So what do you do or look at on these?

I would think air filters, oil changes. I have seen the thread for the air filters. I am probably going to do the oil changes, but what about tune up? Shocks? Full synthetic for how many miles? Fuel filter? The transmission seems better done by someone with the right machine like mb, but what about drain and fill? Anything of note for the power steering? Brake lines? Antifreeze? Brakes?

What I am asking is what do you do and how much for what?

 

The maintenance schedule is pretty much the same as other cars.

I need to get the brake fluid and coolant done. It is overdue. Sadly, I have always slacked on those.

I only use Mercedes specified / branded fluids. The Europeans are notorious for engineering their vehicles to operate on very specific fluid specs.

For example, I only use Mobil 1 oil, as specified on the label under the hood. Don't get wrong, I am not saying that other fluids aren't OK, this is just my preference. That said, I also have a 100k mile trouble free 2006.... Hmmmm

So far the transmission service is the only one I haven't done myself. In order to properly fill the seven speed, you need a special pump and fitting. I had my local dealer do it, it was 475 if I recall. Not bad, and they went over the whole car as part of the service. Did not try and sell me a bunch of stuff, just told me what to watch.

I am going to price them doing a brake fluid change. I just don't want to do that one myself. To hard by myself and to easy to make a mistake and get air in the system. Speaking of brakes, I will definitely get Mercedes OEM parts for those when the time comes. The original owner had Mercedes replace all four brakes at the dealer at around 45k and they have yet to be replaced. Absolutely amazing.

The front and rear diffs are going to be done this fall. I will do those myself. They are fairly straight forward. Again, I will pick up the fluid from the Mercedes dealer for that. Same with the coolant when I do that. The coolant change I will do myself as well.

The front shocks are pricey. Some places call them struts but they aren't. They are a coil over setup. There is a top plate, but it does not act as a suspension pivot point. That is taken care of by normal upper and lower control arms. So, if you can do a strut change, you can do the front shocks yourself. Bilstein is the OEM shock provider. Also, this only applies if you don't have Airmatic. Airmatic is four wheel air suspension and was optional (std on the V8). The standard suspension is conventional up front, and self leveling air in the rear.

The rear shocks are super easy. Pull the interior plastic by the wheel wells. The top bolts are there, and the bottom bolts are on the lower arm. Took me longer to remove the plastic trim than it did to actually change the shocks. I did those when I converted ours to coil springs. The rear shocks are not all that expensive either. Maybe $100 each I think I paid... for Bilsteins.

The fuel filter is in the tank, I haven't looked into if that is a service item or not.....

Hope that helps...

 

The maintenance schedule is pretty much the same as other cars.

I have downloaded the book on the schedule, do go by mileage or when the car tells you?

I need to get the brake fluid and coolant done. It is overdue. Sadly, I have always slacked on those.

Do you do just drain and fill? Or do you have a means of flushing?

I only use Mercedes specified / branded fluids. The Europeans are notorious for engineering their vehicles to operate on very specific fluid specs.

This is why I was asking about Diy'ers to see who sticks to mb specs.

For example, I only use Mobil 1 oil, as specified on the label under the hood. Don't get wrong, I am not saying that other fluids aren't OK, this is just my preference. That said, I also have a 100k mile trouble free 2006.... Hmmmm

So far the transmission service is the only one I haven't done myself. In order to properly fill the seven speed, you need a special pump and fitting. I had my local dealer do it, it was 475 if I recall. Not bad, and they went over the whole car as part of the service. Did not try and sell me a bunch of stuff, just told me what to watch.

I am assuming not an indy? is it every 60k?

I am going to price them doing a brake fluid change. I just don't want to do that one myself. To hard by myself and to easy to make a mistake and get air in the system. Speaking of brakes, I will definitely get Mercedes OEM parts for those when the time comes. The original owner had Mercedes replace all four brakes at the dealer at around 45k and they have yet to be replaced. Absolutely amazing.

I have had to make 3 trips to my moms at about 100 miles each, but our rims are constantly covered in brake dust. I am not sure what kind are on this now, but considering it was taken to a mb dealership for everything I am assuming they are mb. I was thinking ceramic for replacements.

The front and rear diffs are going to be done this fall. I will do those myself. They are fairly straight forward. Again, I will pick up the fluid from the Mercedes dealer for that. Same with the coolant when I do that. The coolant change I will do myself as well.

Do you know of a write up on those?

The front shocks are pricey. Some places call them struts but they aren't. They are a coil over setup. There is a top plate, but it does not act as a suspension pivot point. That is taken care of by normal upper and lower control arms. So, if you can do a strut change, you can do the front shocks yourself. Bilstein is the OEM shock provider. Also, this only applies if you don't have Airmatic. Airmatic is four wheel air suspension and was optional (std on the V8). The standard suspension is conventional up front, and self leveling air in the rear.

I believe we have standard. I assume airmatic is with the button to change from sport to comfort? Although when my wife was talking about the r350 to someone at work they were listing all the problems their daughter had with theirs. Panoramic roof leak, airmatic needing to be replaced and expensive, engine troubles and oil changes not being able to be done except at mb. This was all on a r500 in Brooklyn NY and it was a 2006 (Jos I know you have had better luck but 2006 and 2007 seem to have more issues). I explained to my wife that our r350 had none of those issues because its 2008, v6, std moon roof, std susp. I wasn't 100% sure on the oil change for the v8 but already knew I could do the v6. We are also not banging crater sized pot holes like they have in NY. This is not to say we wont have our own sets of issues.

The rear shocks are super easy. Pull the interior plastic by the wheel wells. The top bolts are there, and the bottom bolts are on the lower arm. Took me longer to remove the plastic trim than it did to actually change the shocks. I did those when I converted ours to coil springs. The rear shocks are not all that expensive either. Maybe $100 each I think I paid... for Bilsteins.

So the $100 each was for the conversion? or replacing after? I know we can hear the air adjustments when idle or after shutting down. I hope to do a full inspection of as mush as I can (when its not 102 degrees). My concern is that I am driving what I consider one of the best cars I have every driven. It feels great and I monitor sounds, vibrations and anomalies the best I can but I am picking up from 100k. There could be slight issues that I will hold to be normal, but should be corrected. I am searching for an indy I can trust and rely on for insight into what I can't or don't know. The dealership will point to every part on the car and be able to explain why its not to factory specs.


The fuel filter is in the tank, I haven't looked into if that is a service item or not.....

I wasn't sure about the fuel filter, some vehicles require or need them done often. If it was accessible I may have just done it. I thank you for your insight and time. I hope to continue to build this forum and thread. I may also try and document my travels via pic or video.

Hope that helps...

 

OK, I hope I hit on all your questions.... this quoting thing was going to get huge...... LOL

Yup.... Mercedes OEM brakes dust like crazy.... seems like they always have...
Beware of changing brake pad material... you may not like the feel of what results. I personally live with cleaning wheels as a minor trade off to exceptional brake performance. The debate goes on and on about one pad to another... my basic point is I have not been impressed with ceramics, and based on the dusting, neither has Mercedes.

I went to the best reviewed indy in my area and was not impressed with them. I then went to Mercedes of Akron and actually got to meet the service manager. Really nice guy and totally respects that I service my own cars. When we had the A/C compressor blow up on us (me and the kids) we ended up at Mercedes of Winston Salem. They too were great. They went out of their way to make sure that not only was the car taken care of, but that we were as well. Another interesting side note....when I called the Mercedes Roadside Assistance number, they totally covered the the 45 mile tow on a flatbed crew cab truck. Remember, we are the second owners and bought it with 72k on it. Was told by the rep on the phone that we would be taken care of because we used Mercedes for service.... hmmm.

I actually maintain ours on a "severe duty" style schedule. Since it does less than 10k a year, and that consists of frequent very short local trips. I do the oil service in the spring and fall... so at about 5k. The transmission is on a 40k interval. It was done the first time by the original owner at 36k, we did it at 74K, next one is due at 114k (next year I guess).

So, I would check around with your local dealer first. I would even stop in and ask for a service history. At that time talk with the service department and see how they seem. You may prefer them to an indy.

The rear shocks were right around 100 each when I purchased them. I used Autoanything.com when I bought mine. The great thing is they will price match even vague sites if you use their chat system when buying. Just point them to the site with the best price and they will match it. This is the price for parts. I installed them myself.

Let me know if you have further questions...

 

for what its worth MB has a great approved fluid site. just enter the MB approval number as per your manual and it lists many approved alternatives.


http://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevoli...52&suchbegriff=




if you are going to do lots of your own maintenance may I suggest a subscription to
http://www.alldatadiy.com/


and I agree with the advice given so far.. I just changed a rear shock with a bilstein and got if for $120 at RMEuropean. I am sure it could have been found cheaper...but their site seems to be easy to use.


Ditto on the disks and pads. I replace my rears with MB OEM because the originals lasted over 100KMiles... my fronts are now over 60K miles with no sign of needing changing.. yes dirty but my experience with ceramics and aftermarket pads on my c240 has been less than... perfect.


It is very easy to flush brake fluid. I have tried different methods, I even have a hand vacuum pump but I always return to my tried and true...open up one end just a bit, pump hard down on the brake pedal, then release slowly.. make sure your reservoir is full.. If I have kids around to help I will get them to pump and close the bleed screw for the pedal release... Of course you have a clear hose attached to the bleed screw so that you can see and not get air back in. I do this every 2 years and use MB fluid. I guess I could get another DOT4 plus rated fluid. maybe next time.


I do oil changes on the diesel at the timed intervals of 10K miles., ends up about twice a year.