B Service after only 6,900 miles???

[alis2111]

Hi everyone. Newbie here.

I have a C200 Kompressor, first registered in 2001 (Y). Assyst is indicating a B service due, but it's only been 6,900 miles since the last A service - Jan 2006. Total mileage to date is just over 37k (approx 8k per year) - mostly short runs, but occasional motorway journeys 800 miles each, moderate driving style. Is there anything I can do to avoid having to do a B service just now? Can I just ignore the Assyst message for a while? Should I reset it manually? (car appears to be running fine anyway)

Any thoughts?

PS
Haven't had good experience of MB dealer servicing. Have tried 2 different ones in North London, both poor quality and expensive. Paid £950 last summer for them to 'diagnose' and 'fix' a tiny oil leak which made the engine warning lamp come on - this just after they'd had it in for the A service. Am thinking of dumping MB dealer and using a good local garage, regardless of invalidating MobiloLife thing - we're in the AA anyway.

 

[BlackC55]

It depends on the quality of oil they use too. If its a cheap poor oil it will count down faster as the car is fitted with an oil quality sensor.

Also if its mainly short runs the car does it will also count down faster.

Where was the oil leak from?

 

[BlackC55]

Camshaft actuator?

If it is then you got away lightly. It can be alot more expensive to fix than £950.

 

[jberks]

If it last had a service 18 months ago, then it's due. I believe 18 months is the limit so you've run out of time, not mileage.
I can't honestly see the point of using a dealer for a Y reg. Assuming you have no corrosion, then get yourself a decent local indie.
Do get it serviced though. There are a few things that should be done by now and I personally wouldn't keep oil (even the good stuff) in an engine for more than 18 months.

 

[Blobcat]

I agree with above ^. At 2 yrs brake fluid should also be changed as part of the service. There maybe some other things as well so it is worth having a look at your service manual as it is listed out.

 

[gary350]

The first service on my 350 was at 2200 miles and it was a B service.

gary

 

[alis2111]

Thanks everyone. Will get her serviced by local independent who used to do my VW golf. He can do everything listed in service manual, he just doesn't have the fancy diagnostic equipment the MB dealer has (but IMHO they don't know how to use it anyway! LOL) He's not sure if the Assyst will re-set itself, or if he/we need to do it manually. Do any of you know?

Black - yes it was camshaft actuator.
Jberks - we kept up MBSH to preserve the MobiloLife thing, but reading some posts on this board it seems not to be worth it.

 

[paul c]

Assyst will have to be reset by MB dealer,my c240 does 18myhs between services and still has whats left of 10,000ml left on computer i do about 6,000 a year watch were you take it i have only strayed from MB dealer once and did not have a good result when i had a problem with a ball joint ,had to take it back to MB.

 

[Blobcat]

You can reset the ASSYST the instructions are here

I would however be a little wary about using someone who isn't an MB specialist. There are so many MB specific things on our cars that a general garage can make very expensive mistakes.

 

[BlackC55]

Assyst will have to be reset by MB dealer,my c240 does 18myhs between services and still has whats left of 10,000ml left on computer i do about 6,000 a year watch were you take it i have only strayed from MB dealer once and did not have a good result when i had a problem with a ball joint ,had to take it back to MB.

Its in your handbook how to do it!!

 

[jberks]

I would however be a little wary about using someone who isn't an MB specialist. There are so many MB specific things on our cars that a general garage can make very expensive mistakes.

I tend to agree with this for a couple of reasons. The first one I'm not sure about so perhaps someone could confirm. How does a normal garage know what should be on the service schedule? Is it published in the "Autodata" books or is there some other source. I guess it is available somewhere given EU regs.
Assuming the first is a non issue then I also have a second.
Garages owners are like anyone else. They tend to look after regular customers a little better than someone who walks in off the street that they know they won't see again. I'm a great believer in building up a relationship, ideally before you need to call on it.
I'm fairly comfortable that a small non specialist garage could service a C class, But, if something odd plays up, it will quickly move beyond their experience. All makes and models have their ideosyncracies and some faults are not always obvious. A specialist will probably know the cause of a problem immediately - an generalist - probably not. Many small garages have diagnostic equipment these days but as we've seen many times on this forum, a lot of the error codes are red herrings - A specialist will have followed them and learned from it, a rookie won't and you're paying the bill.
I'm sure if you take an obscure fault to a specialist they'll do their best, but whether they'd be as willing to squeaze you in (they're normally very busy) as an urgent issue if they didn't know you already is another matter. I called mine from the motorway when my E240 suddenly started spluttering. They stayed open until I got there, found me a loan car and had it fixed and back to me within 24 hours. Had I walked in off the street I'd probably have just joined the back of a long queue.