Ok,, after shopping around for a wrench and getting little help from the dealer to buy one. (they always want me to drive the 100 miles for service).

I found a wrench that exactly fits the E 500 filter for $3.95 at Autozone.

It is marked Cap B and Autozone item # 25401.. the upc code (which might be store specific) is 076812254016

This is much cheaper than the $20+ wrench I found on line.

This wrench does have the 14 flat 74 MM size for 3/8" drive.

Hope this helps ya'll Jim

To add:Oil filter wrench

Great now we have more options. Too bad I didn't see it earlier. But now you have part numbers also. Now lets go service that MB.

Jim,

I've heard of people buying that cap wrench, but I went and bought the $20 one because the MB filter housing is 74.4mm and not 74mm. I know many people here will disagree, and say that 0.4mm isn't much, but that filter housing is a composite and I didn't want to take any chances breaking it which would have killed any chances of realizing a savings from buying the cheaper wrench.

Regards,
paul...

Paul you are correct. I did notice a hand press slip fit but I thought it was quite acceptable. It was the 14 flute. It easily slipped on and off so I plan to use it. The interesting thing on Mercedes is how little tech info is available to the owners. I always buy a manual for every vehicle I own, but at Mercedes no dice from the parts counter. I guess being able to buy one means must mean not tech savy enough to work on it? But there are things I prefer to do as long as I am physically able. My Corvette has so much tech info available on it due to owners doing their own work I have actually built a photo file almost as good as the manual. Hopefully we can do the same for Mercedes. Jim

Jim,

I did the same exercise -- asked the Autozone clerk if I could take the cap wrench outside and try it. It was a nice hand fit, and then I asked myself what would happen if I was applying 25Nm of torque on that composite oil cap? Or worse yet, what if I had to apply more pressure to remove the cap? What's that old saying about "the right tool for the right job"?

Anyway, the MB parts dept won't have any service manuals for the W211 models until the model is out of production for about three years. If you're very anxious to get service info, do a search on ebay for "Mercedes WIS" and you'll get many returns. These are DVDs that work on a PC running Windows (no higher that XP Pro SP1) -- you can alos find the electronic parts catalog (EPC) there. There is a guy selling "legitimate" copies of WIS for about $250. I'd have to dig up his URL if you want it.

Regards,
Paul....

I think you are right. I try 74 mm it is somewhat tight. I think I will get exact fit

That's curious, because the MB service manual specifies a cap that is 74mm x 14 flutes. If you read the link I provided above, I mention that my oil filter cap wrench is 76mm x 14 flutes - it is metal, well-constructed, cost $2.99, and it works. The store didn't offer any that were 74mm.

Kestas,

Your cap wrench is the one I was talking about that's 76mm x 14 flutes at Autozone, but the other one, which costs more money is spec'd at 74.4mm.

Now you got my curiousity going -- I'm going to drag out my vernier caliper and measure the oil filter housing cap on my 03 E320.

Regards,
paul...

I bought the $20 wrench from the dealer, and it has two set screws in the housing to make it fit tighter when in place.Could actually slip and get stuck ****eyed if the set screws arent somewhat snugged.

Yeah, that's the one -- has 2 set screws for the sides to remove/replace the cap and then you can store the screws on the top. At 25Nm torque, I haven't had trouble removing/reinstalling my filter cap.

Regards,

paul,,,

Measurements:

My verenier caliper's jaws aren't long enough to get around the filter housing, so I measured the wrench instead. The inside diameter between the flutes is 74.5mm and the inside diameter between the points is 76mm.

Anyway, I hope that the people who buy the cheaper wrench don't have problems with it -- like I said earlier, I didn't want to take the chance.

Regards,
Paul...

After many trips to various auto parts stores and even less satisfactory trip to the local MB dealer I finally came up with the solution that worked for me to get that gxd dxmn cap off. Found a cam action wrench at Pep Boys by RiteFit # 2550 that worked. I tried metal fluted cap wrench but it did not seem deep enough to get a good grip. I tried a three prong cam action that seemed like it should work but that was either not deep enough or not enough grip or both. I tried a thick strap set up that slipped off the top each time. Finally settled on the cam action and it worked great. Strangely I never had to go through this activity for the first 70K miles I drove my other 95 w124 a simple hand tighten and remove worked fine. Unfortunately, the geniuses that worked on my "new 94" (45K) must have tightened the thing with a torque wrench. Well another problem solved and hand tight should work fine in the future.

Stahlwille 3045

Hazet 2169

http://www.samstagsales.com/

I'm continually mystified that folks think they can find stuff for German cars down to Pep Boys.

Another German made choice...

Assenmacher Specialty Tools #2175

Cast alloy w/ 3/8" drive - fits like a glove - about $17

http://www.toolsource.com/assenmache...s-m-27148.html

The newer models have composite oil filter canisters which need to be torqued to 25Nm (or 18.4 lbs ft) -- you may want to check this for your model.

Regards,
paul...

I've always hand tightened mine (CL500) and have never had a problem.

I know several Mercedes techs that do that too.

I found a 75mm 14 flute oil filter cap wrench at O'Reilly auto parts that works perfectly for all 3 of my cars (2000 C230k, 2006 R350, 2006 SLK280). It is plastic, not metal, but fits enough to do the job. It was Pennzoil branded, part #19903 and was $5.99. Probably not as good and the MB part but thought some of you would want to know of this cheaper option. It works better than the 76mm 14 flute that Advance Auto Parts carries.

The part number for the wrench with the 2 set screws is:
MB #103 589 02 09 00.