German filters, Mann and Bosch oil filters are junk in my mind. Is Fram German? Cause I use Fram exclusively and they are outstanding. Mann is junk and even Bosch (excellent as the rest of their stuff is) is marginal. But Fram and Castrol, can't go wrong there.....

You know what another piece of crap oil filter is...Puralator, now that is really junk....they should be out of business by now I would hope...real overpriced ****

no, Pepboys is good, that's where I have my 300TE oil changed. Pepboys is like SuperCuts for your hair...it depends on who changes/cuts your oil/hair. it's all people...it's not the store name.....you can pay Mercedes $80 for your oil change or Pepboys half that...you can pay $80 for a haircut or get a nice one for $15....it's up to you

an Albuquerque? where abouts in the Duke City? I own a house there that's for sale and live outside Chicago now. Wanna buy a house?

I personally use either Mobil-1 10-40, or Castrol Syntec 10-40 in my '90 300SE. I am told (I hope correctly) that the cam metallurgy changed for model year '90 and up and that the zinc additive was not necessary for this motor. I sincerely hope that is true! I was told this by senior members, and so I believe it.

As to filters, FRAM sucks. That's not just my opinion. Go to one of the oil filter comparison websites and see what's inside one. Cardboard garbage.

I recommend OEM, Purolator, NAPA, Dana, Wix, K&N. K&Ns are great filters, but they dump oil when removed. Purolator is a great filter with good components but a slightly thin casing which can be dented by your thumb during installation if you squeeze too tight.

My M103 oil strategy is a bit different because I lose about 1qt every thousand miles. So I don't drain very frequently, I just keep it topped off and replace the filter periodically. Keeps the oil nice and blond.

Advance and AutoZone often do 5qt plus a filter for $X deal. I usually grab this when I can just remember that the M103 is a 7 quart oil glutton. So, I'll buy 10 quarts of synthetic and two filters for about $50. That lasts me for over 6 months, with two filter changes and the oil stays fresh and clean. But that only works because my rear main seal is shot, and I lose oil. Once I get that fixed, I'll have to go back to drain/fill.

so I respectfully totally disagree...Fram is excellent and not expensive and Castrol synthetic is junk as well...believe me I have run many BMW's, Saabs and my current MB with not one problem. That includes mornings with minus 0 temps and days with 100 plus temps, never once a problem with a Fram filter nor Castrol mineral oil, for many years as well...never once a problem...hell, I never changed the 20/50 out of the mercedes last fall in chicago and left the same fram filter on...nothing happened....car runs great still, so whatever you think is your opinion. i know that this is quality stuff...you want to pay more? go ahead

puralator is total junk...total crap....

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, Cliffmac. Fram filters in my experience have poor flow rate, a filter medium that clogs up very quickly, and a bypass valve that seems to open for no reason at all. Top that off with a poor seal on the anti-drainback valve, and you get dry starts.

Granted, the M103 has an integral bypass valve and I don't know if M103 filters even have one for that reason, but if you cut open a fram filter you will see that instead of the steel top and bottom, you just have a poorly folded filter with a piece of cardboard GLUED to the top and bottom.

Not my idea of a premium filter.

Here's an example:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1662838

And another:

http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilterstudy.html

As you can see, Fram filters don't exactly use premium components. Purolator filters are much more robust in their construction, especially for the price.

Enough said.

Wow... alot of data there... thanks for all of the replies.

Well, first, as far as the oil filter goes, I went to the local MB dealer and bought a Mercedes filter for around $8. I remember them being cheap when I had bought then for my old 1985 380SE. I remember how odd I thought it was that they were made in France and not Germany.

OK, looks like Rotella T is the most recommended for the M103, but I noticed there are different grades... which would be best for a M103 with 157K thats currently NOT burning or leaking any oil? FWIW, our highs rarely get above 100°f in the summer and rarely below 25°f for lows in the winter.

I remember I used Rotella T 15W40 (I think) in my Suburban, as recommended by the PO. Would this be suitable. One other quick question... what size is the drain plug on the pan? My tools are kinda in disarray (long story) and didnt want to get out a bunch of different sockets.

I am sure its in the manual and I can look, but how much oil does the M103 hold? 5 or 6 quarts?

Thanks again.

In Tennessee 15W40 will be fine. Mine takes about 6 1/2 quarts.

BTW, I have an Army buddy that lives just outside Sevierville. I've been there several times since we got out of the Army in 1971. Every time I go there, I threaten to move there. Beautiful country.

Thanks for that information. I will change it in a couple of days. I will find out what size bolt that drain plug is, so I dont have to dig for alot of different sockets.

Yeah, its nice country here, but at times I feel like I want a change, but I was born and raised here and have always lived here. I probably would not be happy anywhere else. Yeah, I go through Sevierville often when we visit Dollywood or Gatlinburg... this part of Tennessee looks just like that part of the state.

You will need a 13mm socket for the drainplug, as I recall.

Interesting information with regard to the zinc additive problem that has been described above. I have never read of it before...:confused:

LOL! I'm on that same program with my 2 M-103 cars. It's the trick M.B. automatic oil change system.
My M-119 car doesn't use any oil at all so I have to change it's oil the hard way.

Good old regular old fashioned STP has the zinc additive that is now missing from our oils.
Regards, Eric

The drain plug is a 13mm on the M103, but it has a 14mm thread (huge)...so the crush washer is bigger than on the diesels etc...

Mine used to use about a quart of oil every 600 miles....and was fouling plugs....so I had the valve stem seals changed, and now it burns nothing, and loses virtually 0....I did an oil change right after the stem seals were replaced.....1000 miles later, the oil level is virtually unchanged, and there is no plug fouling! :)

I go 4,000 miles on synthetic on all my cars.....ends up being 1-2 changes per year.