As best as I can tell, the only essential parts for A and B service are, respectively, oil change and oil+filter change. My local dealer wants $500+ for A service, and $1200+ for B service. That seems rather extravagant, feels I should be able to get an indy tech to do it for half that (had one that worked on my wife's BMW that is very good and honest).

Is there anything else in A and B service that I am missing? By law I am allowed to do oil changes wherever I please with no impact on warranty.

 

Many (most?) Dealer Service Departments offer an "Oil and Filter only" service, sometimes advertised online, sometimes only if you ask. Try that.

You're only partially correct that you can do oil changes without visiting the Dealer, but not "whenever I please."

You are 100% correct that the law allows you to choose not to service your car, but it doesn't protect you from losing your warranty by not performing the required maintenance, on time.
Yes, anybody can perform that maintenance, but you must provide receipts to the Dealer as proof, so they can update your records\ and keep your warranty intact. Ask them what they need to make sure.

 

I wrote "wherever" not "whenever"

 

And you are correct. Apologies.

 

The A service is basically an oil and filter change and some inspections (I’ve yet to find anyone who doesn’t replace the oil filter at each change)

The B service adds the combo filter(s) and a brake flush.

The latter items are certainly recommended, but once the warranty is over you can do them a little less frequently. I’ll likely do them at 3 year intervals post-warranty.

Those prices you posted are very high. I know these were $300 and $600, respectively, a few years ago but $1,200 is crazy for the B service.

 

The 3x prepaid service is $2200. The prices you quite would add to a flush at which point there is no value in buying prepaid. The San Diego dealer charged my wife $500 for A a few months ago. Need to call a few more local dealers but if the B price is uniformly over $1000 then prepaid starts to make sense

 

Here in Canada - the local Burlington, Ontario dealership doesnt even give you a brake flush as part of service B. Its only a 'check and correction'...

• All fluid level checks and corrections are dependent on factory-recommended service intervals for your vehicle’s year and model

https://www.mercedes-benz-burlington...enz-service-b/


With a price of almost $1,200/CAD for a B service.

https://www.mercedes-benz-burlington...tenance-costs/

 

Just called a three more local dealers here in San Diego. A service ranges $400-$600 and B service is $1300-$1600. Assuming that one does the service at the "stealership" and times the buy to include two B's and one A, the $2200 prepaid plan is a screaming deal ($2000 for $3000 worth of service). However I also called a local german car indie shop who are very honest, and they charge $250-$350 for A and $500-$600 for B, which makes the prepaid service a lousy purchase. The only benefit of the stealership is that the records are automatically visible to Mercedes and there would be no questions if a warranty issue arizes.

 

A general rule of thumb is to buy the prepaid service on a lease where you are actually buying only part of it, the non residual portion. I purchase my cars so I attempt to negotiate a deal for the prepaid maintenance package only AFTER I negotiate a purchase price for the vehicle. Generally if they won’t budge on the prepaid maintenance, you know that you’re pretty near rock bottom on the vehicle price. Don’t feel too badly, they’re still making plenty on the sale.
The one big advantage to purchasing a BMW is that the service/maintenance is included with the vehicle. Naturally, you have to like the vehicle as much as the MB. BMW is not giving away the service, it is built into the price of the car. It’s just less of a feeling of being ripped off.
The prices of A and B service has gotten out of hand at many dealerships. Some I found will still work with you. Sometimes just dropping in at the dealership and asking for an express service you can get away for about $200 , still expensive for an oil change. Just like buying a new car, some buyers will spend thousands of dollars more for the exact same vehicle. Unfortunately you have to shop around where to service the vehicle as well. I realize that there are some out there who believe that if you can’t afford whatever the dealer asks for the vehicle or service then you should not buy a MB. I am very grateful that I can afford whatever the dealer may ask, however, I can find better ways to “waste” my money than on 5 quarts of oil.

 

Mine is calling for "B" Service. I called all 3 MB dealers in my area to ask what they charged for "B" Service. They all said that someone would contact me. This was 3 days ago and not one has reached out with pricing.
I can do the oil and filter change myself, but I don't want to tackle the Brake Fluid Flush. From everything I've read, the main reason for the Brake Fluid Flush is because Brade Fluid is Hygrosoptic, absorbing water from the air. To test my Brake Fluid, I ordered this nifty Brake Fluid Moisture Tester to see if the fluid really needs to be changed. It reported a moisture content of 0.02%, which is well within the "good" range. So I'll wait until the next service interval to do the flush. Here is a link to the tester:

 

Brake fluid flush is by time, every two years, not and not by miles.

P.S. its a very easy to do with this tool
Motive Products 0100 European Power Bleeder 2-Quart Tank with Hose and Adapter https://a.co/d/3I6vR2T

 

Dot 4
New vs 10 years old


Not sure if this tester is accurate, I expected 10 years old fluid be over limit ))

 

I use the motive products bleeder, by far the best way to go.

Question for you though. I know some abs systems require workarounds to bleed properly. Is this the case with the new Mercedes? Do you just get in there and bleed away?

 

I don't touch abs, i think pushing old fluid out is more then enough, see attached docs on how this should be done @ dealer.

 

Thanks.
I'm due for a change.

I need to find a way to dispose of my spent fluid. I have a couple quarts or more.

 

I took wife's 2021 GLC-300, equipped with M264 engine, to Stealership for a prepaid maintenance and got a surprise... they said her car was a mere 200 miles over the limit and the prepaid maintenance has thus lapsed. Wife puts maybe 500 miles a week on her car she's racking up the miles quick. They wanted to charge me $900 for a B Service. Not happening! I took the keys back, bid them a fond farewell, and went to a reputable local shop where I paid $471 for the same service. However, after completing that service I read over what was actually done and I have to say, $187 to replace a Cabin Filter feels like like a ripoff. Of that $187, labor was $90. This awakened the slumbering DIY side of me to investigate. Sure enough, replacing the Cabin Filter on a GLC is not rocket science ( ) and certainly not worthy of the labor I was charged. The $97 for the filter is ridiculous. I can get a Pureflow cabin filter for 25 bucks. The shop let me know the engine air filter was good but if I want to get it changed that it would be $157. Pfft. I can get a genuine OEM MB engine air filter ranging from $29 to $43 from FCP Euro.

Without a doubt I will be doing cabin and engine air filters myself from now on. The next service on her car will be spark plugs. I'm looking for decent writeups/videos on doing spark plugs on the M264 that is used in the "Facelift" models 2020-2022. I seen several for how to do it on the older M274 and the process does not look difficult at all. Spark plugs are about $15 each from mbpartsource. Trick would be getting all DIY work documented to make MB happy to retain the Lifetime (defined as 30 years by MB) powertrain warranty on her car.

 

Just retain receipts.

 

Interesting post. I recently received a reminder that my 2022 needs a B service (previous courtesy car that I have had one year) and was quoted $1200. I was told on the phone "starts at" so who knows. I have 6,900 miles on the car, this is my third GLC from this dealer. My last B service was about $650, same dealership. Because this car had been a courtesy car, it was sold as a used car (about 4,000 miles) and there was no discount on the service contract so I didn't get it. I have a call in to another dealership for a B service price and they have not called back.

 

Replacing the spark plugs on 4 cylinders engine is one hour job if you like a sip a bottle of beer in between each plug.
Most important part is the torques spec which is 23 Nm to a block, i highly doubt its different from the previous generation.
I have WIS instruction with all steps, let me know if you need it.
Get a grease for a plug connector. I used OEM plugs @ 40K but next time will go with NGK

 

For the OEM plugs, do they come pre-gapped?

 

no, they are not.

 

Adding another data point - San Diego, $1,200 for Service B. Service A was $550 last year.

Any success in negotiating the cost down?

 

Which dealer? You should get quotes from Carlsbad, Escondido, Kearny Mesa, and El Cajon. Go to whatever dealer you want and ask your SA to price match. Also look at their service pages for a coupon.