I am nearing the end of my 50k miles warranty for both my 1997 S320 and 1998 E320. All have been maintained through the dealer and my self with q5k Mobil 1 oil changes, all other fluids changed q 2 years, along with the regularly scheduled maintenance. Except for a recent Oxygen sensor problem with the S320, everything has been terrific. So are there any recommendations in terms of testing or other preventative maintenance that I should do before the 50K has run out? ie I've read about a dye for detecting small oil leaks, good idea or not?

Thanks in advance for your ideas and/or suggestions.

Lionel

I have had a variety of experiences with extended warranties. In fact I don't believe Mercedes will provide one for their cars after 1 year from purchase. True or false? Any other companies with a good track record for extended warranties?

This topic has been discussed alot.
Benzmac recommends a particular company.
Do a search on the topic.
Cheers

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
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1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Dye's are generally used to try to locate the source of a leak that cannot be determined. What you and I might consider to be an oil leak to a dealer it would be seepage. From a dealer perspective a leak has to be a constant drip in a certain amount of time. I have not had any experiences with MB dealers just American and Japanese. MB dealers might have a different definition of an oil leak.

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Mike

This topic has been discussed before. To get the total history run a search. The nutshell version is as follows: Go with an aftermarket extended warranty. The first "big" thing that goes wrong and the warranty will of paid for itself and a night on the town. I have had excellent personal experience with Warrantech. I'm sure there are others out there though. As far as what to look for at the end of a warranty....you can't exactly go to your dealer and say "check out everything on the car its almost out of warranty". I believe the popular circumvention is "I'm going on a long distance trip and need to make sure the car is okay/safe/etc." Have the evaporator core checked out on that W140 as well as the head gasket on the M104 motor. Talk about a nightmare of a service bill...

Hope this helps,
Lee