W211 E class

[Gollom]

Assyst tells me the car is soon due a 'C' service - 06 plate (pre facelift) and has covered approx 60K miles

Funds are very tight to say the least (!!) so I'd like to get the absolute minimum done by MB to maintain service history and Mobilo. Feeling at the moment is to have the oil and filters (which I will supply - which filters are required?) changed by MB and the rest entrusted to Ian Walker at 124works

• The service booklet does not appear to simply list the items required under a 'C' service - does anybody have access to a list of what is required?
• Are there any other items from the list which I must have done by MB?

Many thanks!

 

[st4]

No, your car will have an ESS-electronic service sheet. When plugged into a diagnostic it will say what is required to be done on the car. There is always the indie option too (don't rule it out). The servicing goes from A-G on the 211's, A being minor work, G being major. C isn't too bad (I had service D and it was under £500)

Have you had the ATF changed yet? By 60k you really need to.

 

[Smiley]

I think this is your best option - just make sure that the MB dealer will stamp the book - some are now insisting on doing the full service before stamping the book. Just be open with them and tell them what you plan to do - you never know they may even do you a special deal!
Supply the oil only - the filter will be the same price anyway - don't go down the route of trying to save pennies on non oem filters.

 

[Black63]

Just had a C sevice last week on my W211 E320Cdi 55 Plate V6 £239.00 Including the VAT. At Exeter Mercedes.

Good luck

Martyn

 

[st4]

Just had a C sevice last week on my W211 E320Cdi 55 Plate V6 £239.00 Including the VAT. At Exeter Mercedes.

Good luck

Martyn

Hi and welcome Martyn,

It does depend on the ESS as I rang round various garages asking for quotes for services and was told rough figures but they cannot know for sure until its plugged into the machine and the ESS printed.

 

[Mr E]

Just to endorse ***'s and other comments - the service type indicator shows the length of time required for the work that car says it needs doing and not a specific type of service.

You can navigate through the menu on the cluster and it will give an indication of what it thinks needs doing - best check in the manual for that.

 

[Dryce]

Assyst tells me the car is soon due a 'C' service - 06 plate (pre facelift) and has covered approx 60K miles

Funds are very tight to say the least (!!) so I'd like to get the absolute minimum done by MB to maintain service history and Mobilo. Feeling at the moment is to have the oil and filters (which I will supply - which filters are required?) changed by MB and the rest entrusted to Ian Walker at 124works

• The service booklet does not appear to simply list the items required under a 'C' service - does anybody have access to a list of what is required?
• Are there any other items from the list which I must have done by MB?

Many thanks!

You can get the service sheet at: Mercedes-Benz ESS

 

[st4]

Hi dryce, I just get an error message saying service unavailable when I input my cars details.

I guess when it works it gives an idea of what needs done, but it still comes down to what the car "asks for". This will be based party on its usage patern, way its driven etc and also the type of oil used. The car will give the usual warnings re pads etc

A tip to gollom is to make sure they reset the service guage with the fully synthetic oil option as it counts from 10k if the car is told semi synthetic is in there, even though fully synthetic may be in there

 

[w124coupe]

My recommendation:

The cluster C means about 3 hours labour predicted in total.

Let merc do the service (was the last one "A" or B"?) to keep Mobilo as its cheaper than 3rd party recovery.

All parts used should have the "older that 3 years" discount - you must be within a few weeks of 3 years old! - and ditto for the labour rate - confirm up-front.

AFTER the quote for the service, reveal you will supply the oil - saves about £60-70 after your costs for the oil - use Costco or web bought of the proper MB2xx.xx extended interval standard in 4 or 8 litre bottles - make sure you buy the one that gives 12-13k (ish) service intervals not 9-10! No point buying the oil filter - peanuts and wll be charged the same as the parts desk.

Let merc do the transmission fluid (a Star-driven pig) and/or fuel filter (easy if up in the air) if required BUT negotiate on the labour - they will call you on the day and quote book rates for each job - you argue it's in the workshop, up on the ramp and already on Star so their must be a deal on the combined labour (hinting you will otherwise go away and get quotes). You will bring the cost within a whisker of indie but without a second day of your time & travel etc involved. Also keeps them sweet in case you need goodwill on the £2,000+ plus 7g gearbox anytime soon. The fluid should have been a one-off at 37,500 miles (60,000Km).....

Anything to do with brakes - you use an indie who has Star and understands how to manage SBC or let Merc do it (or read up the forum info carefully and decide if you want to do ONLY the pads/discs yourself). Bear in mind your SBC pump might die sometime soon and you will not want anything in the history (e.g. declined recommended change of brake fluid) to give Merc a get-out in regards to a goodwill pump replacement....).

Air and cabin filters - buy at 10% off and fit yourself - 10 mins for a/c filter (one plastic nut) and half hour for both air filters (but you need a star-shaped socket for the air filter housings). The right hand air filter has a "I'm getting blocked" sensor that throws up a cluster warning so you could decide to wait for that - usually about every 35-40,000 miles....2 x air filters about £50.

 

[Dryce]

but it still comes down to what the car "asks for". This will be based party on its usage patern, way its driven etc and also the type of oil used. The car will give the usual warnings re pads etc

I'm not so sure. I think the car is basically making a guess.

The ESS sheets I've seen so far basically are 'Service A ' and 'Service B' with a whole lot of optional mileage/age based things (eg. ATF).

The Service A, B, C, D, E, F, G , H that the car reports only have a bearing in that they are either A or B service sheet plus mileage/age options. An 'F' on Assyst+ is just a big 'Service B' in the sense that it's a B with a lot of extras. AFAICT a 'C' on Assyst+ is likely to be a 'Service A' with extras.

There is a problem logging this stuff. If a dealer fills in the service book for a W211 from the ESS then it only states A or B. The car may have reported a D. What does the technician fill in? The letter from the ESS or from the car? A and B on the Assyst do not correspond with A or B on the ESS sheets.

Compounding the problem is that the service intervals may be variable. And the extra work is based on mileage/age. So the system at any time is working on more than one parameter with some of them. Eg. spark plugs are 4 years/62.5K miles.

MB haven't thought through the presentation of information to the customer *or the dealer*. And the system isn't (or isn't allowed to be ) as intelligent as was being claimed 7 or 8 years ago.

 

[st4]

I'm not so sure. I think the car is basically making a guess.

The ESS sheets I've seen so far basically are 'Service A ' and 'Service B' with a whole lot of optional mileage/age based things (eg. ATF).

The Service A, B, C, D, E, F, G , H that the car reports only have a bearing in that they are either A or B service sheet plus mileage/age options. An 'F' on Assyst+ is just a big 'Service B' in the sense that it's a B with a lot of extras. AFAICT a 'C' on Assyst+ is likely to be a 'Service A' with extras.

There is a problem logging this stuff. If a dealer fills in the service book for a W211 from the ESS then it only states A or B. The car may have reported a D. What does the technician fill in? The letter from the ESS or from the car? A and B on the Assyst do not correspond with A or B on the ESS sheets.

Compounding the problem is that the service intervals may be variable. And the extra work is based on mileage/age. So the system at any time is working on more than one parameter with some of them. Eg. spark plugs are 4 years/62.5K miles.

MB haven't thought through the presentation of information to the customer *or the dealer*. And the system isn't (or isn't allowed to be ) as intelligent as was being claimed 7 or 8 years ago.

Perhaps that explains the service book being only A and B. Mine was a service D, or was it G when I newly got it, and looked at the book and wondered why there was only A and B boxes. I was under the impression from the service folk that MB had moved away from A/B services to this ESS system and the larger ranges of services from A-G as each one has a tarrif (at MB Glasgow).

 

[Dryce]

I was under the impression from the service folk that MB had moved away from A/B services to this ESS system and the larger ranges of services from A-G as each one has a tarrif (at MB Glasgow).

I can't see how the A-G tariff would work if you need parts/materials that can vary in addition to the labour. (Of course there could be sufficient headroom in their oil and labour charges to allow for things like spark plugs and filters).

I was quoted just under £1000 for an F last month.

Car no longer dealer serviced as of last month.

Strange coincidence that.

 

[st4]

I was quoted just under £1000 for an F last month.

Car no longer dealer serviced as of last month.

Strange coincidence that.

FFS. Thats prohibatively expensive. What milliage is your car on? Does it need new plugs (and is the 240 a twin spark as you could be shelling out rip off prices for 12 of them).

If I were confronted with a quote of that I'd take it elsewhere, the value of the stamp in the book + the mobilo isn't worth that.

 

[Dryce]

FFS. Thats prohibatively expensive. What milliage is your car on? Does it need new plugs (and is the 240 a twin spark as you could be shelling out rip off prices for 12 of them).

42K and 4 years. Plugs hit at 62.5K miles / 4 years. Yup. 12. and it's a 2 hour job. Go figure.

SBC fluid change also needed.

And that quote was without the 37.5K mile ATF change that is in the schedule because that was done separately at the end of last year so not included in the quote. So this could have been £1200 ish as a starting point.

If I were confronted with a quote of that I'd take it elsewhere, the value of the stamp in the book + the mobilo isn't worth that.

I'm going to do the plugs next year to smooth things out. Car's running fine/silky smooth ATM and economy is as it has been with a slight improvement after putting on new Michelins at Costco a month ago.

Cost of Green Flag Recovery Plus was £100.80 for both our cars. So that's £50.40p to deal with that aspect of Mobilo. Service was £350. So in reality about half the price the dealer wanted excluding plugs. So £400 all in not too bad.

Next year should be a basic A ESS service - so I'm assuming inc the plugs that should come in at about the same all in cost as this year's service.