unneccesary waste of the environment.

 

10,000 sounds ridiculous. I would get it changed every 5000 miles or 6000.

 

I have changed mine at 5000 and 10000 miles. Very easy to do yourself too.

 

I change mine at 5k miles. I use the free ones at 10k and do it myself at 5k.

 

7500-8500. There is no reason to change it at 5,000 miles unless your in heavy bumper to bumper traffic daily and/or you track your car every weekend.

 

I am in heavy bumper to bumper traffic everyday. That's Houston!

 

If you read the manual very carefully, Mercedes says the FSS system is calculated to work with Normal service. Normal service means no start/stop driving, no mountain driving, not driving in dusty areas, no driving in temperature extremes, etc.

In other words, nobody drives under NORMAL conditions. Mercedes go on to say that the car may need more frequent service under SEVERE conditions and that any extra service that isn't recommended by the FSS system is not paid for by MBUSA.

The German government have been pressuring manufacturers to reduce the use of resources such as oil. However, I think they can't see the forest for the trees (so to speak). I use a true synthetic and after I change it I take it to a place to be recycled. Now if I can drive my car for more than the typical life span of an American car, I'm doing the ecology a lot more good by recycling a small amount of synthetic oil compared to recycling an entire car at the American average of 4.5 years.

I too will be changing my oil on a more frequent basis than recommended by the FSS system. I think it's rediculous not to open the hood for 13 months to check things (including air filters).

 

if you are a hard driver then whats the price of oil compared to engine wear. i'm at 6000 and i change mine at 5000. i plan to change it at every 5000. love your car it loves you back.

 

I dunno...At 5000 miles the synthetic oil hasn't lost any of its ability to lubricate, clean or cool the engine. Its detergent properties are all in tact, so the synthetic oil is still perfect. Thats according to extensive testing by Mobil many years ago, & Mobil should know its product.

You can argue that if the oil is doing its job carrying away contaminants, etc. that the thing to do is change just the filter 1/2 way through the 15K mile interval to get rid of all the dirt/particulates that has been accumulated in the filter. A dirty filter makes it hard for the "oil" to pass thru it, so some oil may be shot thru the bypass in the filter in VERY dirty filters. Remember, with regular oil, the oil itself wears out faster, losing its lubricating & cleaning abilities... with synthetic, its been designed to last much longer than the conservative 15K reccomendation that Mobil has stood by since Mobil 1's inception. In the early days, auto manufacturers said they didn't care what Mobil said, they wanted 6000 mile oil changes for warranty reasons. The fact of the matter is Mobil has kept engines screaming running continuously with no discernable engine wear in tests trying to kill either the engine or their synthetic oil without much success. I believe the oil is not the problem at 5000 miles, just change the filter, thats why manufacturers know 15K IS safe. If I were using my car as a Taxi in NYC, I might cut the interval to 10K, but the engine & the oil were made to do exactly what they are doing.

I remember all the crap we used to add to fuel tanks, upper cylinder oils, etc thinking our cars would go faster, last longer, & love us back. At the auto parts store, for the most part, they're all memories now, except for fuel injector/fuel line cleaners, and a million brands of cleaners & waxes, and oh yeah, wiper blade refills that are always the wrong width, length, or clip type!

 

you're so right. great point....thats one of the reasons most of us bought a benz....

 

I also agree, I believe people so in love with a car that ready to change oil every week. It shouldn't harm though.