New car first engine oil change at 13,000 miles?

[shaunx]

Hello everyone,
I have purchased a new C300 4matic a month ago and it just reached 3400 miles. The service manual said my first service is due at 13,000 miles, which include oil change, I called in the dealer today and they confirmed about it. I am wondering if the mileage is too high for the first oil change, I thought oil change needs to be done more frequently for new cars. Is it the same for all Mercedes cars? Thanks for your time.

 

[television]

This is the way things are now,, there is nothing stopping you from have it changed if you wish to

 

[carabind]

modern oils and closer tolerances mean the old 1000-500 mile oil change is redundant. My first service wasn't done till 13500 and 25k miles on, certainly hasn't done it any harm

 

[Juddian]

Fantastic stuff this modern oil, where do they get it from, and what has happened to the old stuff that used to come out of the ground, does modern oil not break down or become contaminated with combustion by products.

It'll be a cold day in hell before any vehicle i ever own would travel those sorts of mileages before changing.

First oil change on my hilux (i won't ever be buying a new merc, but it illustrates) i did at 2200 miles and surprisingly the engine was noticeably quieter, exactly like every single oil change i have ever completed.

Dare say i'm wasting my money, but it cost me about £25 for toyota oil and filter (the oil was on offer it should have cost about £32), to me thats small fry and if the vehicle does as well as i hope, it may stay with me for its lifespan, and thats what i'm effectively insuring for.

My lovely 124 coupe gets done about every 2 to 3 thousand, and always will too.

I wonder when we'll see some back peddling on these high mileage oil changes, same as the sealed for life auto transmissions that arn't any more.

 

[st13phil]

It'll be a cold day in hell before any vehicle i ever own would travel those sorts of mileages before changing.

Thank you for doing your bit to waste a finite resource

I wonder when we'll see some back peddling on these high mileage oil changes.

There won't be. And where have you been for the last 15-20 years? The GM "family" engines went to a 9k oilchange interval back in the early 1990's and there are literally thousands of them still happily running around with 180k and more miles on them having done nothing but followed the manufacturer's oil change regime. Why on earth do you want to ignore it?

With modern engines and lubricants unless you drive very low annual mileage when the oil should be changed on a time interval, or exclusively drive only very short distances so that condensation is a problem, then you're not only wasting your money but also ensuring that all of us will have to stop driving that bit sooner because the oil will have run out.

 

[Aussie Nick]

Now Judian , why wont you trust Merc when they say sealed for life?

 

[Rory]

My first oil change in my C270CDi was at 18,000 miles - and it only happened then as I chickened out and took it in; it would have gone to almost 20K. I don't have much choice, unless I pay for it myself, as the car is on an MB service contract.

In the US, oil analysis is very common, and you can change the oil too early which prevents the engine from bedding in properly.

There was a poster on here with a Mercedes Sprinter van (diesel) who had the oil analysed at 23000 miles and the report indicated it would have been fine for some further running.

 

[Aussie Nick]

I am one for frequent oil changes too but I think one can now relax the interval to at least 8 to 10 thousand k's with the modern quality oils. And yes there is both a limitation of supply problem coupled with the environmental damage. There is no point looking after an engine you cant use cos there aint no oil nor oxygen.

 

[Juddian]

Thats the wonderful thing about t'internet Nick, if we didn't have these forums no one would have knowledge of frequency of gearbox or any other failures, and we'd be believing the current thinking at the dealers.

And in my own case, before i'm flayed before the baying crowd the hilux had its first change at 2200 miles, subsequent will be at 4500 miles, in other words one in between the recommended.
Similar to you then Nick, as 8 thousand kilometres would be 5 thousand miles.

Strange thing there by the way, in Oz they recommend 9 k (kilometers) for the hl in GB the recommendation is 9 k miles. Though most of the Aussie lads do theirs at 5 k kilometres anyway.

On the subject of finite resources, i'll wear my hair shirt and cycle to work when the merc owners get rid and buy A band cars.

Regards.

 

[Aussie Nick]

There is a discrepancy in the designated service intervals in different countries. It looks to me that it has something to do with the fuels in OZ. I cant put it down to anything else. I know the hiluxs (plural) knock up some incredible mileage. in fact most of the 4WDs do anyway, including the Triton (MItsubishi) which is way underated as a serious vehicle.

 

[st4]

The comment about sealed for life autoboxes was interesting.

To clarify MB UK has backtracked from sealed for life to a change of ATF every 40k miles (I was told this by MB of Glasgow operated by Stratstone).

BMW have sealed for life autoboxes and I know this has created numerous failures with the 323i and X5 models. Apparenty the 323i and X5 3 litre auto's use a GM gearbox and GM don't do a sealed for life policy (on that gearbox) in the US.

Regular changes (sub 50k mikes) increase smoothness, cleanliness of the gearbox and longevity. There is a school of thought that say if it hasn't been changed by 90k miles, then don't as all the muck etc is what keeps the box together.

 

[horgantrevor]

i callled to a friends garage not to long ago and he said have a look at this van , mercedes by the way was in for its first oil change it had done 72 thousand miles my friend tought the owner was mad for lettting it go that long but when the oil change was done he said it was dirty and well used but as he could see the engine was ok for it .

i would not do it my self as i change my oil three times a year and gear box oil once a year she is a fourteen year old car driving as good as the first day i got it .

 

[Rory]

The comment about sealed for life autoboxes was interesting.

To clarify MB UK has backtracked from sealed for life to a change of ATF every 40k miles (I was told this by MB of Glasgow operated by Stratstone).

Not on all vehicles - my late 04 C270CDi wasn't within the affected range. It started several thousand VIN numbers after mine so the dealer wouldn't change it (under the service contract).

MB policy is that it's a one-off change anyway, actually at 37,500 miles (60,000Kms) or 4 years.

 

[st4]

Not on all vehicles - my late 04 C270CDi wasn't within the affected range. It started several thousand VIN numbers after mine so the dealer wouldn't change it (under the service contract).

MB policy is that it's a one-off change anyway, actually at 37,500 miles (60,000Kms) or 4 years.

Oh Cr*p it will be due pretty soon. I did actual hear it was a one off, but I will have changed every 37,500 miles to be safe.