Hey everyone, First Post.

My 2002 C230 Coupe is now out of Warranty and I am going back to old school self maintenance. Service B is due now that I am 47000 miles.

So I am going to change my oil myself. This is what I have compiled from research.
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5.5 qts 0W40 Mobil 1 Full Synthetic.

Get an OEM filter such as Hengst, Mann, or Bosch.
The fleece filters are recommended because of the extended oil change intervals now used with fully synthetic oils ; up to 16k mls

You'll need a METAL tool to take off the oil filter cap and a pump container to suck the oil out of the top suck the oil out through the dip stick tube

locate the oil filter which is on top of the engine on the drivers side front.
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Did I miss anything? Also what about using one of the engine case additives to help maintain the engine?

Dave

 

Dave>>>
I have a complete set of photos I took that covers the oil change procedure if you'd like to see them. They are from my 2005 C230, but I'm guessing it's pretty much the same. I don't use the dipstick suction method. I take the black underbody cover loose and pull the drain plug, but you can do it the other way. Mine takes 5.8 qts. according to the owner's manual, but hey....who's counting~! You can buy the oil filters pretty cheap at www.autopartswarehouse.com and they have fuel filters and K&N's at great prices also. Free shipping over 50 bucks too! I'd skip the Slick 50 or any other additive myself, but that's gonna start an additive war here, and I don't want to get into that. I have fuel filter pics for replacing that as well. You can easily save yourself 200 bucks there over the stealership's prices. You can use a regular big socket to get the cap off the oil filter canister back by the firewall on the driver's side. I think it was 1 1/16 inch socket on a 1/2 breaker bar that I used, but I can check it. Fits in there nicely without buying some specialty tool they say you need. If you do the drain plug method on the oil pan, you'll need a copper crush washer that goes on the drain plug. Hardware store or the stealership. Your choice. Hope this helps.

 

Hey, Thanks for the input, I would like to see the photos if possible.

Now that I am over my warranty, and because I like to, I am doing all of my own maintenace myself and the more help I get the better.
I am already to roll with a pump and oil but I ran into my first snag. On the 2002 C230 it seems the Oil flter canister is at the front by the air filter.
It uses a big tool that looks like a huge socket to twist open. I dont have it so I am going on a hunt to all of the auto stores around.

I just found Ace Hardware has some so I hope one fits.

So I was thinking to skip the oil additive since I do tend to take care of my cars fairly well. I just always feel better knowing there is a little extra protection
going on in the engine. I will save my money this go around.

Let me know the link so I can see how its going.

Dave

 

Ditto.

 

So the oil filter cap, does it unscrew clockwise or counter clockwise? Seems very tight and I dont want to screw it up.

 

OK check my work:

I bought a tool that allowed me to unscrew the Filter cap off but I had to hand tighten it back on. I really sinched it down and think its good to go. Also when replacing the filter (which was a Purlator brand, the only one the store had ) the filter did not center itself so I had to sort of hold it center as best I could as I closed the cap, is this going to be a problem? I found no leaks.

So I put about 5.9 quarts back in the car started it and checked the level via the dipstick. I found the level to be right in the middle of max and min so I feel good about that.

My only worrys are

the filter not being centered ( even though the cap closed all the way and sealed without leaks)
only hand tightening the cap
using a purlator brand filter.

Should I lose sleep?

Dave

 

You don't need to lose sleep as long as your dip stick indicates you have oil between the max/min level.
I'm not sure what you mean by "centering the filter to close the cap." Are you saying the filter did not thread on easily? That's not good. I hope you didn't force anything. Hand tightening your oil filter is sufficient. It is generally recommended to put a light coat of oil on the rubber seal on the oil filter prior to screwing it on. However, like I said, if you have oil in the crankcase, you won't harm anything.
In the future I recommend you buy the fleece filter by Mann.

 

Uhhhhh.....I think you guys are talking about two different types of oil filters here. Dave is referring to the "canister" that HOLDS the oil filter element, as is on my 2005 230K,and tightening the lid or cap to it and Polestar is talking about the "screw-on" canister TYPE filters that can be hand tightened, like a Ford, Chevy, Toyota type filter. Right??? Now I'm confused......

 

Yea wait a second, there was not a threading of any kind on the filter. I triple checked everything and its simply a canister that sits on a little tube that sticks up at the bottom of the filter housing. I am pretty sure its ok since I was thinking it would have been very difficult to close the filter cap if the filter was not centered. I am tempted to unscrew and check again but I dont have another gasket.

I finally figured out how to reset the assyst on my 2002 C230 K. Its all done from the console so it was fairly easy.

So the big question is do I wait for the FSS to tell me when to change my oil or simply expect to do a change at 8000 miles?

 

OK, now everything makes sense. Your oil filter is fine and you did it correctly. My opinion is that since you're doing the maintenance yourself now, you can change the oil and filter as you see fit. Personally, I would change it around 10K, but some would say more and some would say less. Up to you.