I have a 1998 W210 E300 with ~72k miles on it, been serviced like a baby at the dealer (A+B services, extra oil changes, new fuel filters, etc). Since it's out of warranty , will the engine suffer from only having oil changes every 5k from here on out instead of continuing A+B services per FSS?? I love the car but would rather pay ~$120 at dealer for tire rotation and oil change every 5k than the ridiculous prices on A+B services.

Opinions?

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Barker

The "A" service is just an oil change! & overall inspection.
On your car the time guide lists 1.4 hrs to perform that service.

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Doc and barkford
MB has been really cutting down on the times for A services especially, and now B services also. An "A" for a 210 chassis is now down to around .9 hours.
Doing an oil change in the 5 to 7000 mile range (the engine holds 8 1/2 quarts) seems reasonable, but don't forget the other work which should be done, like inspecting/rotating tires, looking at the brakes, flushing the brake fluid (every 2 years) and coolant (every 3 years). If you want to develop your own maintenance schedule, that's fine as long as you are comfortable with the schedule you arrive at and it's complete.

Gilly

The dealer does skip some of the works in FSS A and B service. For example, my spare tire was 10 PSI lower after my last visit. The dealer should have performed all the inspection listed in the service booklet. That makes me wonder "how much" inspection was done. Perhaps MB issued a new service guideline to exclude inspection of spare tire.

I still go to the dealer for A and B service. I have the MB extended warranty. I don't want give them any reason for not covering any claim because of lack of maintenance. However after the warranty, I will be doing all the maintenance work.

Car Nut
1999 E430 Sport