Is it normal for a 2003 c230 to use oil. My computer tells me to add 1qt of oil to reach maximum level. No leaks, car is drivin short distances, very little highway driving. My car has 9000 mile since the last oil change. It was full then. If its normal where is the oil going. I have a difficult time believing that a mercedes with 53000 should use any oil.

Former Mercedes and current Audi Service Advisor... Yup, they burn oil. Industry standard has always pretty much been 1qt per 1000 miles is "acceptable consumption. Mercedes is actually 1ltr per 1000km, or roughly 1.2 qts in 620 miles is acceptable consumption so 1 quart in 9000 miles is well within tolerances.

__________________
Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
-
Do I miss being a service advisor ???

Even the newer models? do you recommend changing the oil sooner than the computer says to change it or do you feel its a waste of money?

As I still tell people at Audi. If you lease the car and don't give a rats ass because when the lease is up, you get a new one, then follow whatever the factory says. If you plan on keeping the car a long time and OWN it, every 6 months or 5000 miles. I don't care if it's liquid gold running in the engine, I've seen many a VW/Audi and Benz motor sludged up with those extended oil change intervals...

As for your C230, I did see one or two once they hit the 70K-ish mark, need a bunch of hoses,breather tubes etc to the supercharger need replacement due to sludge.

__________________
Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
-
Do I miss being a service advisor ???

thats what i was thinking. I really like the car and almost own it so ill probably keep it for a while. I guess if i change the oil more often i probably wont notice the oil loss. I cant believe anyone would pay that kind of cash for a car and be burning a qt every 1000 miles. CRAZY

Only seen a handful burning at that rate but the factory still says it's acceptable. The worst one I remember was an ML430 burning a quart every 450 miles. It got a new engine before the warranty was out..

__________________
Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
-
Do I miss being a service advisor ???

so you dont feel i should be alarmed about a possible qt loss in 9000 miles? That computer is so sensitive. I remember from filling it the first time I put 6 qts in and it told me to reduce oil by .2 qts. the system requires 5.8 qts. Mercedes told me that they recommend adding only a half qt when it say to add 1qt??

My only other issue with the car is a hard downshift occasionally from 2nd to 1st. It doesnt always do it and it kinda seems to depend on how much brake im applying. Mercedes here in colorado tested it for me and said it was not a problem. That all the shift points were with tolerances. If seen alot of posts on that issue.

One quart in 9k miles is very, very low. If you changed your oil sooner you would probably never notice the difference.

European cars tend to burn and leak oil. I have seen new M3's burn a quart every 2k miles, the BMW dealer was like they just do that keep a quart in the trunk.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I would say the consumption rate is perfectly normal. If you changed at 5K intervals you'd never know.

__________________
08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280

Funny, the OM616 and 617 I have hardly consume any, I change at 5000 miles and never need any top ups. Maybe its dependant on the type of oil used. I use Delo 400 or Delvac MX, even driven aggressively on a hot day, I hardly need to top these engines up.

__________________
99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

Granted I work "behind the counter" so to speak, but I always found oil consumption in newer cars almost unacceptable considering I had my 86 Jetta til 2001. With 225K it still never consumed any oil but I changed it every 5K with Mobil 1 15W50 and the only oil loss I had with the 617 was due to the oil cap seal. It still burns no oil.

__________________
Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
-
Do I miss being a service advisor ???

I'm still waiting for my 21 year old 271k mile 603 to burn oil, I figure at some point its got to!

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200