I visited for the first time yesterday an indie shop near my home regarding the dreaded "check engine" light. No big deal - my wife had apparently not tightened the gas cap fully last fillup. Anyway - he recommended a revised maintenance schedule instead of the standard "A" and "B" schedule for cars that are out of warranty. He characterized the "A" schedule as a "glorified oil change" and way too expensive. He instead suggested an oil change (synthetic)at 7,000 - 7,500 miles and at 15,000 miles a change plugs, bleed brakes, etc. service. At every 30,000 miles, he would do the regular 15,000 mile service plus a transmission service. What do you all think? Does this make more sense than the regular "A" and "B" service? Thanks for you input.

What year and model? How many miles? Yes, the A service is a glorified oil change, but there are a few things that should be done too, depending on your model. For instance, on the W202 C-Class, you should change the cabin dust filter every A service. It's an easy DIY, though.

30,000 miles for a tranny service? Do you have the 722.6? It's intervals are MUCH longer. What engine do you have? 30K for plugs is pretty often, especially for the 112/113 engines. For the M104/102 and such, it should work well. 30K tranny services are right for the four speed auto-boxes.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

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Sorry about missing info. I own a 1999 C 230 K with 53,000 miles. Additionally, I don't mean to imply that those are the only service tasks he would do - those were just examples of service he mentioned - other service would alos be included

Your mechanic has suggested a schedule for a different car. 30K tranny services will get expensive if you drive the car. The feeling on the 722.6 is that the tranny will easily go 50-60K miles between services. You need special MB fluid, and the fluid temp must be 80C to check the level, dipstick not included. Generally runs $250-300.

On your A services, you should change the oil/filter, cabin dust filter, and probably the engine air filter. Do them when the FSS counts down. Change the oil more frequently, most people think 3-5K miles with Mobil 1 about right.

The M111 kompressor engine has frequent plug intervals, check your service manual. That's the MAX they will live.

Why bleed the brakes so often? Are you having problems?

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

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Thanks John for your input and info. I don't have brake problems and, I must admit, I might have misunderstood re the brake bleed - it might have been at 30k miles. Regarding the transmission service, the indie thought that after 60,000 miles, more frequent service was needed, i.e., every 30k. However, what is evident is that I need to get a copy of the service manual. I got the car used last October and had to order a regular manual - I for some reason thought the service guidelines would be included in the regular manual. Again, thanks for your help.

On the C230's with the 111.975 Kompressor engine the service
schedule is updated by MB as follows;

Oil service with mobil-1 (0-40w) every A&B
Dust filter on B only
Brake fluid every 2 years
Rotate tires on every B
Replace spark plugs at 4 yr or 30-45,000km
Coolant change every 3 years
SERVICE BATTERY FLUID LEVEL. EVERY SERVICE! Very important.
Wiper insert at B
Replace fuel filter at 4 yr or 80,000km
Replace air filter at 4 yr or 80,000km

I recommend .6 trans service around 60k mi.
I also recommend a interm oil service between a/b
since the 111 motor does not have an oil quality sensor.
(cheap insurance)

Best of luck.
Dr. Diesel

Bill,

I think your indie sounds very good. It appears he's looking at your car from a long term ownership standpoint. Comparing what you wrote to what's in the manual of my wifes car he's not far off from what is in the manual. As a matter of fact he's recommending a service schedule that's close to what I do for her car.

As far as the tranny goes in my wifes car I change the fluid in it every 15k miles and then do the fluid and filter every 30k miles. Her car doesn't have a drain plug in the converter of which yours does so I tend to do more drains than most.

Good luck and my hats off to your indie, sounds like a good one!!

Your car has the 722.4 four speed transmission, which is very different from Bill's 722.6. The 722.6 has a proprietary MB synthetic fluid that requires less frequent service. MB goes as far as to say that you NEVER have to change it. Most techs agree that it might be prudent to change it, though. The "agreed" interval seems to be about 50-60K-miles. There seems to be no feeling that service intervals should be stepped up as the miles pile on.

That said, there are lots of owners of 1997- 722.6 cars that have never serviced the tranny, racked up serious miles, and never have a problem. There is some thinking that opening the tranny might actually shorten it's life, but I haven't heard that too often. The Zone Service Rep explained to me that one of the main reasons they deleted the dipstick was to keep "Jiffy Lube" morons from "topping up" your precious fully electronic transmission. Makes sense to me. He explained a side benefit being less owner-interference and less chance for contaminants to get inside.

Servicing the tranny every 15-30K miles is probably extreme overkill for the 722.6.

I am surprised at the extended interval for the cabin dust filter as mentioned by Dr. Diesel. I've been changing mine every A service, and the thing is dirty. It's a cheap filter, and easy to replace. I have heard from a few techs that changing the filter extends AC evaporator life. I also understand that a fresh engine air filter can not only extend long term engine life (less junk in the engine) but in the short term extends MAS life. The truth of that I don't know, but again, the filter is cheap and a snap to replace.

I have found my brakes to be lasting about 60-70,000 kilometers (45k-miles) on the front, and a little farther on the back. I just have them replace the fluid whenever pads are replaced and bleed it then. If I'm driving the car less miles, then I stick to the time interval for brake fluid replacement, and have the brakes bled then.

Can you get the warranty history for the car? Most W202's have the final drive seals go out sometime on the first few years of their life. Your car may have fresh final drive oil on board, or it may not. Though it's not listed anywere in the service manual, most folks I know change it every 50-60K-miles.

As to oil/filter intervals, there is MUCH debate about this. I change mine every time the FSS counts down 5000kms (3K-miles). Since I spend some time on the highway,t he FSS usually counts down slower than actual mileage. I end up changing the oil every 7000km's or so (4500 miles) and it seems to be working. The engine (M111 aspro) uses NO oil, and still runs like new) The oil comes out slightly discoloured. I use Mobil 1, as all FSS cars should do.

Since my FSS starts at 15,000km countdown, I change the oil twice between services. Since I do most of my own service work, it's not a great expense.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

I guess I didn't clearly state which car was my wifes, hers is the 00 C230SE which does have the 722.6 tranny and that's the one I was making reference too.

[QUOTE][

Oil service with mobil-1 (0-40w) every

An MB mechanic told me a couple of weeks ago, that Mercedes-Benz has revised their oil specification very recently.
Supposedly they are now calling for Mobil 1, 15W50 oil only.
If anybody could confirm this, it would be much appreciated.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Oops. Sorry.