C270 CDI Oil

[shiny]

Hi,

I have just brought a 2005 (54) C270 CDI Estate. Just wondered for it's next service which is the best engine oil to use. It currently has Shell Helix Plus 10W/40 in it. The car has been serviced 3 times (most recently last week A service) in its life and has covered 39K miles. Brought the car from County Mercedes in Cheltenham. I did notice the oil was quite black even though the service was done recently - is this normal for this type of engine to turn the oil black so quickly?

Also, is there anything specific to look out for having brought this type of car whilst I have a year's warranty. It all seems to run fine and everything appears to function okay.

Many thanks.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Hi,

I have just brought a 2005 (54) C270 CDI Estate. Just wondered for it's next service which is the best engine oil to use. It currently has Shell Helix Plus 10W/40 in it. The car has been serviced 3 times (most recently last week A service) in its life and has covered 39K miles. Brought the car from County Mercedes in Cheltenham. I did notice the oil was quite black even though the service was done recently - is this normal for this type of engine to turn the oil black so quickly?

Also, is there anything specific to look out for having brought this type of car whilst I have a year's warranty. It all seems to run fine and everything appears to function okay.

Many thanks.

Hello, and welcome to the forum. Good choice of car and nice provenance, with modest mileage. I am sure others will offer views. The oil in diesel engines does look black, even soon after an oil change and I would not expect any systematic faults or errors in a car of that age and mileage which has just been serviced by a dealer (and therefore had all updates done in the process).

It is worth checking the dashboard display to see how many miles to the next service. For a synthetic oil ASSYST should have been set to more than 10,000 miles - but the setting for semi-synthetic is 10,000 miles. I would guess that the former should be true in your case - it will be reassuring for you to check that though. Service interval should be 15,500 or 2 yearly, whichever is first. If you do mainly motorway driving, that can rise to rather more miles, but the 2 year periodical deadline would remain.

Any pictures of your new chariot? First impressions? Comparison with previous car?

 

[Rory]

I've got the same car, although mines Oct 04. It's done 40K and has only been serviced twice! Oil in most diesel cars goes black instantly.

Use an MB 229.5 oil - Shell Helix is fine, or, for their own use or to supply to dealers to be used with servicing, many people buy Mobil 1 from Costco as it's a reasonable price there - £23.50 for 4 litres. Car takes 6.5L at an oil change.

Haven't looked for issues and not away of any generic ones. Watch for tyre wear - edges at the front and centres at the rear.

 

[shiny]

Many thanks for this info gentlemen. I am very pleased with the car, it's my first Mercedes after a number of different cars, most recently a Volvo S60 D5 SE. I really like the torque the car produces and the midrange is awesome. I needed the estate for family purposes and I am glad I went for this car over a V70.

Even though it was a recent A service they changed the ATF, which I thought was decent of them. All in all pleased with the car and County Mercedes.

 

[Rory]

Even though it was a recent A service they changed the ATF, which I thought was decent of them.

ATF change is a one-off at 4yrs or 37500 miles so they were right to do it.

A & B services are actually pretty similar and are basically little more than oil changes and some checks. B service also changes the pollen filter and the checks are a bit more in depth. Then additional work is done depending on age and or mileage.

MB have just put a version of Electronic Service Sheet system on a line here: http://lite.servicemercedes.co.uk/ - on the version the dealers have, they put your VIN and mileage in and it tells them what needs to be done. It will also show any recall or service advisory work that needs to be done.

 

[st4]

ATF change is a one-off at 4yrs or 37500 miles so they were right to do it.

By one off MB are assuming that by 75k the car will be older than 3yrs, out of warranty and probably out the dealer network (retail and servicing).

Like any auto box it should be done regularly, every 37,500 miles seems a bit overkill but 50k intervals at the least. Its not dear and worth it.

 

[Rory]

By one off MB are assuming that by 75k the car will be older than 3yrs, out of warranty and probably out the dealer network (retail and servicing).

It is a bit puzzling - I can't think why they wouldn't leave it in the schedule as a regular item if they thought it necessary - what would be the downside to MB?

 

[st4]

It is a bit puzzling - I can't think why they wouldn't leave it in the schedule as a regular item if they thought it necessary - what would be the downside to MB?

Don't trust what a manufacturer says too much.

An example outwith MB is BMW on autoboxes and a box they used in the E46', E39s, E53's. It was made by GM and in GM cars they spec'd 50k tranny oil changes. BMW said sealed for life. Who was right. It wasn't BMW as they had numerous failures as a result of this and GM cars were fine. BMW really meant the oil was meant for total life which they deemed 100k miles (when in actual fact a BMW can do much more) but 100k miles will see the car depreciate/old enough for it to be out of goodwill/dealer network etc.

Back to the 37.5k one off change. Why one off, or why not. Is different oil used when the car is manufacturer and @ 37.5k MB use a different oil. I doubt it, I bet its the same spec of ATF used from new and after the change. Therefore how come the ATF after the 1st 37.5k miles is deemed to be in need of change, but after the next tranche of 37.5k miles its still good for another 200k miles.

Gearbox oil changes need done just like engine oil changes. A cars engine oil is changed say 15k mile intervals, not once @ 15k then nothing until its dead @ 500k miles. The same logic applies to transmissions and MB are wrong and deep down they'll know it.

They'll probably print this to make the car cheaper to maintain but the cynic tells me they didn't stick w/ sealed for life as it caused too many failures at relatively low milliages (under 100k).

This one off change buys them another 37.5k miles before a possible failure due to lack of ATF meaning cars fail sooner (but not too soon to damage the marques name) meaning people have to stump up for a new box or a new car. It also means that on these fixed service + contracts they used to have the car only had 1 ATF change, not several.

 

[Rory]

Back to the 37.5k one off change. Why one off, or why not. Is different oil used when the car is manufacturer and @ 37.5k MB use a different oil. I doubt it, I bet its the same spec of ATF used from new and after the change. Therefore how come the ATF after the 1st 37.5k miles is deemed to be in need of change, but after the next tranche of 37.5k miles its still good for another 200k miles.

The change is mandated at 60,000Km, which is where the 37,500 miles comes from, but of course that's handily beyond 36K miles, and making it 4 yrs means 3yr/36K miles service costs don't include an ATF change - quite crafty.

I assumed the one-off change was to get rid of early life wear particles etc which probably decrease over time.

I still don't get why MB wouldn't say it needed changing regularly - it's no skin off their nose and by the time the car is due for its second change it's probably well off their radar. By the same token, why do they bother to even mention the 15 year coolant change interval?

Maybe it's just an embarrassment thing by MB - they don't want to go from sealed-for-life to routine changes in one fell swoop!

 

[st4]

r. By the same token, why do they bother to even mention the 15 year coolant change interval?

Maybe it's just an embarrassment thing by MB - they don't want to go from sealed-for-life to routine changes in one fell swoop!

They mention the 15yr coolant change to make you think you have a car that will have a life comfortably in excess of 15yrs.

You've nailed the ATF thing though. I will continue to change mine if I still have the car @ 75k miles.