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First oil change for me today on the 2022 AMG GLE53. Only at 2,700 miles but I wanted to (a) try the whole process and see what I was dealing with for future changes, and (b) wanted the factory fill oil out around this time. Plus, the weather was just NICE today and I enjoyed being outside. Whether it was necessary to change the oil now or not is a moot point. It is done. This is just documenting what I did. You might do an oil change quicker/better/cheaper/etc. (or leave it to your dealer) and this is cool. I am just trying to help others who might desire to wrench on their own by writing this up. If you get some help from this post, then I am happy. It's all good guys. No big deals.
The factory oil was juuuuuust starting to darken (expected with a Turbo engine) just a little bit at 2,700 miles (did not look bad of course), but the OEM filter element was pretty clean. The whole process took a couple hours as I took my time, used ramps/chocks, and let the oil drip into the drain pan for an hour since it was a fairly consistent drip once the steady stream drain had completed (like a drop every 3 or 4 seconds, then when it got to about every 20 seconds I was done) - wanted as much of the old oil out, and the small incline from the ramps could have lengthened the drain time needed. Who knows. Plus, I had the afternoon off so time was on my side. Ramps I used were BISupply Vehicle Service Ramp Set – 6.6in Car Lift, 5 Ton Heavy Duty Truck Ramps for Vehicle Maintenance, 2 Pack. I have read where others used the vehicle air shocks to lift the car for oil changes, and did not need ramps etc. I am not that guy. Ramps make it easy AND I feel safe under there without jack stands in place. You do whatever you prefer.
TLDR:
1. Warm car engine up, Put car on ramps, engine off, set parking brake, chock rear tires, open hood
2. Remove engine cover plastic bits and the air intake port on the driver's side (some pics below to help) (NB - I chose to remove this intake port vs just swiveling it out of the way - do whatever makes you feel comfortable)
3. Loosen oil filler cap and loosen oil filter housing (not completely, just about 2 complete revolutions; stuff shop towels around oil filter housing to catch drips later on when taking filter out - I used a ARES 71152-27mm Low Profile Fuel Filter Socket
4. Remove windscreen underneath the engine (eight 8mm screws). Position drain pan under drain bolt, loosen bolt until oil is flowing out but I did not fully remove it yet - left it in by a couple threads for now - you certainly could remove it fully right now if you want; oil seemed to be flowing out well so I just left it alone to drain for the time being
5. Fully remove the oil filter housing, wipe out old oil from housing, remove old filter, remove and replace o-Ring gasket, insert new filter (be sure to line up the green barb into the slot first!) and screw the housing cover back on to the engine
6. Go do something else for an hour while the oil drains out, then remove plastic drain bolt fully, and wait again until the final drip-drip slows to about once every 20 seconds (why 20 seconds? I dunno.... seems about right)
7. Remove drain pan, wipe oil drain bolt area well and install/tighten new plastic drain bolt; re-attach the windscreen panel under the engine
8. Add 9 U.S. quarts of your favorite dino juice matching the MB BEVO specs (I used a 5w-30 oil). Here is just the 229.51 list (there are other 229.xx specs to choose from, refer to your owner's manual): https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevoo...229.51_en.html
9. Put the driver's side plastic air intake port back on and the other engine cover bits; secure oil filler cap
10. Remove chocks, take car off ramps and test drive - check for any leaks; then check your engine oil level (the computer takes a while to measure the oil level - maybe 10 minutes) and add more if it is not at the MAX (what I call "full") level - exactly 9.0 quarts got me to MAX
11. Use the hidden workshop menu to record the Service interval maintenance you just did, if you wish (A or B) :
12. Dispose of the rags, old filter and old oil at a recycling center, naturally
Pics or it didn't happen section (no comments needed, I know the car needs a wash and tire dressing LOL):
Below: The under engine wind screen.
This pic below is before I wiped all the old oil from out of the filter housing - I just used blue shop towels to push in/soak up the old oil until it was shiny aluminum (did not take a pic of what the fully clean housing looked like). That little brass circle area in the oil filter housing at the 12 o-clock position is where the green O-ring-tipped barb on the oil filter inserts into.
The pic below shows the black O-ring rubber gasket on the filter housing that needs to be thrown away and replaced with the new one that comes in the box with the new oil filter.
Below is a top-down pic of the two push-in style bolt clips (circled in red) that hold on the front of the driver's side air intake just behind the radiator support. Just lift up the center plastic bolt head with a screwdriver and it will come out, then there are still bolt clips in the slot that need to be gently pried out as well (see pic even further down below). When you have all 4 pieces out, the air intake assembly will pull right out, giving you ample room to get to the filter housing area.
In the pic below, the push in bolts are out but the bolt clips are still in - must take these out too.
Below: Plastic bolts and their clips are now out (4 pieces total, set them aside and don't lose them) and the air intake is also removed - lots of room to work now.
Hope this helps others - it's really pretty easy as long as you have the tools, time, and inclination to do your own wrenching. Nice weather helps too. Have fun guys.
This is a wonderfully detailed write up. I can't quibble with the huge majority of the content. My only differences are one, maybe two. I will use Mobil 1 ESP Formula 0W-40. It isn't easy to find, and not cheap, but I found it on Amazon. I don't think this will be found in WalMart anytime soon, but is one of the spec'd oils for this engine by MB. Secondly-(and I don't want to re-ingnite the debate that exists on this topic on another thread)-I plan to put in 8.5Qts, then literally "nurse it up" a few ounces at a time (you may have done this-and it took 9 even) to give it the minimum amount it will take to register full. In the void of having a dipstick, this is the only way to largely ensure it isn't overfilled. I did this with my M5 and my daughter's 328 for the same reason - no dipstick. In 47+ years that I've been changing oil, I have found that a majority of vehicles don't take the capacity stated by the manufacturer when measured by the dipstick. This is most often the result of small amounts of oil trapped in specific spots that don't drain. An example would be my wife's 2021 Cadillac Escalade. The 6.2L is supposed to take 8 quarts with an oil and filter change. In actuality, it is about 7.7Qts. (I can see this because I have a dipstick to closely monitor the level to a "T".) (Sure wish these had (at least what I call) normal drain plugs; I like a steel oil pan that I can put a "Gold Plug" (heavily magnetic) drain plug into). Thank you for the great detail and pics associated with your write up. Well done!
Last edited by RDT-G23; 04-23-2022 at 05:28 PM.
Reason: spelling
Thank you.
My only thought for those with less experience is to be CERTAIN you have a container suitable for at least nine quarts.
Or (like me) have two containers ready to swap when the first one gets full.
Secondly-(and I don't want to re-ingnite the debate that exisits on this topic on another thread)-I plan to put in 8.5Qts, then literally "nurse it up" a few ounces at a time (you may have done this-and it took 9 even) to give it the minimum amount it will take to register full. Thank you for the great detail and pics associated with your write up. Well done!
Thank you, and yes I ended up doing exactly as you described. I did my best to eyeball the oil level remaining in the 5qt jug I was using for the final 4 qts. Started car and checked oil level. Was halfway between min and max. Added maybe 3-4 ounces more, checked level again and was at max now. Pretty sensitive if you ask me. Best to underfill and top off a couple ounces at a time, as you noted.
The plug looks to be almost at the back of the pan, judging from the one pic that shows it draining. Did it look "pitched" enough to get all the oil from behind the plug, given that you had it on an incline? (Great pics also!) Very few would go to the effort you did for forum members who aren't as familiar with something like this.
I'm fairly confident that the majority of the oil did drain out. As judged from the extra couple Oz it took to top off the oil level meter and the length of time I let it drain would seem that I got nearly all the oil out that could be removed. I'd love to see a 3D scan of the oil pan as it might appear to my eye that it has a very slight shallow bowl to it at the very bottom where the drain plug is, and this lets all the oil come out of that drain plug area very easily. I don't think any was puddling up behind the drain plug. Here's another picture to show you what I mean.
Let me add my congratulations to the comments! For those of us who like to get under the car, this makes the first time much easier. I too do as much of the work as I can and have a GLE53 on order. Two questions please...
Any special torque specs or procedure for either the pan plug or the filter?
Thanks again.
Let me add my congratulations to the comments! For those of us who like to get under the car, this makes the first time much easier. I too do as much of the work as I can and have a GLE53 on order. Two questions please...
Any special torque specs or procedure for either the pan plug or the filter?
Thanks again.
For the drain screw, the specs say "tightened until engagement"; for the oil filter cover it is 25 Nm torque.
The oil filter (and I supect this one is similar) usually has a paint mark on the cap and on the housing that the factory places at spec. (Match them up) (This was at least the case with BMW)
Thanks, as a mity Vac fluid extractor user on all 4 of my Mercedes I've owned. I 'll have to buy ramps and chocks and oil pan after I get my GLE in the future. Good write up!
After 5k miles since the initial OC, did OC number 2 today. I must say these ramps I have are very stable and don't move at all when I drive up them. That bottom engine shield is still a pita to put back on. I'm getting better each time lol.
I may need to add a thread with the socket/allen sizes for the 63S at some point; I don't see any thread that details that process. The change is basically the same, with different parts, oil filter below, etc. I sure wish I had the socket and allen sizes before I pull the (what do we call it - the aero pan?)...
I may need to add a thread with the socket/allen sizes for the 63S at some point; I don't see any thread that details that process. The change is basically the same, with different parts, oil filter below, etc. I sure wish I had the socket and allen sizes before I pull the (what do we call it - the aero pan?)...
Hmmmm, no Allen bolts on the new 53 at all. Just 8mm screws. V8 is definitely a different beast. Looking forward to your write up and pics.
No, the drain on the m256 is a plastic use-once bolt with a slotted head for standard screwdriver. You could use a penny too. No Allen anywhere that I've found.
The drain plug for the M177 is also a one use plug, but it looks like an 8mm allen is used to remove/install on that pan. (I'm judging this from videos I can find on You Tube.) The oil filter on this thing is down by the pan-(and we all know the Germans love cartridge style filters)-so a rather messy deal...
Idea: Cap an empty 1 gallon plastic milk jug. Cut off the bottom 1 inch. Hold upside down by the handle under the filter as you take it off. Might help reduce the mess. This works great for the old can style screw on/drop off filters. Might be a non-helper for you if it's a cartridge, but, might get you thinking about how to reduce the mess.
04-22-2022, 05:44 PM
