ua549

Perhaps that is the New Your way of doing things. When I get service from my dealer, I can see everything that is being done to my vehicle including the inspection from a customer viewing area next to the service bay where my vehicle is. However, you are correct about "express" service. An A service w/inspection cannot be done in a short time period.

Povitica3

For the past 7 years, my SLK350 service maintenance was performed by an Indy - a MB Certified Mechanic. Each service was performed strictly by mileage (the car chimes and tells me when an A or B service was due), and it was typically a full day job. I drop it off in the AM and return at end of day to pickup. It ALWAYS included a full service multi-point inspection that is very comprehensive and a printout of results/findings provided. My Indy does a fabulous job of detailing all aspects of both visual and checked parts of the car on the inspection report at each service. In that span, it has only required a single warranty repair job - replacement of the catalytic converters. That car is now over 100K miles and in tip-top shape, Not a scratch anywhere... every thing works as it should, nary an issue. It drives today just as it drove on the day I purchased it off the MB dealer lot with only 1900 miles on the odo. Prior to my 2013 SLK350, I had a well-optioned 2005 SLK55 AMG roadster that I drove for 7 years and thru 125K miles before selling it off. Beyond regular maintenance, I had only 2 critical issues - a short in the electrical line to fuel pump (~$1200 to fix) and a broken serpentine belt (~$500 cost), as well as a few "cosmetic" issues - nothing catastrophic.

The E will follow similar maintenance path (due for service in the next 2,400 miles). I will perform the necessary services required (by mileage) which has always worked for all of my MB cars so why change now.,,

YMMV, of course.

The G Man

We all know of horror stories about mechanics ripping off people but my dealer is very detail in the inspection. They do a complete inspection in hope of finding additional work. There are big windows in the service bay if I want to watch the maintenance process.
If you drive 2000 miles a year and you set your maintenance intervals based only on mileage, you would change your oil every 5 years.

ua549

Using mileage based service intervls works well for high mileage vehicles. Not so much for low mileage vehicles like mine. If I went by mileage, my 6 year old '18 E300 would getting its first B service later this month. BTW - I purchase gasoline only 5 or 6 times a year.

JTK44

If my math is correct you are changing oil and filter about every 3.300 miles? (20,000 miles at 6 years, 3,300 miles per year)

As far as the B service is concerned, I think you will agree that the cabin filters are mileage and not time.

I think brake fluid is also mileage not time.

So other than oil and filter, the "B" service at 20,000 miles for your car seems correct to me.

Your way by time, you did the "B" service, cabin filters and brake fluid at

• 6,600 miles (2 years)
• again at 13,200 miles (4 years)
• and now at 20,000 miles (6 years)
• and changed the spark plugs at 16,500 miles (5 years)

Just my $.02: that seems to be complete overkill and a waste of money: especially the cabin filters and spark plugs.

I can understand changing the oil and filter every year: What I cannot understand is changing the cabin filters every 6,500 miles and changing the spark plugs at 16,500 miles.

cetialpha5

Brake fluid does absorb water through heating/cooling cycles. Water will rust out the lines whether you're driving or not. Probably don't need to do it every 2 years but I wouldn't go solely by mileage, there's easy mileage and there's hard mileage, really depends how much braking gets done and how much water you think the fluid has absorbed over time. I think one of the differences between Dot 3 and Dot 4 is that while Dot 4 has a higher boiling point, it takes less moisture for it to boil vs dot 3 so the higher brake fluid change interval, for some auto makers, they don't even list a change interval for dot 3.

JTK44

My point exactly: some manufacturers do not even list a change interval for brake fluid:

The recommended intervals for German cars is based on the hardest, extreme usage, high speed deceleration on the AutoBahn - which causes heating and cooling. It is not practical to have different intervals for different countries, so Mercedes just protects itself by using the most extreme conditions for all. We do not have those conditions - at least I do not - I do not drive as if I am on the AutoBahn! So I go by mileage not usage. (full disclosure: I drive about 8,000 miles per year, so my intervals are every 2 1/2 years not every 2 years. But if I drove 7,000 a year my intervals would be every three years, 20,000 miles not every two years every 14,000 miles)

Same with tires: We are speed limited in the US, yet Mercedes come with tires rated higher than our speed limited.

JTK44

6 fill ups at 15 gallons, = 90 gallons at 25 mpg, = 2250 miles per year.

NorseWagon

I also agree that whatever comes first, time or milage, would make sense but what I would like to know is:
Does MB USA recommend it only, OR is it mandatory to keep warranty in effect? (Or rather as an excuse to deny warranty coverage in case of a problem)

As a boat owner I follow Yanmar's maintenance schedule religiously:
The Timing best must be replaced every 5 years, or every 1250 hours, whichever comes first. Some owners of these Yanmar 6LP-STE turbo diesels run for 20 years
on the same belt because they only have 1,100 hours on the engine.

I am not opposed to changing spark-plugs at 16,500 miles on the E-450 but only if MB states it is on their Service or Maintenance Schedule.
I would NOT do it because a dealer
recommended it..Big difference.
(The heads on the 3.0L 276 engine are probably aluminum and the metal portion of the plugs SS or chrome, possible galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals?)

I also worked on my cars in the past, but not on modern/expensive precision machinery.
Probably 25 years since I did oil and filter changes, except on boats. Cars and bikes not anymore.

JTK44

The warranty is 50,000 miles or 48 months which ever comes first, so spark plugs, 50,000 miles or 5 years is not an issue.

Like you I used to work on my cars and still do on my tractor, generator, power washer, etc. Changing plugs is still changing plugs. More complicated with Mercedes. On the other hand engines are so much cleaner than they used to be, so changing plugs every 10,000 miles is a thing of the past. Many manufacturers have a change period of 100,000 miles.

I have an Indy shop do my oil change: they only use OEM filters and Mercedes approved synthetic oil. I save about 30%. An oil change is an oil change.

Cabin filters: One is easy to change, the one in the engine compartment. The other in the glove compartment is a "bear" to change. No warranty issue here, so I go by mileage as my driving is ordinary not off road with lots of dust, etc.

Brake Fluid: I never do rapid decelerations from high speed which causes brake fluid temps to rise and cool which can create a chance of moisture. Keep in mind many manufacturers do not even have a change interval. I will use mileage not time.

The G Man

As stated by some earlier, some maintenance items are more time sensitive than others but almost none are just based on mileage. If you drive 2000 a year, if you based on just mileage for maintenance, you would change your spark plugs every 25 years. Air filters, tires, battery, rubbers, suspension, fluids and brakes should be inspect or clean at least once a year. There is no such thing as a forever fluid, no matter what the manufacturer tells you.

NorseWagon

Yes, it is an issue for me:
48 months @ 16,500 miles. (Paid for extended warranty)
Again: I don't know if the Service Sheet above is recommended or mandatory?

If anybody knows, please pipe up

Povitica3

@NorseWagon your wagon has babied miles, you barely drive this car... you take excellent care of it. If I were you, I won't worry a thing about if a service is mandatory or recommended. That car is barely broken-in after 4 years of ownership. My testimony above on my two SLKs is to offer a guide that these MBs are pretty sturdy and don't break down especially one like yours with babied mileage and usage. As long as you are taking care of it, the car will take care of you.

ua549

I usually put in 17 gallons. The tank holds a drop or two over 18 gallons as measured from dry. My per tank mileage varies between 25 mpg (Winter snowbird congestion) and 29 mpg (light traffic rest of year).

The G Man

I am in the same low mileage situation, 4 year old car with 19,000 miles.
Your service sheet looks like a regular B service.

NorseWagon

Not if you look at my above invoice from the MB Dealer last year: 40k miles Service as per the MB Software, next is 50,000 miles, Spark Plugs and all AND an A Service..



The G Man

Mercedes use to call this the B2 service, the second B service. Do you think the dealer short change you on the last 40,000 pre paid service?

NorseWagon

Not at all...
The Pre-Paid service was free to me

This is like pulling teeth:
What does MB require for service, or preventive maintenance according to their Maintenance Program?

JTK44

Interesting: the stated capacity for your car is 17.4 gallons.

6 X 17 = 102 gallons X 27 mpg = 2,750 miles per year.

So you are changing your cabin filters and flushing your brakes every 5,500 miles and changing your spark plugs at 13,750. Doesn't that seem a bit excessive?

see: https://www.autopadre.com/gas-tank-s...des-benz-e-300

Another thought which no one to the best of my knowledge has commented on:

Have you and others who are changing fluids based on time rather than mileage given any thought to the environmental damage (potential) you are doing by replacing petro based fluids and/or parts in your car that are still useful?

Those fluids, filters, etc. all take their toll on the environment. Land fills etc. Plus the cost to the environment in extracting additional petro based fluids for replacement.

I know you are just one person, but after a while this adds up..

ua549

Let me clarify the service that I've had: alternating A and B services performed each year. My dealer does a full inspection and makes recommendations for additional services and those that I should opt out of having done. I have replaced air filters, tires and battery once in 6 years. That is it! The original wiper blades are soft, supple and do not leave smears. Regarding tires, in more than 65 years of driving, I've never gotten more than 15k miles on a set. Personally I think it is due to heat combined with sand, start & stop driving. After 5 or so minutes of driving the tires are usually around 125°F - 130°F.

ddeliber

CPO extended warranty is 7 years unlimited miles so for some it is an issue.
Of all of these discussion points the most important item is oil changes. TBH 10k miles is too long for an OCI, personally I believe that is more about selling cars (all other brands are recommending once a year why should I have to deal with less). Oil gets dirty under different conditions (driving style, environment, city vs hwy) and equally importantly oil filters only last so long. The newer fleece filters last longer than the ole paper filters but at the end of the day a good oil filter is really about $13 - dealers charge about $25. What is the overall cost? Oil is cheap, engines are expensive. I do ~7.5k miles or one year. Many here won't really see the affects of this as the issues will come up much later in the cars life, but I hope to keep mine a long time.

Time affects brake fluid as well as miles 20k or 2 years is the correct interval based on all of the input that I have gotten from my mechanics and friends.

Plugs should be mileage based and I'd go with MB recommended 50k miles. Plus on an E300 they are inexpensive and very easy to change (right on top of the engine - one screw holding in the coil, pop it off and ratchet it off all 4 easily done in 30 min) - although I have heard dealers tend to leave their scruples at home when they come in to work.

Filters? if they are dirty change em. Cabin filter is a pain in the *** to change though.

ygmn

YA know if MB wanted they could put differential air pressure sensors on each side of the engine air filters to let you know when they are cloggin and restricting flow and require chaning.
Otherwise the mileage thing is a guessing game as my paved road is cleaner then your dusty rock road.

Heck my chevy truck from 2002 has air pressure indicator to tell me when filter needs changing. green is good red = change.

Same for cabin filter - have some sort of pressure sensor on blower size and when it gets to certain pressure blink a light at me and I Will change...or wtahc blower motor current on full air and at some high level would indicate blocked elements...

For oil - GM spent millions of dollars coming up with their oil life monitor which calc life of oil based on all sorts of data from engine to determine when it has broken down and need changing.
Always change filter with oil so that is covered. If oil level gets low - a good sign you need to change as it was burned off and if you have a leak go get that fixed huh.

point: there are new tech ways to know when things need changing.... but no they spend the money developing crazy crappy infotainment touch screens which make it dangerous to adjust fan speeds.
And pay monthly fees to turn on your heated seats....

I hate mileage, calendar time and/or engine hours as stating what maintenance must be done. - HEck MB has no clue nor does any other manufacturer know - they just put something conservative to cover their warranty butt and fill their service dept bays. remember 3000 mile oil changes - then the world went green and hot so we can extend that now and just raise prices to make up differences.

Amazing how MB has had the brake pad sensors since well hell think it goes back to the 70's? yet they cannot come up with sensors for filter and fluids.

NorseWagon

Good one: I am all for opting out of unnecessary services, such as replacing a clean filter and rotating tires after 1,000 miles, but curious if any items opted out of
will affect the warranty, or in my case, the bumper to bumper extended warranty is really an insurance: I am sure the insurance company will use any excuse to deny an expensive claim. (Say the engine blew up or swallowed a valve: Well, Mr. Norsewagon, Did You Or Did You NOT Follow The MB Maintenance And Service Schedule? )

JTK44

Emphatically NO!

A denial of a warranty claim must be directly related to the failure to perform the service. Failure to change the plugs at 50,000 miles will have no affect on a transmission, AC, electrical problem and even an engine problem like values or combustion.

My extended warranty is with Mercedes: I follow the schedule maintenance by mileage not time. I am confident that any claim I have under the extended warranty will be honored. For example, if I change the oil and filter every 12/13 months, for me that is 10,000 miles, there cannot be a denial: The oil and filter are good for that period.

Third party warranty: that may or may not be a different story. I am only speaking about an extended warranty from Mercedes.

NorseWagon

Yup, third party may be different, not sure and I have been too lazy to dig out the contract and study the fine print.
(I should, but again, change spark plugs now if the AI, or MB computer says 5 years OR 50,000 miles?)
Probably $5-600 for the plugs with cables and coils included?
Will check with the SA at MB of Daytona Beach next month when the service is due. With my VIN # in the computer the results should
pop up and any third party insurance can't argue with MB USA.
Stay tuned..​​​​​​​