I have 2001 ML 320 at 47000 miles,

free maintenance is over and I went maintenance again.
I didn't go to MB service this time becuse they are really expensive,
I went a local european car service.

I always went the MB service when the service light is blink, it's like every 8000 or 10000 miles, but the local service guys said "you should change the oil every 3000 miles"
so which one is right? the guys showed me the dirt on my ML's engine. it was looks dirty. so why the MB guys wants to wait for 9000 miles to change the oil.

Also on the regular free maintenance they never changed the Air filter or oil filter, I was thinking they changing it on proper time but I look at the filters they were really dirty.

so have you guys have a suggestion for all of these? when should I change the oil and the filter.
what else should I change? Fuel filter? spark plugs? when should I change the transmission oil?

I knew there is lots of question but forgive me because I just kind I pissed of when I saw the dirt on the filters and the engine.


so here is what I will going to do.
oil change (Mobile 1 OW-40) every 3000 miles
Oil filter changes every 3000 miles
Air Filter changes every 12000 miles

 

First off .... I'd ask the mechanic why he suggests such short intervals on the oil. Verify that they are giving you "Good" synthetic oil (preferably Mobil1 Synthetic) and not some bargain basement crap oil.

You only need to do oil changes at 3,000 Miles if you are using mineral (dino) oil.


Here's a good article from one of my fellow NASA Engineers on Synthetic vs Dino Oils- (I copied and pasted it here just in case the link disappears)
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PART 1:
Today's topic seems to be motor oil related. I am a NASA Engineer at Marshal Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. My field of work is Tribology which is the study of friction, wear, and lubrication. In our spare time, our group collects and tests different motor oils using the Shell Four Ball tester. This tester tests the extreme pressure properties of oils. These areas in a motor are cam to lifter contacts, valve stem to guild, and piston skirts. Over the years we have found synthetic bases oils to out perform mineral based oils by a large margin. We test the oils new, after 1,000 miles, 2,000 miles, and up to 10,000 miles. In a nut shell, we found that synthetic oils have better wear properties after being run 10,000 miles then mineral grade oils new. Which synthetic do we use? First, any of you will benefit from any synthetic, but we use Mobil 1. Mobil by far puts more research dollars in motor oils then any other company. They are also aggressive in racing.

Other notes on motor oils.

Do not run synthetics in a new rebuild. A new engine needs the added friction allowed by mineral oils to set the rings properly. Chevy found this out on the corvette. These cars came from the factory with Mobil 1 and owners brought them back because of smoking and oil consumption (rings did not seat). Run a good single weight oil for the first 2,000 miles. We found Havaline 30 to be a good mineral oil - in fact we use it for our standard.

The reason Mobil 1 can safely be run for 10,000 miles is because the additive package is well engineered to isolate grime and hold it in suspension. This also is why Mobil 1 is expensive. You know - you get what you pay for.

I know there are a lot of questions on motor oils. You can e-mail me for more information or search the web for more details on synthetics. Your Car deserves the best - run synthetic oils.

Phil Hall

Part 2:

Multi-grade oil breaks down at 1,000 to 2,000 miles. This is for the junk oils found at circle K for a dollar. A good name brand oil will last 3,000 miles without too much break down. This is for mineral grade oils - Synthetic oils meet government viscosity tests for ratings without adding thickeners like polymer chains.

Guys here at work run synthetics in motors that have 140,000 to 170,000 miles on them without any more oil consumption them normal. I believe that you will get a slight increase in consumption in older motors because the synthetic are very slippery and can get by old rings easier. In these cases going to a 15w-50 may help, but this is not a reason not to use synthetics. Older motors need the extra protection. At running temperature a synthetic will maintain its viscosity, where a mineral oil viscosity is drastically reduced.

A test on how well synthetics work at different temperature can be done in your home. Get a quart of your favorite mineral oil and a quart of a synthetic. Put a cup of each oil in a glass or paper cup and stick in the freezer over night. In the morning try and pour the oils out.
Next test:
DO THIS OUTSIDE. On an old camp stove put a ¼ of the synthetic oil in an old frying pan and put it on the stove on the highest heat setting. Cook for 30 minutes. Now cook your dino oil for 30 minutes. At this point you will see why you cooked the synthetic first. As the oil cooks pour some out to see the changes in viscosity between the oils.

Part 3 on oil additive coming soon. I need to get back to NASA work.

Phil Hall

Part 3:

The question of change intervals and synthetic oil has come up. As a side at work we run oil tests using the Shell Four Ball test rig. This tester was developed by Shell oil to test the extreme wear properties of motor oils - cams, piston skirts etc. It consists of three, = inch ***** held in a triangular pattern in a cup with oil heated to 165 degrees. A forth ball is lowered to the center of the three ***** and loaded to 40 KG. The ball is then rotated 600 RPM for one hour. After the test the wear scar is measured on the three stationary *****. The bigger the scar the lower the extreme wear property of the oil is. We use Havoline 30 wt for a base line. We use this oil because engineers from the past liked this oil, so we have a large data base.

Looking at data shows new Havoline 30 wt has a wear scar of .0165 inches. New Mobil 1 has a .0145 inch scar. May not seem like a lot of difference, but it is. Havoline 30 at 3000 miles has a wear scar of .020 inches and Mobil 1 at 4000 miles has a .0164 scar. Remember - bigger is bad. 3000 miles is as long as anyone was willing to run Havoline 30 wt, so its data stops here. Mobil 1 at 6000 miles is .0167, at 8000 miles is .0188, and at 10,000 miles is .0194. So, at 10,000 miles Mobil 1 has better lubrication properties in the critical areas in your motor then a good 30 wt. All mineral oils follow Havoline pretty close - major brands. Some off brands have a .020 wear scar new. Multi-grades generally have a larger wear scar as well. This data was from a 5.0 Ford Mustang. Every motor will be slightly different, but not much.

So, synthetic can handle long run intervals. But, that is part of the story. You have contaminants to deal with. This is where the additive package comes in play. This is the expensive part of oils and the reason synthetics are high priced. Because of the long run intervals of synthetic, they must have a vastly superior additive package - and they do. Proof of this is to take 3,000 mile dino oil and look at it in a glass jar - then do the same for Mobil 1. The Mobil 1 will look new compared to the dino oil. I run Mobil 1 in my new cars to the longest manufactures oil change interval - usually 7000 miles. This will keep the warranty happy. In my Car I change it once a year regardless of mileage. It runs in my roadster about 5,000 miles a year. Most people at work run synthetics and do the same. We have a bunch of cars in the lot that have over 200,000 miles on them and going strong. My wife and I never kept one that long.

I run 10w-30 Mobil 1 in my new Car motors (after break-in). Older motors get 15w-50 because the tolerances are larger. Because synthetics don't thin down like mineral oils do at temperature, I would be careful running 15w-50 in a motor with a high volume oil pump. By doing so you may run into cavitation problems - oil gauge jumping wildly. Drag racers experience this often at high RPM. Drop a wt and it will clear up.

I checked the auto parts stores last night and could not find a zero wt Mobil 1. It was about 2 years ago they were talking introducing this oil, so apparently they have in some markets. I stand corrected.

Testing another "magic" oil additive today. It looks and smells like linseed oil! This should be fun. Additives are another subject all together. Another day, but never tested a good one - none- zip - zero - don't waste your money.

Sorry for being so long. I like synthetics (obviously). If you have been to the conferences, seen all the tests and data, and read the lubrication journals you would run nothing other then synthetics.

Phil
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Thanks for the info, it's good to know these.

I personally buy the oil and they change it. it's Mobile 1 OW-40 it should be the dealers recomendation.

but even if I can drive 6.000 miles per oil change the dealer said 8.000 to 10.000 miles, it's still way off.
I think I'll change the oil every 5.000 miles. and I am not going to wait for the service light.

 

how many quarts does the ml need?
where is the best place to get the filter? any websites?

thanks

 

You need9 quarts of oil from Walmart or Autozone and one OEM filter from dealer or e-bay. Do this every 10,000 miles with Mobil 1 Full synthetic 0W40 European Formula oil and don't worry. I have 150,000 on my '99 ML320 with perfectly running engine anddoing my own maintenance also replacing intake and cabin air filter at the time of oil change.

 

What do you think about oil and other filters made by Fram?
Thanks for your input.

 

Wix is the filter to go with. Go with the XL version!