With this inherited German car, I have an inherited owners manual. Unfortunately, the "oil" section says the weight of oil, but to go to the MB dealer and have them put in a quality oil to Mercedes specifications. Sorry,
but "I" own this car; paid for; not shared by Mercedes anymore. So, I take care of it dutifully. But at the last oil change, I only got 2,500 miles in clean city driving before the oil turned dark.

What spec oil (SE SF SH, yaddy.....) should be used in the M103 engine??
And every 3K miles? I have found one brand of oil to perform less than good,
but is there a prefrence for Mercedes? Recommended brands? Or any at the store that meet minimum spec & grade? Are there any to avoid? Should any additive ever be used? If so, what? Detergent, or high mileage, which is better? I sort of think the synthetics are touted as better, but are they really, or is a good brand of natural blend as good?

There is so much difference in price (for the same weight), and most I believe (maybe wrongly) is product marketing/advertising on the bottles. True or not?

Thanks for any help!

B. (1989 300E M103 engine)

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BnObob (for the fallen flag railroad.)
Artic "Snow" White 1989 300E, 124.030
w/ M103 engine, and 106K orig miles.

change brands of oil? or specification?

if so the difference may have broken loose things that had been hanging areound for some time and suspended it in the oil.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The current API spark ignition service category is "SL" and in process of going to "SM". Some prefer to use HD diesel engine oil (API service category CI-4), but if oil consumption is high the combustion byproducts of the higher additive concentration may reduce catalyst life.

Viscosity selection is based on ambient temperature range. Look in your owner's manual, again - in the back, specification section. My '88 owner's manual has a chart! So what is your expected range of highest and lowest cold start temperature over the year.

Oil selection is not rocket science, but ignore the advertising hype. Buy name brand oils in the proper API service category and viscosity range for your climate - whatever is on sale!

The recommended change interval is 7500 miles or one year. Just because the oil appears dirty does not mean is it not serviceable.

Duke

http://mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_0W-40.aspx

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

I use Mobile 1 in all my cars. For my 1988 560SL I use Mobil 1 0W-40 European Formula. I belive this is recomended for all MB's even the older ones. I was able to purchase the latest oil requirments sheet from MBUSA and this is what they recommend for year round use.

On all my cars I change the oil 2 times a year. This has averaged over 8000 mile intervals for both my 88 560SL and my 92 3.0L V6 Ford Taurus.

My Taurus now has 211,000 miles. At about 185,000 miles I had a transmission front seal leak. To replace the seal the either the transmission or engine needed to be pulled, (about the same amount of effort). Since I was concerned about a timing chain with 185,000 miles one it I elected to pull the engine and replace the timing chain as well. When I removed the timing chain It was clear that there was absolutly no need for replcaing the timing chain. This was the first time I have seen an American V style engine over 80,000 miles this tight. So I am a beliver in Mobile 1.

Now that being said all oils have become better over the years. the previous time I pulled a timing chain on an American V style engine was probably 1988.

John Roncallo

the one i use in my shop is either mobil 1 15/50 or 0/40
depending on the car. mercedes recommends mobil 1
on all their cars.
15/50 was fine up to 2004 cars when mb changed to 0/40.
i would recommend you use mobil 1 15/50.
readily available and covers you big time. good for
7,500 or once a year. just don't forget the rest of your car.

george

Yes, for simple stuff like this, I'm a DIY. For the hard stuff, I have a
mechanic born in Austria who knows the metal and electrons in these cars.

I'll visit the sites later. Unfortunately, my driving habits are small these days,
so I don't even hit the 3K/year, so I do a yearly change wether it needs
it or not!

And please excuse the double posting. I had this on my list to do, and
typed it twice when I thought I hadn't entered it......Must be a result of
getting my first SSI check this week!

BH.

__________________
BnObob (for the fallen flag railroad.)
Artic "Snow" White 1989 300E, 124.030
w/ M103 engine, and 106K orig miles.