Service - A or B - How do you tell ?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

paulfoel

Active Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2003
Messages
253
OK. SO my service indicator says I need a service in 1000 miles.

How do I know beforehand if its going to be an A or a B service ?

Am I right in saying that it does'nt necessarily follow in alternate order ?
 
Normally you should get one spanner for an A service, or 2 spanners for a B service. The ASSYST on board service computer determines this depending on your driving style, oil condition, as well as determining the mileage in between services. e.g. Mine started counting down from 10,000 miles at the last service, and now nearly 12,000 miles have been driven, although it still shows 1000 miles to the next service.

It's possible to have two A's in a row. You should then have a B Service, regardless of whether you have one spanner showing or two.

(This is how it was explained to me by a dealer in the UK, and also a dealer in Germany where I will be getting mine serviced later this month).

S.
 
Sym,

This isn't the case in my E Class. It just says "Service In...." no spanners or anything exotic.

I believe this ASSYST system is fitted to later cars? Not sure. The only way you can tell what service mine needs is when you hook it up, I believe. Unless you go over the countdown by more than 1000 miles, then its a B irrespective :mad:

Greg
 
Mine says 'Service B in 1000 miles'

But the stupid thing, I left it until it said 1500 miles till the service was due knowing my dealer has a long wait time, I booked it in for 5 weeks time, I've 1000 miles since but it still says 1000 till the service is due. It seems for ever two miles I drive it only goes down 1 mile. Makes it hard to judge when to book it in when dealers want 5 weeks notice and I don't want to overrun.
 
I booked my car in for its first service last week expecting to have to wait a good few weeks and they had it in within 3 days.
Seems my local Benz dealers getting more efficient and it only cost £200.
 
My service indicator was showing 1,300 miles this morning and I got an "Oil Level At Minimum" warning as well.

Topped up a litre of good oil and was just about to ring up dealer to book in for service, when I rechecked when service was due and the indicator said - in 2,300 miles!!!

So is my engine bust or is the ASSYST indicator ultra clever, I've read elsewhere that the ASSYST countdown is not much more than a simple countdown (miles//time)??
 
Sasha,

Pretty sure it's down to the way the car is used, i.e lots of motorway means services at greater intervals and lots of town driving equals short intervals etc etc.

Also found this on a MB forum:

==============
To manually reset the ASSYST:

1 - Turn the key on to the position 2 (all panel system lamp on, engine off) and press the button 000.0 twice in one second.

2 - Keep the 000.0 button pressed and turn the key to position 0 (all panel system lamps off).

3 - Return the key to position 2, keeping that 000.0 button pressed.

4 - Wait for a beep after 10 seconds and then release the 000.0 button.

The display will show now 15,000 km for the next ASSYST maintenance. There is no other way to force another figure - as you know, only the way of driving the car could elevate the next maintenance value.
====================

Not sure how true it is?

Gav
 
Reliably informed that it doesn't work on the W202 . . . don't know about other models.

S.
 
It should work on all ASSYST vehicles upto multifunction steering wheels.
 
The above works on my 1998 c250. I reset my service indicator after i change oil etc, the sequence is documented in the haynes manual and works fine on mine.
As follows:

1. Insert ignition key and turn to position 2. immediately press button 0 on the instrument panel twice within 1 second.

2. Turn the ignition key back to position 1

3. press and hold button 0, then turn the key to position 2 (keeping the button pressed). The display will show the current remaining distance or time, and after 10 seconds an acoustic signal will sound. The new starting distance or time will appear for about 10 seconds on the display.

4. Release button 0

Its a bit tricky to do but mine works fine.
 
Interesting on the service schedules, I have done just over 14000 since new in March, my serice indicator is saying service in 4900 miles, thats an A service BTW.
I reckon thats pretty good really considering on one of the Jag web sites someone was saying they brought their x Type in for its second service at 20,000.

Dave
 
Originally posted by sym
Normally you should get one spanner for an A service, or 2 spanners for a B service. The ASSYST on board service computer determines this depending on your driving style, oil condition, as well as determining the mileage in between services. e.g. Mine started counting down from 10,000 miles at the last service, and now nearly 12,000 miles have been driven, although it still shows 1000 miles to the next service.

It's possible to have two A's in a row. You should then have a B Service, regardless of whether you have one spanner showing or two.

(This is how it was explained to me by a dealer in the UK, and also a dealer in Germany where I will be getting mine serviced later this month).

S.

Just got one spanner so hopefully its just an A service. Will have to check the service book to see what the previous services were though...
 
RichardM,

The dealership is Mercedes of Hertford.
They used to be brilliant and I knew virtually everyone who worked there but when it was taken over a lot of the staff changed and things went downhill very quickly.
Luckily things appear to be getting back to some sort of decent level so I shall continue to use them.
Do you think £200 is good for the first service on a W211 E320CDI?
 
Hertford is where mine is booked in for friday, they wanted 5 weeks notice when I booked mine in, but that was with a courtesy car. I said I didn't mind collection/delivery but they said the wait time would be the same.

Yours isn't going in friday is it? Our cars could be worked on next to each other! Out of interest what mileage is your car on? Mine's on 19,100 now with 700 miles still to go until its due.

I guess I'll know more about the price after friday, but as its on a maintenance lease I didn't ask.
 
Had mine done last week. It only managed 16000mls until the service mainly because I am doing a lot of driving in and out of London at the moment and it seems to shorten the service schedule. On the last car I did six months of going up and down the A1 on long journeys and it nearly lasted 20k before servicing.
It would be interesting to know what they charge for servicing yours.
As to the waiting time it might have something to do with the fact that I went mad at them a few months ago about a replacement fuel pump that it needed. They told me the car could be off the road for up to 3 months even though the car was only 5 months old at the time. I was not a happy bunny and let them know so I think they are trying some sort of customer relation effort with me at the moment.
 
Sasha, the variable servicing modules, ASSYST in the case of MB, work using a simple timer, but also check the properties of the oil. Depending how you drive, no of short journeys etc will affect how the oil degrades.

By diluting your old used oil (which there was not much of) with a litre of clean oil, made the total volume left cleaner, ehich the sensors would have picked up on, thus extending your interval time.
 
Originally posted by marcos
Had mine done last week. It only managed 16000mls until the service mainly because I am doing a lot of driving in and out of London at the moment and it seems to shorten the service schedule. On the last car I did six months of going up and down the A1 on long journeys and it nearly lasted 20k before servicing.

Had the car serviced at MB Hertford today and I was very impressed with them, they lent me a C200 Avantgarde with the sports pack and Xenon's and only 1000 miles on the clock, and called me to keep me informed, I was very impressed.

How long does your car show till the next service is due? This is the first service at 19K miles, but now it says Service C due in 9200 miles. They did note my rear tyres are low, but nothing else was needed.
 
I think mine showed 9200 mls to the next service too. They also noted that my tyres at the back were wearing thin but last weekend some muppet decided to slash them so I had to get new ones anyway.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom