I have a 2004 C230 Coupe, that just had the Service 'B', and I was wondering how often should I change the oil. I have spoke to many people, who each gave me different answers. Including every 5,000 miles, every 10,000, and someone else told me every 20,000 miles, which seems like a long time. Also should I go to a dealership or just a jiffy lube. Thanks for your time.

 

i use synthetic on my 95 C220, usually go about 5-6k

 

This has got to be the most disagreed upon topic among vehicle owners in the history of mankind.
If dinosaurs had engine oil in them, the cavemen (if still alive) would be arguing over this one.
But, wait a minute.....man wasn't around with the dinosaurs, was he? Oh well, forget that analogy.

Having said that, and having an opinion on just about everything, let me give you my take on it.
Years ago.....MANY years ago, the average Joe used to say...."Change oil and filter every 3,000 miles".
It was practically universally agreed upon that the 3K mile mark was it. But.....wait a minute.......
Times have changed and so have engine oils. Now we have synthetic oil and superior filters, etc. And we have
computers in our cars to tell us when to have them serviced. And we have manufacturers recommended intervals
and a million other things to "help" us decide when to change the oil and filter.

But.....old habits die hard. In my own Mercedes, I change the oil myself now that it's out of warranty and has
over 100K miles on it. I buy Mobil 1 synthetic and Hengst filters and change it about every.......uhhhhh......you're
waiting to hear the mileage figure, aren't you!!!!!!!!! HA!!!!!!!!!!......not gonna tell you now. Actually, this is how I do it.

I wait until the planets are aligned so that the axis of Jupiter is convergent with the moon.
Then, I face the car EAST and look for a signal from above. It can be a shooting star or whatever.
If I get a signal, I change the oil the next day. If not, I wait another thousand miles. Believe me, this works.
I have 114,000 miles on the car and it runs perfectly. So that proves it, doesn't it? No? Awww, gee.
And I was SURE that theory worked.

Seriously though, I would think somewhere between 5,000 and 7,500 would certainly be OK.
Go to the cheapest place that uses the oil and filter you want.
Saving money=good. Wasting money=bad.

 

Mobil 1, every 25K, filter & about 1 qt of oil every 5 K; 230K miles on both my & my wifes this cars, 330K on last car when sold. If you don't believe it works do oil analysis every 5K to prove to your self it does, perhaps even out to 50K... nrk

 

See, I told you.