I have heard from more than one source that it is good to bring my mercedes up to higher speeds for a couple miles once a month to "clean" the engine.... can anyone drop more insight on this? I do bring her up to about 125 for 3-4 miles once a month now.. is this enough??

Yes. That's enough.
signed: Officer Speed

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2007 C 230 Sport.

but is this recomendation true??

It is commonly called an "Italian tune up". It's meant to blow out the carbon build up in the engine.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

Yes i know what its meant for,, what im wondering if it actually works,, and if it is doing more harm than good

Modern FI engines with precise fuel control don't build up carbon like vintage cars as long as they don't have high oil consumption, so "Italian tuneups" probably don't do any good, but they don't hurt either.

Drive it to enjoy it. In my case, I rev to 6500 fairly often - usually in second gear on freeway on ramps - because the M103 engine feels so great from 5000 up.

Running to the rev limit while accelerating up to speed on a freeway ramp will not hurt the engine or reduce its usable life.

Duke

I like to get my car on the highway for a while to get everything up to full temp. I don't think that those higher speeds are necessarily warranted where it is not legal just for te sake of the car.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

I'm not sure about Mass., but here in Maine if you were clocked at 125mph, you run the risk of being ARRESTED -- not just ticketed. Drop the transmission a gear -- or even two. You'll acheive the same engine speed without exposing yourself to a potential "Rodney King incident" with the Mass State Police. (I know, it's not the same load on the engine, but it sure beats a night in the slammer!)

Jeff Pierce

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Jeff Pierce

Current Vehicles:
'92 Mercedes 190E/2.3 (247K miles/my daily driver)
'93 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon (263K miles/a family truckster with spunk)
'99 Kawasaki Concours
Gravely 8120
Previous Vehicles:
'85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow (226K miles)'93 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon
'53 Willys-Overland Pickup
'85 Honda 750F Interceptor
'93 Nissan Quest
'89 Toyota Camry Wagon
'89 Dodge Raider
'81 Honda CB 750F Super Sport
'88 Toyota Celica
'95 Toyota Tacoma
'74 Honda CB 550F

Im not worried about the police, speaking from a political standpoint if you catch my drift. My car was actually previously bought in massachusetts, funny enough, down the road from me at my local mercedes benz dealership. It was then registered in Maine for the first 10 years and thats when i bought it...

The goal as many have already mentioned is to get your car running nice and hot and make sure all fluids are being circulated thoroughly. This is especially important for a vehicle that sits in storage for most of it's life. Stored vehicles tend to accumulate moisture in their fluids and exhaust, so instead of rotting from the outside in, they rot from the inside out.

It's also a good idea to run your A/C on maximum at least every 2 - 3 weeks during the winter months to insure the refrigerant can lubricate and moisturize the seals and o-rings.

tvpierce,

Do you mind if I email you for more info about Maine?

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Just stomp on the gas once in awhile, once the car if fully warmed up. Also different gas companys/stations will have different additives to prevent carbon build up. Any Major gas company should have good additives.
If your still concerned buy some Chevron Techron Concetrate and add that once a year or two years.

With the quality of the additives most major gas stations have now a days and by stepping on the gas ever so often. (every day for me) I wouldn't worry about it..