edwinwalke

That color means the oil is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Hold dirt and contaminates in suspension.

Where is the rest of the oil?

vettdvr

I change with the FSS for the 13,000 mile change.

I do use the MB approved oils/filters for this driving.

I do also have 109,000 miles on the E500 and it never needs oil between
the 13,000 mile changes. Yes I do want to get 100000 on the car but I have and following MB procedures worked for me.

Feel free to change earlier if you like. It only cost $$ and uses resources.

Cousin_Dupree

I agree w/vettdvr amongst others... premature changes do no better than the recommended oil changes, and multiple studies suggest premature changes do worse.

The SAE study synopsis has already been posted in this very thread, but has mysteriously gone without prior comment other than by the poster. It's a real, objective, study by competent professionals. Read it.

On another car forum I participate in, there is a member who is exceptionally generous with his time in helping others, brings unique and valuable information to the table, and is an all-around great member. That said, he's steered many people in that forum into using crap filters based purely arbitrary, and poorly founded, criteria.

He completely dismisses synthetic media because, get this, he dismantled one and visually (without microscope or even magnifying glass) compared the it to paper media. His analysis and commentary went something like this: his visual inspection revealed no difference in alleged synthetic media and paper media, but there is 6 square inches less of the Mobil 1 filter media so the get the one that's recommended in the owner's manual!

My point is without objective evidence (you can go the Blackstone Lab route if you want) all sorts of screwball oil stuff gets promulgated. The SAE is a good objective source.

I'm hesitating even hitting the "Submit Reply" button. Discussing oil on a car forum is a fool's erand. But, if I can leave the premature changers with just one thought... it's much cheaper to do Blackstone Labs tests than to do needless oil changes, given the quantity and price of synthetic oil plus the price of the filter we all use.

johnlk25

I wanted to thank everyone for all of their input on this topic. I started this thread and I have read all the comments. I went ahead and got the testing kit from Blackstone and I think I am going to have my oil changed at 10,000 miles and send in the oil sample to get tested. Once I get the report back from Blackstone, then I will determine at that point if its ok to extend my oil change to 13,000 or keep it at 10,000

Again, thank you to everyone who responded.

grane

I would have every parameter rechecked on a new or CPO Mercedes or any other brand. I have had service directors say to me "if it came off the truck, then everything must be ok since the manufacturer delivers the vehicle to us fully prepared so we just check off the delivery sheet."

vettdvr

Just an FYI,, I do use Blackstone on my Airplane engine. Their data is very important on aircraft engines especially when you only have one.

Johnny L Ortega

I change mine every 3,000 miles its $50 USD if you DIY 🤷‍♂️

Audi Junkie

Once a year on synth oil or twice a year (6 months) on dino 10w-40, which is a better plan, imo.

Thick HD diesel 10w-30 is an excellent choice too, like Rotella or Delo.

cetialpha5

Wow people sure like to bring back old threads to life. Oil used should be MB 229.5. As you can see from the spec sheets, there's no 10w-40 oil that meets that spec.

https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolisten/229.5_en.html

Right now Mobil 1 has a $10 off a 5 quart jug and it's $22.88 for a 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 0w40 at Walmart. So after rebate, $12.88 or about $2.58 per quart. Car uses 8.5 quarts so about $21.90 for the oil. Mann Filter is $6.60 from FCP Euro and if you buy other stuff, shipping is free if over $49. And if you just pay to ship the old filter back, it's a lifetime warranty so no need to buy filters again. So about $28.50 for an oil change, tax not included.

tjts1

I can think of more fun ways to waste my money.

Johnny L Ortega

👌

cetialpha5

Oh yeah, 3k is overkill. Standard MB recommendation now is 10k instead of 13k. I do it every 8-10k. Even those that do it too often are doing 5k. Mobil 1 makes an oil that's good for 25k.

There are many who send off an oil sample to have it tested by a lab. It's usually fine even at 10k and is usually good for several thousand miles more. Probably cheaper to do that than to keep changing it at 3k.

Audi Junkie

Orly? Wow, thankfully there's always someone to read the manual to us. Noting they don't have confidence in their own knowledge to select anything other than what mommy tells us is ok.

If 229.5 "should" be used, why does my oil monitor have a rest option for "standard oil", not just 229?


I'll be waiting a long time for this answer. It's like they think the rest of us forgot to check the manual, or don't understand it. What a joke.

Tell us too, why MB manual that I posted listed a half dozen oil grades, most of which are not 229.5? Maybe you missed it, lol. The alternative is worrying.

So what is it about 229.5 that is so very vital to Mercedes engine? Is it the licence fee paid by the oil companies and passed along to the consumer? Oh, you forgot about that.
What exactly is it, the HT/HS? If you read the actual spec sheet, HT/HS >3.5cP is the only vital spec. Is an MPG test vital? Is cold-cranking vital?

Let me explain how the mfg specs arise, they are all based on the generic ACEA A3 spec. So, once you have a generic A3 oil, you have the equivalent mfg spec oil, without the licence fee. Even better, oils like dino/blends are in fact "A3" spec oils in Europe! Yup, 10w-40, 15w-40 HD like I mentioned. Do you think I make this up?
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-2124-ac...ngine-oil.aspx


So, what's the benefit in my old M112/113?
If I only drive 2000 miles a year, what is the benefit of a long life oil??? I maintain 6 cars, so do the math with flushing all that spec oil down the drain.
Do people think spec oil is always better? lol, inexperience is your guide. Attachment 439762

Audi Junkie

Coming from VAG engines, there's multiple failure modes that can be averted with more frequent oil changes. That's a fact. Nobody ever says, damn, I wish I didn't change oil so often! I don't know what people think is the big "win" with cheaping out with bare minimum oil changes. Sludge, ring wear, timing chain wear ("stretch"), PVC problems...any one of these ills outweighs the cost of extra oil changes. A tiny bit of tin in the UOA doesn't really correspond with accelerated ring wear, until it's too late. UOA doesn't detect sludge, et al.

Ok, so you want to do 13k oil changes, but your office is 2 miles from home. Car NEVER gets fully warmed up and churns the old oil and condensed water + excess fuel into a brown poopy froth. How many of those cycles do you want to go before you spend an extra $50? Be real people. I doubt DiY changers go full 13k, only penny-pinchers who rely on the dealer and for the manual to guide them....not common sense.

People are riding on pure theory about oil vapors and crap like that to justify their own cheap impulses. This is narly the place for a technical discussion, but I try...

6 months or 12 month changes, pick one, then pick and oil that lets you go the anticipated miles in the desired TIME interval.

Drive under 10k a year, one change of synth or two of "standard" oil Drive under 5k a year....one change of "standard" oil is plenty. I own 3 MB and 1 Audi also 1 turbo VW and 1 non turbo, all serviced by me. Hmm, which oil for mother-in-laws 5 cyl non turbo non DI at 3000 miles a year? Does it need something special? No. Does my C240 M112 at 2000 a year at my vacation home need 229.5 oil? No. How about my CLK 500 M113 at 1500 miles a year??? What do people recommend??? How about 2 year oil changes on Rotella 5w-40....I've got a ton of it and it costs me zilch. Should I pour it out because of no 229.5 spec? LOL! What about the middle of Africa and no spec oil is available or costs more than I make in a year??? Name-brand 15w-40 truck oil, 10w-40??? omg, some dousche in America with a $2000 watch says only use MB spec oil, OMG!

Audi Junkie

oops, forgot some pics

Attachment 439717

"STANDARD OIL"

People are too young and inexperienced that they think only a single grade of 0w-40 is acceptable. Nope, it's a requirement of the CAFE MPG test that the same oil used in the test is the only one recommended. That's been for a good 15 years, so many have never seen a real visc/temp chart.

"BEVO"
Attachment 439721

Attachment 439722

Attachment 439719

Attachment 439720

tjts1

Y'all getting ****ed on oil prices.

Gazwould

Interesting thread revival !

I wouldn't use semi synthetic over synthetic oil , the benefits..

I use a one stop shop high quality 5W30 non approved , petrol , diesel , low ash C3 , LongLife oil in our 3 cars . Not all car manufacturer oil specs are the same , it's not MB spec , it's VW !

vagt6

Please, where to you get 8 quarts of spec synthetic for less than $50?

cetialpha5

Not sure where you're from, but in the US, Walmart sells 0w40 for $22.88 for a 5 quart jug. There's a $10 Mobil 1 rebate on a 5 quart jug so your total is $12.88 for a 5 quart jug so $25.76 for 10 quarts of oil. No reason to use anything else and it meets MB 229.5.

Walmart actually sells 12 quart boxes of Mobil 1 0w40. But it's $54 and doesn't qualify for the rebate. Some have seen it for $25 on clearance, but haven't seen that yet around here, that's more of a store manager thing.

tjts1

Bingo. No point in buying any other oil anywhere else.

Audi Junkie

At Autozone, 2 jugs of Mobil 1 0w-40 is over $60

I just paid $7/5q, for Quaker State, I can almost do a change for $10.

So, if I run a conservative 5000 miles, someone would have to run 30,000 miles on Mobil 1 to get the same cost per mile.

I guess people are saying after 30k on Mobil 1, there will be zero deposits and no wear....?

For other people, FYI 10w-40 is a common visc in Europe, and "recommended for Mercedes" with 229.3 in brands like Valvoline Maxlife, Havoline, Mobil Super, GTX with only 10% volatility.
&#]https://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-657-10w40-engine-oil.aspx#Filter=[EntityIDs=@(980)@]&#

So, when I see people believing Mobil 1 is the only option, I literally laugh at their lack of knowledge and understanding.

Attachment 439750

You should preface your statements with "in my mind..."

Audi Junkie

Let me help you with that...

relinuca

My 2cents,

My '09 E-350 4Matic now has 131K miles and performs like new...I still regularly get 35-36 mpg when driving at HWY speeds. My OCI is each 5K (or less if mainly city driving) and do not need to add oil between oil/filter changes. On the last oil change, I switched to 0-40W synthetic as recommended by numerous Forum members and consistent with current M-B specs. I also get a Blackstone analysis each oil change. All reports indicate that everything is excellent.
At the next oil/filter change, the A level Service will be recommended, so I'll get that done, too.

BTW, too many 4Matic owners skip getting the Transfer Case oil changed each 40K miles. That's a big mistake in my opinion.

relinuca

cetialpha5

You need to move to the US where oil is much cheaper. This is a US centric website, we don't get that many foreigners here.

We also get dealers that may say your warranty isn't valid if you didn't use the right oil. Some Pzev cars have 15 year/150k warranties on certain components, federal emissions is 8/80k in certain states, varies by state.

But use whatever oil you like. You pays your money and you takes your chances.