Service Indicator

[alexbartman]

Can anyone advise please.....I have a 2000 CLK 320 which I bought from an MB main dealer about 3 months ago. When I got the car they checked it over thoroughly, but did not service it as the indicator was saying 4,100 untill next B service. I had an argument with them, as the car had not been serviced since April 2005 but they told me again and again that one should not service the car until it "needs it".
So needless to say, the car was not prepared very well and had to go back 3 times to have various niggles - including new leads and plugs as the idling was so rough - fixed. Last month the Oil warning light came on - so I took it back (second time this had happened) and got a letter back saying that the Oil was within the tolerances set by MB and nothign was done. A coupel fo days ago, the oil warnign light "Check Oil Level" on the display came on again so I checked at the dipstick was a bit low - so I topped up with 1 litre of oil and the dipstick is on the full mark now.
However, the service indicator now says - next B service 6,100 miles.
Is this indicator really that intuitive??? Or is there soemthing wrong -I had always thought that a car needs a service at least once a year - regardless of mileage - or does the computer work out that bit and pieces of maintenance like new leads or a litre of oil means the service can be put back??

 

[Brian WH]

Can anyone advise please.....I have a 2000 CLK 320 which I bought from an MB main dealer about 3 months ago. When I got the car they checked it over thoroughly, but did not service it as the indicator was saying 4,100 untill next B service. I had an argument with them, as the car had not been serviced since April 2005 but they told me again and again that one should not service the car until it "needs it".
So needless to say, the car was not prepared very well and had to go back 3 times to have various niggles - including new leads and plugs as the idling was so rough - fixed. Last month the Oil warning light came on - so I took it back (second time this had happened) and got a letter back saying that the Oil was within the tolerances set by MB and nothign was done. A coupel fo days ago, the oil warnign light "Check Oil Level" on the display came on again so I checked at the dipstick was a bit low - so I topped up with 1 litre of oil and the dipstick is on the full mark now.
However, the service indicator now says - next B service 6,100 miles.
Is this indicator really that intuitive??? Or is there soemthing wrong -I had always thought that a car needs a service at least once a year - regardless of mileage - or does the computer work out that bit and pieces of maintenance like new leads or a litre of oil means the service can be put back??

As you will see from a search on this Forum, that this is perfectly normal on a modern MB.

The mileage to next service is reliable and is affected by engine oil condition as well as other factors. So adding a litre of oil will increase the mileage to next service quite a bit, as will doing long motorway journeys etc.

However any self respecting MB dealer should have given the car a better look over than they obviously did, as faults that you have had should have been found by them at the time. But they needn't do a full service if it was not due,

 

[Rory]

If I remember rightly then the MB used scheme assures you that the car won't need servicing within 3000 miles. So if it's over that, as yours was, then it wouldn't be serviced.
Of course you're quite entitled to have it serviced more frequently than ASSYST demands if you want to, but ASSYST is supposed to minimise the maintenance costs.

 

[Glenn Smith]

Can anyone advise please.....I have a 2000 CLK 320 which I bought from an MB main dealer about 3 months ago. When I got the car they checked it over thoroughly, but did not service it as the indicator was saying 4,100 untill next B service. I had an argument with them, as the car had not been serviced since April 2005 but they told me again and again that one should not service the car until it "needs it".
So needless to say, the car was not prepared very well and had to go back 3 times to have various niggles - including new leads and plugs as the idling was so rough - fixed. Last month the Oil warning light came on - so I took it back (second time this had happened) and got a letter back saying that the Oil was within the tolerances set by MB and nothign was done. A coupel fo days ago, the oil warnign light "Check Oil Level" on the display came on again so I checked at the dipstick was a bit low - so I topped up with 1 litre of oil and the dipstick is on the full mark now.
However, the service indicator now says - next B service 6,100 miles.
Is this indicator really that intuitive??? Or is there soemthing wrong -I had always thought that a car needs a service at least once a year - regardless of mileage - or does the computer work out that bit and pieces of maintenance like new leads or a litre of oil means the service can be put back??

I never wait for the service indicator to come on, i usually do mine every 6-8 months and it's probably 7-10000 miles with 2500 still to go, but then i do my own servicing and have a high mileage car, at the end of the day extended service intervals are only there to give the impression of lower running costs, no harm can come from changing the oil a bit more often, in fact i'd rather put in cheaper oil and change it more regularly than use fancy synthetics at silly prices, and thats just what i have always done and never worn an engine out yet. Personaly i think the dealer should've serviced it, and certainly should have checked it for faults and misfires.