cv95602

Hi! I am a new ML 350 special edition owner and i have done my first 1084 km.
Is there anyone to knows about the corect time to do my first change of engine oil?.

hecdog

The ML will tell you when. But if you'd like to see a rough mileage countdown, you can press the trip counter "stick/lever" next to the odometer readout twice (quickly) to see the remaining mileage to your next service. There should be a picture of a small wrench to the left of the display window when it shows the remaining mileage. If you're at 1k miles now it should read something like 8400 or so (depending on your driving style).

saturnstyl

First service due at 13,000 miles.

cv95602

thanks my friends for the informations; but i have another problem to solve.
I' ve just checked the dipstick meter and i realize that the oil color looks like
brown - dark, althown the oil level is at the max mark. Regards ML 350 driver!!

saturnstyl

Thats not a problem. The oil will turn completely black, and pretty much stay that way. Its to be expected with 13,000 mile service intervals.

LVDell

suturn, do you follow the FSS or do you change oil at specific intervals (i.e, every 5K, 7.5K, 10K, or FSS)?

mihir_d

Does anyone know if putting the newer 13000 mile oil on any of the older ML models (mine's a 2000 ML) would do any harm?

Will the FSS of the older model truck understand the nature of the newer oil?

mihir_d

Does anyone know if putting the newer 13000 mile oil on any of the older ML models (mine's a 2000 ML) would do any harm?

Will the FSS of the older model truck understand the nature of the newer oil?

saturnstyl

The 13,000 mile oil is the same as the 10,000 mile oil. The differerence is the oil filter. A fleece element was introduced and supersedes all previous filters.
You can identify it as it is bright white, and appears to be wrapped by hot glue in a spiral pattern.
Mercedes will still recommend you follow FSS intervals, which are valid for your particular year model....
FSS has been eliminated on 2005 and newer cars, replaced by a standard 13,000 mile service interval on all models, except AMG cars get a 10,000 mile interval.
I don't care for any of it, I use a fleece filter, mobil 1 0w40 synthetic and change it every 3,000 miles. It doesn't cost me anything, and I am very particular about such things.

mihir_d

on any of the older models, provided I put the newer oil filter in the older model.

If I am not wrong FSS senses the quality of the oil to decide when its oil change time.

An Improved filter would mean longer times before the oil gets dirty enough for FSS to sense a change is needed.

This would translate to longer times/more miles between oil changes..

Does that make sense?

Why would MB take FSS out for the newer models and instead make it a standard 13000 mile oil change?

Oil should be changed as and when it needs a change, and I thought that's what FSS was all about...ensuring that oil gets replaced at the right time irrespective of miles/time intervals..

saturnstyl

FSS isn't reliable. What happens when somebody changes the instrument cluster or Central gateway? What happens in the highly likely event of a software crash? You lose all your service data.... At 13,000 mile intervals, you can't screw it up or lose the data.
FSS was confusing to many people also, MB is trying to change things to be more friendly to the customer.

Darkmann

I think there's a misunderstanding here. The FSS system (the one that tells you when service is due) is still available. The difference now is that it will not let you go past 13K (or 1yr) between service. It still monitors your oil condition and will still indicate early service if it detects bad oil before the 13K set point. I don't think you're doing yourself any good replacing the oil filter just to save 1-2K miles between service. Stick with your current FSS scheduled service and you'll be just fine. Of course, you can do the service earlier, but I guess that's not an option for you.

mihir_d

Agreed changing the filter now and buying an extra 1-2K miles won't do me any good..but what about the next FSS scheduled & subsequent oil changes?

Would putting in the newer improved oil filters lengthen the miles/time span between subsequent oil changes? Its not just about the 1-2K miles extra that I get between oil changes, it also would mean fewer trips to the dealership & possibly improved engine life/performance.