Is a service inspection B necessary?
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
2007 e350 4matic wagon
Is a service inspection B necessary?
I'm trying to determine whether there is any sense in getting a service B performed on my wife's 07 E350 4matic wagon.
She has 27,000 miles on the car but is an '07 so it's out of warranty. There are no issues with the way it runs. It has brand new tires so rotation isn't needed. I can easily replace the Air Filter and Cabin Filter.
From what I can see the service is nothing more than visual inspections. We have a coupon for a free code scan, so what, if anything am I getting for $400.00?
With the car out of warranty I could also take it to an independent Mercedes specialist for an inspection. Is there any benefit to going to the MB dealer?
Thanks!
ofs1
She has 27,000 miles on the car but is an '07 so it's out of warranty. There are no issues with the way it runs. It has brand new tires so rotation isn't needed. I can easily replace the Air Filter and Cabin Filter.
From what I can see the service is nothing more than visual inspections. We have a coupon for a free code scan, so what, if anything am I getting for $400.00?
With the car out of warranty I could also take it to an independent Mercedes specialist for an inspection. Is there any benefit to going to the MB dealer?
Thanks!
ofs1
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 268
Likes: 1
From: Northern Virginia
2006 E320CDI
I'm trying to determine whether there is any sense in getting a service B performed on my wife's 07 E350 4matic wagon.
She has 27,000 miles on the car but is an '07 so it's out of warranty. There are no issues with the way it runs. It has brand new tires so rotation isn't needed. I can easily replace the Air Filter and Cabin Filter.
From what I can see the service is nothing more than visual inspections. We have a coupon for a free code scan, so what, if anything am I getting for $400.00?
With the car out of warranty I could also take it to an independent Mercedes specialist for an inspection. Is there any benefit to going to the MB dealer?
Thanks!
ofs1
She has 27,000 miles on the car but is an '07 so it's out of warranty. There are no issues with the way it runs. It has brand new tires so rotation isn't needed. I can easily replace the Air Filter and Cabin Filter.
From what I can see the service is nothing more than visual inspections. We have a coupon for a free code scan, so what, if anything am I getting for $400.00?
With the car out of warranty I could also take it to an independent Mercedes specialist for an inspection. Is there any benefit to going to the MB dealer?
Thanks!
ofs1
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4,260
Likes: 6
From: Philadelphia area
2010 ML550, 2010 E350 4M, 1966 Corvette Convt C2
The B service and all other services are not put in the manual because MB likes to print stuff. If you are going to start cheaping out all bets are off on future reliability. Its called preventative maintenence. Do you comprehend what preventative means?
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 268
Likes: 1
From: Northern Virginia
2006 E320CDI
Oil change interval is either 10K or13K. Check your maintenance booklet. it specifies what is required at the various intervals. If you don't have one you can download from the MBUSA website.
Super Member
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 968
Likes: 77
From: Long Island, New York
2018 E400 4matic Wagon
You should get the oil and filter changed. You can check battery level, other fluids, tire pressure, wiper blades and belts yourself without paying the dealer an extra $200 for that service. You should also change the brake fluid and pollen filter every two years. You can do the latter yourself easily with instructions that you can find on this forum by doing a search.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
2007 e350 4matic wagon
Thanks Oggie, we purchased the car in October of '10 with 17000 miles and it had a brake fluid change then. I usually do my own basic mechanics, Oil, filters, etc but this is our first MB and it's a more sophisticated vehicle than our Volvo was. I want to do the right preventative work without paying for too much of the dealer's free cappuccino and wi-fi. (Eg. we have a cracked glass on an outside mirror. The dealer quotes $798 to repair it and my body shop (high end mostly MB, Porsche, Audi and exotics) quoted $198)
I'll find a reliable indy MB shop to do the inspections I can't perform.
I'll find a reliable indy MB shop to do the inspections I can't perform.
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,522
Likes: 3
From: East Texas
2004 Volvo XC70; 2012 GLK 350 4matic
Service intervals also have a time component. As in either X miles OR Y months. An '07 anything should be getting regular service at the time intervals since your wife hardly uses the car. We have kept a pair of Volvos virtually trouble free for a total of 21 years and 270,000 miles by having them serviced according to the Volvo "Book" and changing the oil & filter at half of the "Book" interval. YMMV.
M-B may hide stuff behind covers and plates and layer on multiple software widgets, but I doubt that the vehicle is anymore sophisticated than my Volvo Stealth SUV Turbo AWD Race Wagon.
Wayne
M-B may hide stuff behind covers and plates and layer on multiple software widgets, but I doubt that the vehicle is anymore sophisticated than my Volvo Stealth SUV Turbo AWD Race Wagon.
Wayne
Last edited by venchka; Jan 23, 2012 at 02:55 PM.
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Super Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 539
Likes: 5
From: Planet Earth
2006 CLS500 - Iridium Silver w/ AMG Sportline
B is an oil change with an inspection. I have the list of items to be inspected and as a proud man, I pride myself being able to do things like check brakes, CV joints, batteries, etc... 
In fact, I enjoy doing it. It must say something sucky about MB realiability when I owned and Isuzu Rodeo that I beat the caca out of for 100k miles with nothing more than oil changes. NO realiability issues. Come on... You're telling me that MB build quality can't match up with an Isuzu Rodeo?
I'm tired of the dealer guilt that if you don't bring your MB in for a a windsheild wiper inspection every 30 days, you're not worthy of such a fine automobile. Hogwash! If our cars are superior in terms of engineering, they should need LESS maintenance. But, with complexity comes less reliability. So much for the value of having sensors to sense the sensors! Anything that has occured on my CLS had NOTHING to do with preventative maintenance. For example, a pinched wire for for the airbag system as a result of poor installation at the factory. How do you prevent a problem you can't even see or test for? But, I guess I'm not the norm went it comes to cars. I understand how they work and what to look for because I enjoy backyard wrenching.
Last edited by boschk; Jan 23, 2012 at 05:06 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 15
Likes: 1
From: CT, USA
2006 E350 4Matic
I'm tired of the dealer guilt that if you don't bring your MB in for a a windsheild wiper inspection every 30 days, you're not worthy of such a fine automobile. Hogwash! If our cars are superior in terms of engineering, they should need LESS maintenance. But, with complexity comes less reliability. So much for the value of having sensors to sense the sensors! Anything that has occured on my CLS had NOTHING to do with preventative maintenance. For example, a pinched wire for for the airbag system as a result of poor installation at the factory. How do you prevent a problem you can't even see or test for? But, I guess I'm not the norm went it comes to cars. I understand how they work and what to look for because I enjoy backyard wrenching.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 303
Likes: 25
Does anyone assume / do what I do for US cars:
From what I know the Service letters "A, B, C, D, E" are only an indication of the amount of time a service visit may take. Except for some common operations like oil/filter change, the actual service content depends on the Service Numbers. The Numbers can only be gotten to through the "secret instrument cluster menu" (go to the basic display with the speed on it while the ignition is on, and engine is off, and press the reset button on the cluster three times rapidly) and navigating to "Service Items due" or some such thing - a series of service numbers appears. Each one can be acknowledged individually or can all be done at the same time.
In my case, my service "C" which was coming up consisted of Service #:5, 10, 12, and 14. Using the service sheets, this means:
Service 5: Diesel Fuel Filter change
Service 10: Tilt/Sliding Roof Clean Side Rails and shoes
Service 12: Oil/Filter change
Service 14: General leakage and condition inspection
Is this the right way to do things when it comes to determining what is needed in each service interval?
Enclosed is the sheet that has all of the service #s on it (for US market MY07 AMG and Diesel cars only) I'm sorry I didn't grab the one for the regular gasoline engines - anyone else have it ?
From what I know the Service letters "A, B, C, D, E" are only an indication of the amount of time a service visit may take. Except for some common operations like oil/filter change, the actual service content depends on the Service Numbers. The Numbers can only be gotten to through the "secret instrument cluster menu" (go to the basic display with the speed on it while the ignition is on, and engine is off, and press the reset button on the cluster three times rapidly) and navigating to "Service Items due" or some such thing - a series of service numbers appears. Each one can be acknowledged individually or can all be done at the same time.
In my case, my service "C" which was coming up consisted of Service #:5, 10, 12, and 14. Using the service sheets, this means:
Service 5: Diesel Fuel Filter change
Service 10: Tilt/Sliding Roof Clean Side Rails and shoes
Service 12: Oil/Filter change
Service 14: General leakage and condition inspection
Is this the right way to do things when it comes to determining what is needed in each service interval?
Enclosed is the sheet that has all of the service #s on it (for US market MY07 AMG and Diesel cars only) I'm sorry I didn't grab the one for the regular gasoline engines - anyone else have it ?
Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
From: NW Chiburb
04 E500
It's true that Service B (unless Additional Work is required) is just an oil change and an inspection, but so is Service A. And the Service B inspection is more thorough than Service A, so if I were going to skip one, it would be Service A, not Service B.
I don't know what kind of check list the dealer gave the OP, but I would suggest going to the Service E-Class Sticky (fourth one down) at the top of this forum and clicking on 05_08maint.pdf in Konigstiger's Post #83. Someone who's mechanically inclined and knows how (and when) to search these forums can probably perform most of the work that's listed, and a good indy can probably do most if not all of the rest. I don't think the car will care who does the work, as long as the work gets done.
I don't know what kind of check list the dealer gave the OP, but I would suggest going to the Service E-Class Sticky (fourth one down) at the top of this forum and clicking on 05_08maint.pdf in Konigstiger's Post #83. Someone who's mechanically inclined and knows how (and when) to search these forums can probably perform most of the work that's listed, and a good indy can probably do most if not all of the rest. I don't think the car will care who does the work, as long as the work gets done.
