My 1999 E300 diesel has started giving me warning messages on the dashboard display suggesting "service due in 27 days". One day is subtracted from days remaining each day.

I did an oil change back in Decemeber with a 229.5 compliant engine oil and reset the FSS system at that time. It appears I will be at 0 days at the end of June which would coincide with 6 months having passed. I checked the OM and find several non-specific references to this message. I am not clear on what's actually due, if anything. The car has been driven ~3,000 miles since that oil change.

Is anything actually required when the day countdown hits 0?


Thanks.

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1998 W210 diesel (wiped out by a texter)
Baum spring compressor "for rent"

It will periodically say service soon with the days etc, however it's typically a 12,000 mile interval or so when you reset the fss. Are you sure the fss reset 'took' ? In my experience, once it counts down to zero, it will just say service due now or service due, and will beep at you every time you start up and shut down which is annoying.

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2004 Ram 2500 Cummins HO
2000 Jetta TDI
1999 E300 (sold)

Clearly MBZ has built in a bomb that if unserviced will explode! How many miles are on the car?

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

I'd second the question about being sure it reset when you last changed the oil. Did you check it afterward and see it said "10,000 miles" or did you just assume it reset? The reset process is a little tricky and it is easy to not complete it.

In theory, if the FSS did reset last time then something's probably wrong with it since I don't think there's any way you'd be due again in 3,000 miles, especially using synthetic oil.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

The prior owner neglected for some time to reset the FSS indicator in my W210. Every time I start the car, it announces how far (in mileage) I am over the limit. Of course, I know to the mile the last time it had an oil change, so I'm just ignoring it until the next oil/filter change -- probably in a week or two. Then I'll reset per the instruction manual and see how things work.

Good luck with yours -- seems like with the extended interval and good oil, you should be able to ignore it for that time period and mileage. These days, annual or 15k oil changes are common with good synthetics.

Cheers, John

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'98 E300TD (W210) | Sold 6/09 with 205k and counting
'04 VW Touareg V10TDI

Marty, thanks. I am 99% certain it did take and did show 10,000 miles 'til next service. (I did have trouble with the printed instructions from the OM - - found some alternate directions somewhere else )

I'm just wondering if it wants service every 6 months if the miles are low.

I've never seen this warning on our '02 car, but it easily covers 10k miles in 6 months.

I think I did reset it. Maybe I didn't?? I've never seen a "days remaining" warning on our '02 car...only miles remaining 'til next service (A or B).

Thanks. Yeah, I think I'm gonna just let it countdown to zero and then see what happens

I end up changing the oil/filter on this car 1X per year. That's been fine.

I'm gonna break out the maintenence log book and see if it coincides (exactly 6 months elapsed) with the last change I did around xmas time.

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1998 W210 diesel (wiped out by a texter)
Baum spring compressor "for rent"

My recollection is that by default the FSS permits up to 2 years (~700 days) between services. When either days or mileage counts down, you get the message. I've never seen the days remaining message on either of my 210 cars, and I don't put many miles on them. The current (2001) car gets a service once per year, which is well before the mileage count runs out.

I know the dealer can change the default 10K miles to which the FSS resets. I'm guessing they can also change the default time between service visits. I wonder if a dealer changed the values, either at the request of an OCD previous owner, or as a semi-unscrupulous way to generate more service visits?

- JimY

LOL, I like the theory!

My service message is shown as mileage, not days, remaining.

The next time you do the FSS reset make certain the front door is closed. Won't reset if it is open. It does take a half dozen tries before mine usually resets.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

I spent a bit of the afternoon changing my own oil and filter on my '98 E300TD. About $70 in parts -- eight quarts of oil from the local shop and a filter element from the dealership.

Mostly I'm just posting again to note my personal selfish happiness that on the first try, the FSS indicator reset itself to 10,000 miles remaining. Woohoo!

Cheers, John

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'98 E300TD (W210) | Sold 6/09 with 205k and counting
'04 VW Touareg V10TDI

Yeah, based upon my observations this evening, perhaps this is what's happened with my car. I cannot get it to display miles remaining, only days remaining.

I pressed the "R" button twice on the '02 and it show miles remaining 'til B Service is due I've never seen days remaining displayed on that car

I checked my maint. log book and the oil was changed 12/10/2006. Car has covered ~2000 miles since.

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1998 W210 diesel (wiped out by a texter)
Baum spring compressor "for rent"

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1998 W210 diesel (wiped out by a texter)
Baum spring compressor "for rent"