Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim B.
I also have heard that story about Xerex also being equivalent to Mercedes Benz coolant but would not buy any until it was proven to be the same beyond a doubt.
The owner's manual specifies Mercedes Benz coolant. It is crystal clear about that.
It says nothing about substitutes being acceptable.
The saying about being penny wise and pound foolish comes to mind.
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While it is true that M-B doesn't promote the use of aftermarket coolants (some would say they don't have a motivation to do so since coolant is one of the few consumables they do private label - coolant and 722.6+ tranny fluid are the two which come to mind) Zerex does claim M-B has approved G-05 in their literature and on the bottle.
Knowing just how touchy M-B is about this it is hard to believe they would let Zerex say this without it being true. My own theory is that Zerex
is the supplier of the M-B coolant therefore M-B
can't stop them from claiming it is approved for use but won't promote its use as it is then in competition with the private labeled version that M-B has a financial interest in selling. Here is a brochure which states clearly that M-B has approved G-05:
http://www.valvoline.com/zerex/pdf/Zerex_CoolantChart.pdf
I use both M-B and G-05 in my cars...the reason I use G-05 is not because it is half the price of the M-B coolant, but because I can buy it less than a mile from my house whereas I need to drive 20 minutes to the dealer to get the M-B coolant...but being half the price is nice too.