jester1

I have a 2022 E 53 which is flashing the "Schedule A Service Due" dashboard warning which is manly an oil change.

I have an appointment for required state Inspection next month, when I'll have had the car a year.

The thing is I only have 3300 miles on it.

Would you still spend the money on the Schedule A oil change with mileage this low?

Mikey53

Yes, unless you just like the warranty being voided.

superswiss

Service is due every 10k miles or every 12 months, whichever comes first. Mileage is secondary. The oil should be changed at least once a year. Moisture and fuel can collect in the oil, and the oil ages whether you drive the car or not. Fuel and moisture contamination is an even bigger issue on infrequently driven cars as the engine doesn't heat up frequently to evaporate moisture and fuel in the oil. In general, cars that are driven are much more happy then those that are mostly sitting around. Mechanical systems want to move. Leaving them stationary can cause damage from lack of movement. Your next service, Service B, is also important as at every 2 year mark the brake fluid should be flushed. The brake fluid also absorbs moisture from the environment over time.

The G Man

That is a very common question and common thinking in that less miles driven equates to longer service intervals, especially now a days with all the people working from home and the pandemic a few years ago. The oil itself becomes thinner over time and the additives in the oil will also degrade as the oil sit in the engine. I work from home and I am on pace to drive about 3000 miles this year, I plan to bring my car in for service as scheduled, every year.

JTK44

Would I. Definitely not as I believe changing oil is a function of miles driven not time (up to a point) especially with synthetic oil

Having said that, you will find very, very few on this forum who will agree:

• You have an $80,000 car and you don't want to spend $200 for an oil change?
• If you fail to change the oil you will void your warranty: No, failure to change your oil every year or 10,000 miles, does not void your warranty. To void your warranty, the failure must be the result of failure to change the oil.
• Mercedes knows best and if you only drive 1,000 miles per year you should change your oil every year.

During the pandemic, I was driving very little. I changed my oil at 20,000 miles which was 20 months.

I have 2008 Boxster which is driven less than 700 miles per year. I change the oil every 5 years or 3,500 miles while Porsche recommends every year or over 15,000 miles. Never had a problem.

On my John Deere tractor oil change is by hours run not every year. Boats engines by hours not every year.

Hope this helps you in your decision.

JTK44

Of course you realize that the failure must be related to the oil change - which Mercedes must prove. If a fuel injector fails, not changing the oil will not void the warranty.

JTK44

Here we go again: the mystical water in oil and brake fluid!

You are correct that any water in either the oil and/or brake fluid will be "boiled" away with normal driving.

But your basic assumption that there will be such an amount of water in either the oil and brake fluid as to cause the deterioration of the oil and/or brake fluid is so remote so as not to be considered.

If you drive 5,000 miles a year, three days a week, that is average of 30 miles per trip more than enough time to get rid of any water in either the oil and/or brake fluid. A change every two years would seem appropriate.

superswiss

Well, the right approach would be to measure the water content in the oil and brake fluid. You are equally wrong with just going w/o an oil change for two years, w/o actual data. Obviously what I said is the general rule of thumb. For brake fluid for example up to 3% moisture is acceptable. I had cars that had near 4% after two years, so YMMV.

JTK44

Really? What is your basis? If you are talking about 5 years maybe you have a point. But two or three years with synthetic oil vs. one year I think you are wrong.

Do you any study that support your hypothesis, because when you Google "How long does synthetic oil last" the answers are all over the place, from 5,000 miles to 15,000 miles from every year to over three years.

Thanks.

The G Man

Factory recommendations are always on the safe side, that is one of the reason I always follow it religiously. Oil change is what people in the trade consider cheap insurance.

jester1

Thanks for everyone's input.

The_Judge

I had the same question a few weeks ago and received lots of comments to my post:

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...necessary.html

I ended up getting the service as I will probably keep the car for a long time.

BoMB

Back to this debate again. It's like a car crash, LOL.

That said, here's my take -- I have no idea why the "Schedule A Service Due" dashboard warning is coming on. None. Could be one or more of several reasons -- maybe it has a time setting and the time triggered this.

You made the appointment for next month -- which will be you having the car one year -- do it then. Forget about the miles. Just get it. Moving forward, no matter how few miles you put on a year, no matter how little you drive the car, get an oil change -- every 6 months if you have extreme seasons (a cold winter and a hot summer), or every 10,000 miles, WHICHEVER COMES SOONER. All the best!

Elvisfan0108

It’s amazing to me how much this is discussed. Follow the service indicator. If there is an engine failure, and there have been a few. They can refuse to pay for it. Also, having no service record doesn’t look good when selling or trading your car.