Today I took my 190E 2-litre in to a Merc dealer (new-style Mercedes-Benz London) for its 72 000-mile service (at about 70K, as it does about 1000 miles a year now or less).
In case you ask why I am so nuts to spend so much money etc I think it's going to be the last service at a main dealer, as I have an apparently fairly competent independent mechanic not far from me.
Anyway, when I asked the service adviser about the oil they were proposing to use he replied Mobil "semi-synthetic". Apparently they don't use Mobil 1 routinely on most cars because customers moan about the cost. I asked him to use Mobil 1! Given the rough use the engine gets -- short journeys -- I felt I should try to limit oil deterioration.
It is curious, as with the factory instructions and general bumph supplied with my 2001 CLK it clearly states that Mobil 1 is the recommended oil.
I also saw him stamp my service booklet, i.e. before work had even started. In practice I suppose it makes little odds when it's completed, but I would have thought that it's more reassuring if done after the service...
DAS
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