service indicator/ w211

[pomm001]

I have a question regarding the sevice indicator

I brought my E220 with 62k miles, it was serviced by main agent at 61800 begining of feb 07.
Paging through the display it tels me it will need a D service in just over 4 k miles .
my current milage is 65 k
I checked with a local MB dealer to ask what this service was, it is allegedly quite a major one.
I asked the question why in less than 8 k miles it would need another service
he was very polite and gave a reasonable explanation regarding duty cycle etc could shorten the interval. after explaining i did approx 1000 per month and most journeys approx 40 miles, this was thought not to be the cause.
He did mention that if i topped up the oil it would change the countdown, i did a search on this and it may have credabilty.
But he also mentioned that at its last service the dealer may have incorrectly set the next service ? and could have used the 'wrong software'
I asked if he could check on my car if that had happened, he said no not possible ,the only cure was to have the vehicle serviced early and have it re-set .
What would happen if i changed the oil ?
my guesstimate for the service was £400 but would only know after plugging it into a computor,that doesnt fill me with confidence as it would appear that could be the same computor that gave me an 8 k sevice interval

anyone else had a similar experience ?

 

[Blobcat]

D is a diagnostic service, and as you have found out they don't know how much to charge you until they plug it in. When resetting the ASSYST service computer there are parameters to set for oil used, if it is the correct spec for Mercedes fully synth then it should be ~13K between services, this can ramp out to around 18K. However that is generally on the older version of ASSYST, with ASSYST Plus services come up quite a lot sooner, ~10K. The latest have gone to 15.5K servicing

 

[BlackC55]

D is a diagnostic service, and as you have found out they don't know how much to charge you until they plug it in. When resetting the ASSYST service computer there are parameters to set for oil used, if it is the correct spec for Mercedes fully synth then it should be ~13K between services, this can ramp out to around 18K. However that is generally on the older version of ASSYST, with ASSYST Plus services come up quite a lot sooner, ~10K. The latest have gone to 15.5K servicing

They do not plug it in anymore to work out what service it needs they just use the ESS (electronic service sheet). The input the details of the car such as milage, reg date etc and it comes up with what it needs. The display on the car means bu66er all anymore to a mdealer. It is silly I must admit but this is a directive from MB to do this.

 

[Blobcat]

They do not plug it in anymore to work out what service it needs they just use the ESS (electronic service sheet). The input the details of the car such as milage, reg date etc and it comes up with what it needs. The display on the car means bu66er all anymore to a mdealer. It is silly I must admit but this is a directive from MB to do this.

My dealer said the same as the A-H was getting a little ridiculous, any idea why pomm001 is getting so few miles to next service other than oil setting?

 

[BlackC55]

Cr4p oil?

Ragging the balls of it when cold?

Cold climate? (unlikely)

Ragging the balls of it?

 

[Rory]

They do not plug it in anymore to work out what service it needs they just use the ESS (electronic service sheet). The input the details of the car such as milage, reg date etc and it comes up with what it needs. The display on the car means bu66er all anymore to a mdealer. It is silly I must admit but this is a directive from MB to do this.

That's interesting, and that process would make it less critical to stick to the ASSYST demands for service.

I don't know if it's legitimate on all models, but I have a 54 reg W203 which only does low miles so generally goes 18mths between services. I had a letter off my dealer suggesting that I could switch to the annual or 15,500 mile (whichever comes first) service intervals. Get stuffed, I thought, but maybe that would suit the pomm001?