I was just reading over on the MBUSA web site that as of model year 2005 MB cars sold in the US no longer come with the FSS oil life monitor. MB has gone to a straight 13,000 mile or 1 year OCI (10,000 mile or 1 year for V12 and AMG models). In addition, all 2005 models require the use of 229.5 oil and fleece filters.
Mercedes has gone to fixed OCIs in the US
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Kestas
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MB took a bath with the FSS oil monitoring system and had to pay out a lot of money for ruined engines. The engines still good received an extended warranty to 150K to cover oil-related problems.
I believe one of the problems was MB didn't specify synthetic oil for topping off.
I believe one of the problems was MB didn't specify synthetic oil for topping off.
The main problem was they didn't specify synthetic oil AT ALL. And the dealers, for the most part, did not tell customers that they needed to use synthetic oil. The owners manual said use an oil that meets the MB 229.3 spec, and if you took your car back to the dealer for servicing, it got the correct oil. But a lot of people didn't, and their cars got whatever. The FSS was calculating OCIs based on synthetic 229.3 spec oil and when cheap conventional oil was used the end result wasn't pretty.
I think MB's new fixed OCI makes more sense, especially for North America. I wouldn't be surprised to see them dump the FSS across the board, even in Europe. (Maybe they already have? Dr. Haas said his Maybach doesn't have the FSS and specifies 10,000 mile/1 year OCIs.)
There were a number of dealers (probably most?)who used cheap bulk oil, too.
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