I have a Mercedes E320 1996. I was just wondering what type of oil should be used for an oil change. The dealer last year indicated to use synthetic oil and that you did not need to bring it in until the dash indicated it was time for an oil change. Its been well over a year and 10,000+ miles and I still have not seen that message. We called an independant shop and he quoted $65 for oil change, when asked he didnt seem to know about the synthetic oil or the fact that this car senses when the oil needs to be changed and tells you.

I dont even know now if the car has an oil sensor that lets you know when to change the oil or if you should only use synthetic.

Any thoughts would be welcome. We love this car and want to take the best care of it we can. We stopped going to the dealer after they quoted us $1000+ to replace the fuel pump which seemed excessive.

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1996 E320
2000 C230 Kompressor
1988 190e 2.3 - 225K miles, owned for 7 years. I cannot say enough good things about this car. Very well built, even at 225 it ran like new.

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1996 E320
2000 C230 Kompressor
1988 190e 2.3 - 225K miles, owned for 7 years. I cannot say enough good things about this car. Very well built, even at 225 it ran like new.

does not have a sensor to tell you when the oil should be changed. That came in later models of the E class. I would change the oil right away since you probably don't know what kind of oil was in it when you got it. Unless the car has had synthetic oil used in it in the past, I would use a good quality 5W30 natural oil with new quality filter every 4000-5000 miles but at least twice per year. This is what I do for my 1997 E320 and it just crossed 125,000 miles and doesn't use any oil between changes.

Thank you for your reply. Last year the when the dealer mentioned that it had a sensor to tell you when to change the oil, we had them put in synthetic for $110 I think, so it has that in it now. I guess I would just assume keep using synthetic, but just count the miles and change it maybe every 7500 miles. The car has 175,000 miles on it now but runs and looks like new.

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1996 E320
2000 C230 Kompressor
1988 190e 2.3 - 225K miles, owned for 7 years. I cannot say enough good things about this car. Very well built, even at 225 it ran like new.

I've got the same model year 1996 and never seen an indicator for oil change from the car. I have been using synthetic oil and change it every 5000 miles. Last time I sent a sample to Blackstone lab for analysis and they said I could extend the interval to 10K.

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1996 E320 since 1/16/08, 171K miles as of Feb 2011

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1989 300CE - R.I.P. Dec 29 2007
Other MBs (sold): 1992 300E-24 - 1979 350SLC - 1984 230E - 1990 300CE

You can go 10K miles on synthetic assuming you don't drive under particularly severe conditions. 0W40 Mobil 1 is what the dealers use.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz