it's been a while since i've had the floor jack so the curb thang could have been more for access. prior to that (for 20 yr) i had a 4wd pick up and never bothered to jack it up so yeah, the curb thing...now that i pause and type slower, was likely for ease of access that one/first time after i got the E320.....then, for the past 2.5 yrs, it was using the floor jack.

 

Hi Lugnut.

I sensed I would hear from you on this.

I bow to your local knowledge regarding siphoning practice in USA. However you agree with the sentiment I was trying to express. Drain thru sump.

MB Class suit. I should like to learn more about this since I have never looked into the detail. However my understanding is that it was all about use of "incorrect" oil underpinned by local "custom and practise" of non MB dealerships changing oil, unlike practise in Europe. If not how come the extended mileage change points work in Europe with high speed use when you imply that they don't in USA.

YOUR head says change at 5000 miles, mine says (purely as an example and not a recommendation) 10000 miles, so usin your head doesn't work.....and I wasn't dropped on my head or anything for that matter.

MB, and other manufacturers (including the oil industry) test vehicles and cars over millions of miles during prelaunch test and also in service. If they make a recommendation I would suggest that it isn't far from being the optimum but this is why I asked about your precis of the Class action. After all MB and the oil industry would love to sell for more oil if it were appropriate to do so. Which bring me back to the Cost and "Greenness" of changing oil with unnecessary frequency.

Stuart

 

The class-action lawsuit charged M-B with directing customers to change their oil at 10K mile intervals, without telling them to use synthetic oil. Their research and testing was good, but their actual recommendation was bad because it was incomplete. Here's where your head should come into play. Unfortunately, unsuspecting and uneducated customers used dino oil which caused sludge and engine damage to enough customer's cars to justify a class-action lawsuit, which M-B lost. You can search the Web for info. That's what I did when I first heard about it.

Since I haven't told you what's in my head, how can you comment on whether or not what's in it will work or not? And even if my head said 5K miles, explain to us why that "doesn't work." What "doesn't work" about an oil change at 5K miles?

Already commented on this. See above.

 

Lugnut,

Thank you for your answer. I asked a civil question and you still come across as hostile. maybe I'm just too sensitive.

Your answer confirms my understanding re the MB Oil Change Class action. MB did not take into account different oil change practices which exist in USA (and possibly orther parts of the world).

MB recommended oil change points which are OK when combined with the CORRECT oil and FILTER specification, The handbook and service literature specify what this is, however many customers and non MB garages (maybe even MB dealerships) in your territory chose for whatever reason not to follow the oil requirements and used local Custom and Practice namely normal regular use mineral oil. MB lost because as you correctly state a considerable number of people fell into the same trap because of the "strength" of local custom and practice.

My comment re our different views on the appropriate mileage to change oil was used to illustrate that different peoples "heads" come up with different answers, whether that figure is 5, 10 or 15,000 miles and this is the reason why I stateted that this approach does not work. We both have some knowledge on this subject so I wonder what figure John Doe comes up with.

Since different individuals have different ideas on what is appropriate the recommendation made by the manufacturer is as good as it comes since compliance will at least mean that warranty should be honoured.

I would suggest that oil duty cycle is at its most demanding in Germany where many high performance cars are driven at VERY high speeds regularly.

As I have stated previously, if you had to pay circa £100+ for an oil change, your views might change somewhat.

Change the oil as frequently as you wish, but please don't put forward the view that this is a requirement. Many European vehicles are now using 12000 - 15000 mile change intervals without the use of Fully synthetic oil. e.g. FORD.

Stuart.

 

Hostile? You need to get a life, dude. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

In this case the manufacturer's recommendation was wrong because it was incomplete. If it had been complete and thererfore correct, they wouldn't have lost the class-action.

 

Hi Lugnut,

Incomplete!

Are you a lawer by any chance?

I'm not and the fact some talented lawyer can Win when Customers don't follow the manufacturers recommendation is in my view a sad reflection of the world we live in.

OK MB didn't state in the handbook that should the oil change requirements and specification NOT be followed then customers could wreck their engines.....and you are suggesting that owners should use their "heads".

Seems to me we will never agree. Enough said.

Stuart

 

Gawd, you're obnoxious. Let it go. M-B lost in court with some of the best lawyers in the world on their side arguing their case. I'm stating that fact. I'm not trying to get you to agree with me. Again, I'm stating a fact. It's a fact, not an argument. Drivelling on and on and on about it doesn't change the fact that M-B lost the class-action.

 

Thanks guys for the advice, I changed the oil recently using mobile 1 0-40w and the car seems to run better, (i dont know if thats just in my head) but thanks again for your guys help.

 

I have used amsoil synthetic oil on all my Mercedes for the last 25 years and usually go line and search for an oil filter . Mann is usually what I end up with .
You can go to Google . Type in Mercedes Benz - Oil Filters and go from there ........ Never had a problem

 

Mr. Lugnut

What time of oil grade would you reccommend for a 1994 e320. I live in fairly hot conditions (texas). Thanks in advance.

j-mang