Service Interval - confused!

[RRich]

Hi,

I have a 2011 E200 Cgi cabrio and have a question regarding servicing.

I thought the service intervals were annual or every 15000 miles - which ever came first.

However, my last service (B) was completed in May 2015 at 40,000 miles but today my Assyst + is stating a service (A) due in 1,200 miles. I am showing 48,000 miles on the clock.

Is the servicing variable? When I check the ESS online it shows a service B which is confusing too instead of A as Assyst+ shows.

I want to maintain the vehicle but don't want to be having maintenance that is not needed.

Any advice welcome.

Many thanks

 

[ChrisEdu]

It goes on how the car is being used / driven to decide when it needs a service. That said, some prefer to follow set service intervals, such as annual or every x thousand miles.

 

[RRich]

Thank you for the response.

I will follow the ASSYST+ messages as they appear then, I was obviously wrong on the fixed servicing intervals!

 

[st13phil]

From MY2008, all Mercedes-Benz passenger cars are on a fixed service interval so your car should be 12 months or 15,500 miles (AMG cars are 12 months or 12,500 miles) and I suspect that the ASSYST wasn't correctly reset when it was last serviced. I'd suggest you give your dealer's service department a call to clarify the situation.

 

[RRich]

Hi Phil,

I will give the dealer a call. The last service was completed by an independent garage so they may have reset incorrectly. It should be simple...bring back the service book!

Many thanks.

 

[tonysmb]

I thought I posted on here yesterday saying I thought the service indicator hadn't been reset properly. Not sure what happened there!

It used to be the case (not sure if still is) that the type of oil used had to be input and that determined the mileage before next service due, ie higher spec fully synthetic gave longer service 'count down'.

Your car should be on fixed 15,500/12 months and that should be in the handbook.

 

[RRich]

Hi,
I've just rechecked the service booklet and noted that it does indeed state 25km or 1 year.

My independent was adamant that it was flexible and I should it bring it in once the 1200 miles were up.

This is pretty much giving me another 4 months then as I will not hit 15k miles by next May.

I need to check that full synthetic was indeed used and get them to reset.

Feels like it all comes to extracting cash from my wallet...

Many thanks

 

[RRich]

Reset the ASSYST+ so I don't get the annoying reminder.

But has moved service from A to B and can't change it back to A.

What nonsense.

 

[st13phil]

It alternates A - B - A - B - etc. I'd suggest trying to reset it again to see if it toggles (maybe drive a few miles first?).

 

[RRich]

Hi Phil,
I tried to alternate back to A but must have to do a few miles as you say as it will not let me yet.

My wife's 2012 old shape A class is due an A service in December so I know where I stand now on the intervals going forward.
Thanks all.

 

[Rory]

My independent was adamant that it was flexible and I should it bring it in once the 1200 miles were up.

Hmmm....

As others have noted, it's fixed at 12mths/15.5K miles.

Anyway, if the car is being serviced out of the franchised network and isn't under any kind of warranty then you can please yourself when to have it serviced.

 

[markjay]

On some models the oil type can be set from the instrument cluster.

229.3 or 229.31 with paper filter element will provide shorter distance to next service (from memory 9,000 or 10,000 miles).

229.5 or 229.51 with fleece filter element will provide longer service life (from memory 13,000 or 15,000 miles).

Not sure if the above is applicable for your car, but if it is, then this could explain the issue.

 

[RRich]

I will need to find out if the 229.5 and fleece filter were used at the last service otherwise the 9,000 interval would have been correct. When I did the reset myself earlier I chose 229.3 and it showed next service at 9k.

Didn't know this but now I do thanks to this forum. I assume it is the same for wife's car.

What brand oils come under 229.3 and 229.5 and what is the difference between them?

 

[markjay]

229.3 is the old standard, 229.5 is the newer standard with longer service life (assuming the filter is also long life).

MB publish a list of oils tested for their Spec Sheets, see:

http://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolistenmain.php

These oils are classified as 'Approved by MB to Spec Sheet xxx'.

However many other oils are classified by their manufacturers as 'Meets MB Spec Sheet xxx'. This means the oil has not actually need tested by MB, but it is confirmed by the oil manufacturer to be compliant with the relevant spec.

Either will do...

Some common choices include MB Oil 229.5 (i.e. MB-branded oil), Mobil 1, Shell Helix Ultra, Fuchs and Petronas.

 

[Rory]

On some models the oil type can be set from the instrument cluster.

229.3 or 229.31 with paper filter element will provide shorter distance to next service (from memory 9,000 or 10,000 miles).

229.5 or 229.51 with fleece filter element will provide longer service life (from memory 13,000 or 15,000 miles).

Not sure if the above is applicable for your car, but if it is, then this could explain the issue.

As far as I know none of that applies to the fixed interval servicing. Even on the variable servicing, which has always worked exactly as it should on my car, MB Mechanics have stated on these forums that the fleece filter is never used and that's been true for my car.

 

[RRich]

Thanks gents - really informative.

 

[markjay]

As far as I know none of that applies to the fixed interval servicing. Even on the variable servicing, which has always worked exactly as it should on my car, MB Mechanics have stated on these forums that the fleece filter is never used and that's been true for my car.

Difficult for me to comment - my car does 5k miles a year and the flexible service system is therefore always time based, i.e. the car never does the full 9k miles between services, let alone 13k.

So in my case the entire issue of long life oil or filter would be purely academic....

I do use 229.5 but simply because this is what the garages that serviced the car were using. I am sure 229.3 (the official spec for my car) would have been equally fine.

And I have no idea is the oil filter elements were paper or fleece nor would it matter anyway...

 

[RRich]

My independent has confirmed 229.5 oil and MB oil filter. So no service just yet!

Many thanks