Whats your E320 Oil Consumption Like?

[handyman john]

Guys, I was wondering what the consensus is on oil consumption for your W210 E320. Our car is a 1998 with 140,000 Miles on it. We are averaging a quart used every 1,000 miles. I know this is considered within the acceptable level. Its crept up slightly over the years but not dramatically. Just wondering what the general population is seeing. If you can, post back with year, mileage, oil consumption, and if you like what oil brand and grade you use. Will be interesting to see the results. Thanks !!

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[RichardM98]

I have a 98 wagon with about 128,000 miles. I change once a year since I'm under 10K/yr and I use Mobil 1 Syn 0W-40. I have no measurable oil usage. That is I can not see any on the dipstick from oil change to oil change.

The PO also told me he didn't add any oil between changes.

[fdte320]

2000 E320, 117k miles, Mobil 1 0W40. A quart between oil changes (10,000 miles).

[01BlackE320]

2001 E320 with 106k miles. I change my oil with either Mobil 1 0w40 or syntec every 10k miles. At about 6k miles I may have to add a half to one quart.

[z-wagen]

You guys change your oil EVERY 10,000 miles????
Isn't that a lot even for synthetic oil?
I also use Mobil 1 0W40 but plan to change @ 5,000 miles interval (just bought my car).

[Ausmbtech]

Originally Posted by handyman john

Guys,

I was wondering what the consensus is on oil consumption for your W210 E320.

Our car is a 1998 with 140,000 Miles on it. We are averaging a quart used every 1,000 miles. I know this is considered within the acceptable level. Its crept up slightly over the years but not dramatically.

Just wondering what the general population is seeing.

If you can, post back with year, mileage, oil consumption, and if you like what oil brand and grade you use.

Will be interesting to see the results.

Thanks !!

Be sure you don't have an external leak first. Main areas of leakage are the oil filter housing, the oil gallery cover (below the the oil filter housing on the timing case) and the rocker covers.

Once you have no external leaks then check that the crankcase breathers aren't blocked. To do this remove the small breather hose off each rocker cover (one side has 2, it's the smaller one) and make sure the small hole on the rocker cover isn't blocked by inserting a small (approx 1.5mm-2mm) drill bit.

If you are still having high oil consumption then I would say that your piston rings are shot or coked up. This is most likely due to poor maintainence or not using synthetic oil. You can try a few cans of engine desludge and short oil changes for a few thousand kms and see if this helps otherwise just keep topping the oil up, it's cheaper than replacing the rings.

[tootyte36]

I have a 1998 e320 4matic 210.000 mil i use 0W40 oil and i use lucas oil stabilizer.every oil change and top it off once every 10.000 mil do u beat on ur car all day if u do that may be why

[RichardM98]

Originally Posted by z-wagen

You guys change your oil EVERY 10,000 miles????
Isn't that a lot even for synthetic oil?
I also use Mobil 1 0W40 but plan to change @ 5,000 miles interval (just bought my car).

I think most of us use the FSS system built in to the car's electronics. It monitors time/oil quality/driving habits and issues a reminder when service is due. You probably haven't had your car long enough for it to be activated. See owners manual for details. 2 years or 18,000mi (which ever comes first) is the maximum and 1 year or 10,000 mi is the minimum. If you do lots of highway miles you'll get more than 10K maybe 14K. Never heard of anyone getting 18K.

Note: to use this system you must also use a fleece media filter not a paper one. Synthetic lubricants are much less prone to breakdown that petroleum based ones. If you are a DIYer there are instructions in the owners manual on how to reset the FSS for the next cycle. It's a little flaky and usually requires more than one try to convince the car to reset.

[handyman john]

The car is a mommy hauler, not beat on at all. I change the oil every 5,000 miles with Mobil 1. It does make a lot of short trips, local travel. The EGR was clogged a few months ago and was replaced, so the oil seems to be working really hard. We bought the car with 74,000 miles in 2003 and it now has 140,000 so we been taking really good care of it. It was a lease car before we got it so I think they were not as meticulous about the oilchanges in the first half of its life.

Our consumption by this survey does seem very high. I will check those breather hoses for sure.

[ohlord]

were known for their high consumption,thus the big law suit.
MB failed to spec syn oil and they had ring problems.
Just keep it on mobil1 and fleece filter and maybe do a good engine flush with a quart of kerosene idled in the oil for 15 minutes before the next oil change or 2 to clean up the rings and see if that helps.
Other than that you just monitor it and live with it.

[handyman john]

what about doing a compression test ? Think that is a good idea ?

[z-wagen]

Originally Posted by RichardM98

I think most of us use the FSS system built in to the car's electronics. It monitors time/oil quality/driving habits and issues a reminder when service is due. You probably haven't had your car long enough for it to be activated. See owners manual for details. 2 years or 18,000mi (which ever comes first) is the maximum and 1 year or 10,000 mi is the minimum. If you do lots of highway miles you'll get more than 10K maybe 14K. Never heard of anyone getting 18K.

Note: to use this system you must also use a fleece media filter not a paper one. Synthetic lubricants are much less prone to breakdown that petroleum based ones. If you are a DIYer there are instructions in the owners manual on how to reset the FSS for the next cycle. It's a little flaky and usually requires more than one try to convince the car to reset.

Thank you RichardM98. Yes, I try to DIY as much as I can. I will read up on this FSS and check what filter I used when I changed the oil 3000 miles ago.

[TMAllison]

Originally Posted by RichardM98

2 years or 18,000mi (which ever comes first) is the maximum and 1 year or 10,000 mi is the minimum. If you do lots of highway miles you'll get more than 10K maybe 14K. Never heard of anyone getting 18K.

Per my 99's OM, the max is 12 mo's/16K miles, whichever comes first. Short trips where the engine doesnt fully warm up will reduce allowed FSS miles the most. I'm not aware of a min guaranteed 10K; I know lots of folks that trip at 8K for exapmle.

My 99 E300 with 276K miles always trips at 16K. It does 110 freeway miles a day which are pretty easy miles on a diesel. It uses one make up qt in 16K.

Lab analysis on its M1 0W/40 Euro Blend shows it has virtually zero soot/fuel contamination and more than 50% of its TBN left when changed.

A gasser driven under the same conditions and oil, ought to test out better given the much lower compression, etc.

[RichardM98]

Originally Posted by TMAllison

Per my 99's OM, the max is 12 mo's/16K miles, whichever comes first. Short trips where the engine doesnt fully warm up will reduce allowed FSS miles the most. I'm not aware of a min guaranteed 10K; I know lots of folks that trip at 8K for exapmle.

My 99 E300 with 276K miles always trips at 16K. It does 110 freeway miles a day which are pretty easy miles on a diesel. It uses one make up qt in 16K.

Lab analysis on its M1 0W/40 Euro Blend shows it has virtually zero soot/fuel contamination and more than 50% of its TBN left when changed.

A gasser driven under the same conditions and oil, ought to test out better given the much lower compression, etc.

Just looking at the 99 E300 Turbo Diesel OM (page 96 middle column) It says 10K to 15K and 365 to 730 days. Gas engine cars 10K to 20K or 365 to 730 days. Since OP has a E320 I posted the numbers for his car.

I have seen the many other posts referencing the 10K number. I drive less than 10K per year and when I check the FSS it always shows number of miles left to be equal to 10K - miles driven so far. The dealer may be able to use the SDS to set the interval to less than 10K but I don't believe the owner can.

[stickygreen]

Try Mobil 1 10w40 "high mileage" oil. Before I get crucified for suggesting a non-229.5 spec oil, let me explain...

Our '97 e320 (inline-6, which doesn't necessarily require synthetic and is well known for timing cover & HG leaks) had seen Mobil 1 10w30 for the first 100k miles or so. For no particular reason, other than our indy shop's recommendation, we switched to Mobil 1 15w50 for the next 125k miles. At around 230k, I noticed that the motor was leaving a couple drops on the garage floor when parked overnight. Looked under the car and there were small seeps coming from the timing cover gasket & back of the head gasket. Switched over to M1 10w40 HM and a few thousand miles later, there are no more drips.

Mobil 1 10w40 "high mileage" is rated for european long-drain intervals (ACEA A3/B3, B4) and the extra seal conditioners could potentially help with your oil consumption. The only downside IMO of this oil compared to M1 0w40 is cold flow properties at very low temperatures. If you face consistent sub-zero temps in the winter, then stick with the 0w40 for the cold season.

BTW, my car has always had 7500-10k mile oil change intervals. It currently has 245k on the original, unopened motor with orig gaskets, zero oil consumption, and no noticeable oil leaks.

[99210]

go to convitional oil and charge every 3k

[bigben320e]

E320, 1998, over 194K miles. 1 quart between oil changes, it gets changed every 7500mi according to the FSS.

[Dsmed]

Originally Posted by 99210

go to convitional oil and charge every 3k

Considering you supposedly are a MB tech. You should know better than to tell people to run conventional oil in a m112 or m113 engine. Are you not aware of the lawsuit about mb NOT telling people that synthetic is required for those engines? Thats why the early cars have oil consumption issues and MB extended the warranty coverage on oil consumption.

[01BlackE320]

Originally Posted by Dsmed

Considering you supposedly are a MB tech. You should know better than to tell people to run conventional oil in a m112 or m113 engine. Are you not aware of the lawsuit about mb NOT telling people that synthetic is required for those engines? Thats why the early cars have oil consumption issues and MB extended the warranty coverage on oil consumption.

I believe that pertained to running conventional oil over extended drain intervals.

[texholdem]

I have virtually no oil loss between oil change intervals of 5-6K miles.

[99210]

synthetic is required if running the full 10k of fss///people running convitional oil for what fss wants will cause problems//i have been told this from techs and shop forman with combined experince of over 50 years//long as you change every 3k you won't have problems//synthetic is thinner and leaks past the rings, the convitional is thicker and would leak past//

[99210]

convitional would not leak past

[handyman john]

I checked the oil on the car today and was down 1.5 quarts in 500 miles.

Yikes !!!

Look at this oil filler cap !!!

What is wrong with our car ???

[nsupra]

I believe this a common thing on these cars. I heard its most likely from condensation, short trips, low speed driving. Should go away after a good drive. Mine did.

[01BlackE320]

Originally Posted by handyman john

I checked the oil on the car today and was down 1.5 quarts in 500 miles.

Yikes !!!

Look at this oil filler cap !!!

What is wrong with our car ???

That happens on the filler cap once in a while. Not a problem. Down 1.5 quarts? hmm, sure the car was level when you checked it? and are you sure it was full after the oil change? 8.5 qts?