FSS and Oil Change Interval
 

Hey Guys,

How much faith does everybody have in the FSS calculations for oil change interval ? Are there any bad experiences out there with the calculated interval having been too long ?
I'm using Mobil 1, but a drain interval of 11,000 miles on my 1999 E320 makes me worry sometimes.

Comments welcome.

There have been posts before addressing this concern and that FSS calculations can result in expensive damage to the engine. In fact, I believe it was posted some time ago that M-B replaced some engines that were damaged due to poor FSS management.

I believe the consensus is to trust FSS only up to 10,000 miles or so before the oil should be changed. You may want to search the archives back 8 months.

It's a noble for M-B to make an effort to conserve our natural resources, but not at the risk of damaging one's expensive and hard-to-rebuild engine. Where would the conservation be then?

Is your car still dealer maintained under purchase agreement?

I let the FSS countdown normally, but change the oil/filter every 5000 kilometers it counts down.

Most people do not use the FSS interval.

I work for Mercedes and most of our techs are not to happy with the FSS extended oil changes. My wife's car is a FSS car, but its also a lease, so I know I am servicing it to MB's specs, but we wont keep the car. On my older Mercedes I change the oil about every 2500 miles using Mobil Delvac 1300.



Terminator

02 C240W 15K
89 300SEL 163K
83 300TD 190K