HOWTO: Reset service indicator with 229.5 oil to get increased service intervals W203

[Jasper Blue]

Chaps - I have finally worked out how to input the 229.5 oil grade into ASSYST and thereby hugely increase the interval displayed until the next service from 10000 to 17000 miles on my 2006 C230. :bannana:

1. Put key in ignition and turn to position 1;
2. Press Reset button 3 times in quick succession (knob to left of dash you use to reset normal trip counters etc);
3. Turn key to position 2;
4. Press down arrow key on steering wheel once to display the service indicator.
5. Press reset button once to display the Oil Grade menu.
6. Scroll to highlight standard, 229.3 or 229.5 as required (using +/- key as shown on menu);
7. Press up arrow to confirm selection;
8. You then get a prompt to press reset button for 3 seconds which you obviously do;
9. 'Service Confirmed' then displayed and new service interval will now be displayed in the normal menu.

 

[Smatt]

That's very useful, thanks.

Was this found by trial & error??
Do you know if this will apply to a pre-facelift 203?

 

[Rory]

Note, in case it's not clear, that it does reset the mileage though - it doesn't just extend the interval mid-service.

Also, you may find the service required will flip from A to B when you reset.

I played around with this menu on my facelift C270CDi, and in practice it made no difference which oil type I selected - it always reset to 13,000 miles. Whether the mileage would have still extended out during use with other than 229.5 selected, I don't know. As my car is on ServicePlus I was tempted to try is on Standard just to see, but on balance I'd rather the dealer left the car alone.

 

[miro]

Yes the oil lasts longer but the filter falls apart and destroys the engine.

http://www.startekinfo.com/StarTek/

>> MB WORKSHOP RESOURCES

>>>> RESET SERVICE INDICATOR

 

[Satch]

Be aware that what you are doing is not simply changing the oil spec. but resetting the service indicator in the process.

So if you do this soon-ish after after a service no harm, but do it between services and you will jump both the miles and days before next service up to the default. Will tend track back down again if the oil condition is poor but all the time conditional parameters will be out of kilter and that will have an effect.

 

[Jasper Blue]

Smatt - I found the process for the E-Class on the internet and adapted it to my 203 by trial and error. Hope it works for yours but I've a feeling it may not and no way of checking.

Miro - I've been asking on the forum how to do this for ages and when I finally work it out, you post a link to the official M-B site within an hour!

When you say the filter falls apart and destroys the engine what exactly do you mean?

 

[Rory]

Miro - I've been asking on the forum how to do this for ages

You've only been a member for a month! I explained roughly the procedure to you previously.

 

[springer]

Caution

When you require to extend your oil service you should use the higher grade of oil as explained earlier and in other threads but you should also use an upgrade fleece oil filter as per MB spec

Part no A0001802609 @£11.95 +vat

compared to the standard unit A2711800009 @£8.35 +vat..

In my general experience with the dealers they' ll use mb spec 229.5 but use the standard filter and keep the service to 10000miles? . So they keep the revenue coming back.

I have checked through all of my invoices where I have supplies Mobil 1 and it follows the above but in the last service on the computer generatered service sheet it says "oil type 229.3 system derived" which I will query when I in the dealers next.

 

[BlackC55]

This is only for facelifted 203's too.

 

[Jasper Blue]

Rory - fair point - maybe 'ages' was stretching it a bit but I was comparing it to the single hour it took Miro to post the link once I'd found out and made my original post.

The method you suggested a few weeks back (ages ago!) was to reset the service indicator; you said the oil menu then appeared. As my initial post shows, it's a fair bit more complicated than that.

I do confess to having a bee in my bonnet about this issue. MB charge a huge amount for servicing, and in my experience (4 years) offer relatively poor customer service. If our cars were designed to be serviced roughly every 17000m instead of 10000m then we are being taken for a ride if the dealers are only resetting the interval to the lower figure.

Springer - thanks for the info about the filter. Yet another thing I'll have to check up on with the dealer which they should be doing as a matter of course.

 

[springer]

Update assyst

Jasper blue ,

I have looked at a years sevice to compare again and the service sheet clearly lists it as a 229.3 derived service but looking at the service display it is currently set to standard oil?

.It seems that either all the dealers are incompetent or they have been instructed to leave the the schedule service to 10000miles.

I will be calling in to the dealers soon and will point this out.

Another concern is I have been supplying my own oil (mobil 1) and they haven't queried the oil filter, which although more expensive ( cleans the oil better due to design) and the could be changing cars to the 229.5 spec extending the oil service greater than the life of a standard filter, As some else mention in another thread ( is maybe why the oil filter is collasping?

 

[corned]

Sorry for posting twice (the other is on the "Assyst variable servicing" thread in the Engine section).

I have meddled with my service details and managed to accidentally reset my service interval.

I am not worried about the mileage, as the car was serviced only last week anyway. What I am a little worried about is that after the service, the next service required was marked as a 'C' (whatever that is) but now it shows next service 'B'. Coincidentally, that's the one it has just had at the garage. Is 'C' an interim one?

How can I get it back to normal???

 

[Rory]

How can I get it back to normal???

It really doesn't matter. Assuming you take the car to an MB dealer, they put the mileage & age into a system which produces an electronic service sheet - that tells them what to do. The letters are only a guide.

Just before mine went in for an A service (the cars first service) I messed around with that menu and reset it, so the car asked for a B service. The dealer still happily did an A - didn't seem to be an issue at all.

 

[pedroloco]

Thanks to Jasper Blue for his instructions for resetting the service indicator with the correct oil. I successfully followed the instructions and increased the miles to service on my C200 Diesel from 10,000 to 13,000.

I needed to reset the indicator after having a B service at Colin Ferns in Richmond. The invoice says they used Mobil 1 fuel, and the data sheet on the mobil website says this oil has MB-approval 229.5. However, when I got the car back it said only 10,000 miles to the next service. I rang the garage, they were vague and suggested the low interval could driving style or poor oil. I pointed out that they had serviced it just a couple of days previously so these could not be the reasons. They suggested I bring it in and they could "check the computer had been reset properly".

Thanks to this great forum and Jasper Blue's post I've been able to properly reset it myself and avoid having the car serviced unnecessarily early next time.

 

[d w124]

黄河石柴油机配件厂是一家领先的制造商之一
发动机零部件，特别是柴油燃油喷射系统
更换配件，如喷油嘴，柱塞和，
交付阀等在中国南部。

欲了解更多详情请访问我们的网站： www.yellowstonediesel.com
www.dieselinjection.cn

黄河石柴油机配件厂始建于1997.Over多年来，
黄河石不断成长，并赢得了声誉生产
高品质的产品和提供他们的时间。

 

[nigel cross]

黄河石柴油机配件厂是一家领先的制造商之一
发动机零部件，特别是柴油燃油喷射系统
更换配件，如喷油嘴，柱塞和，
交付阀等在中国南部。

欲了解更多详情请访问我们的网站： www.yellowstonediesel.com
www.dieselinjection.cn

黄河石柴油机配件厂始建于1997.over多年来，
黄河石不断成长，并赢得了声誉生产
高品质的产品和提供他们的时间。

w.t.f.?

 

[azaman]

I tried this, I get all the menus and messages. After doing the final reset it makes no difference to the service interval, regardless of which oil I chose...

 

[kwakdonut]

I tried this, I get all the menus and messages. After doing the final reset it makes no difference to the service interval, regardless of which oil I chose...

It won't generally but the higher spec will mean that the mileage will go down slower!!

 

[spanner]

Personally I don't see the benefit in NOT changing your oil once per year!

 

[stevend]

I agree... I don't care what the service indicator says.... I will change my oil evey 8k miles and write it down in the back of my haynes manual.
Simples