jw1977

Does everyone stick to the 13,000 miles or 1 year rule on servicing? Does anyone just do service when the computer tells them? I have a GL450 that is almost 2 years old but only had 13,500 miles. Should I still get service B done even though the computer says I have 8,000 miles.

Thanks

cablvr

I would.

I do not wait for the service light to come on. Have always had oil changes every 2500-3000 miles regardless of what the manufacturer suggests and get 7 years (about 125-150K miles) out of my vehicles. Just my $0.02.

BeanCounter

I'm not quite as meticulus as cablvr but I get the oil changed every six months (which is about 6,000 miles for me) and any other required service done as instructed. I realize that synthetic oil is designed to go the distance I just don't feel like pushing the issue.

GLDriver

My GL is showing me Service A message. The truck is 1 year old but only has 5300 miles. Should I go ahead and get Service A done ?

nantucketsleigh

Yes.

StevethePilot

I do not mean to sound condescending, but seriously think about how much you spent to get the truck in the first place. I know I want to take care of mine, considering the initial investment! If it were a low-oil light or a check engine light, you'd take care of that, yes? Just my opinion, but if it says it's ready for a Service A, I would do the Service A (and any stumble-ons they have that aren't just cosmetic).

STP

Danno4x4

FYI, the service indicator counts down both mileage and time. I believe that it starts at 10K miles and 1 year, and whichever comes first will trigger the service indicator.

Engine oil not only breaks down with use, but also breaks down with time after it is put into service.

oinick

On the other hand, I have had this discussion on several cars from both MBUSA and BMWUSA. I leased about half the BMWs and bought the rest; remember, maintenance is included for 50K miles in the BMWs. Every service advisor I have spoken to said it was not necessary to change the oil before the car tells you to. In fact, on a leased BMW, I had 16k miles on the car and it was 18 months old before BMW would pay for the oil change!

I bought my GL 320. I had a long chat with the service manager who reassured me that there was no need to change the oil before the service reminder said to do so. To hedge my bets, I bought the extended warranty (6 years/100k) which requires no more than the MB scheduled (indicated) service. I felt like having bought the warranty, MB has the risk as long as I have it serviced as indicated. On the BMWs, every leased vehicle was a risk to them, so I never had a maintenance they did not pay for.

dunderhi

Once a year, rain or shine.

scottybdiving

Good points. I too am from the old school of every 3000 miles, and did it myself for the first 30 years. I have been reassured from the service manager for my Duramax also, that it is not necessary, even counter productive, to do it sooner than scheduled.

nantucketsleigh

Last I looked both BMW and MB call for oil changes once a year irrespective of mileage. I once had a discussion with the MB service manager who thought otherwise - but I brought in the recommended service info shown on the MB site. Apparently some service indicators on MB's were not properly programmed to alert for a service every 12 months from the in service date. I had purchased a service agreement from the MB dealer and they were reluctant to provide an annual oil service with low mileage. My BMW service adviser always alerted me to bring my cars in for their annual "low mileage" oil change. As you know with BMW the service is free. What's really puzzling is that the dealers for MB and BMW are under the same ownership and co-located.

AsianML

There really is no reason to change it sooner than the recommended interval. I get over 10k actual miles (I think I get even more than the 13.5k the new Maintenance System calls for) out of my oil since FSS (you guys don't have this) counts down from 10k in an odd way. The FSS countdown doesn't necessarily countdown exactly as the odometer counts up. I could be driving for 1,000 miles, but FSS will only count down 500 or 700 miles.