Quote:
Originally Posted by mtiede  I'll put more than that on on my next trip  And I'll be smiling all the way...
I follow the manufacturer's instructions. That synthetic oil is pretty good. |
Been involved in discussions regarding change intervals with synthetics many times over the last few years of MB ownership.
Seems like the general rule of thumb is that as long as you are running the car hard, you are good to go for more miles and more time. Lots of short duration runs where the engine does not get "hot" enough for long enough to help cook any moisture out of the oil is what can cause it to break down faster.
I've always intended to take advantage of a lab here in London to have my oil tested after a change, and simply have never managed to pull it off. My C (daily driver), does about 40 miles a week in typical bumper to bumper London traffic, so I usually try and change the oil once a year - but the oil has "looked" pretty good when I do change it, hence the desire to actually have it tested.
If you want to read a *really* good description about synthetics, take a gander at
http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=243867, specifically
Glyn M Ruck's excellent post.
Oh, and yes, in the "weekend" SLK I did 1,322 miles in the first 20 days of ownership, and I feel confident that I managed to get the oil and engine up to and sustaining proper operating temperatures each and every time I got behind the wheel! I forgot to check before I left what the average mileage was - today when I was tooling back across London (~50 mile trip to see a friend up north with almost no traffic?!), I noticed that I was getting 37mpg and checked the average - over 25 since last reset (~1000 miles). Gotta love a 4 cylinder w/supercharger, eh?! ;P
Next time I'm over at the dealership, I think I'm going to talk my salesguy into a test drive of an SLK200k - I'm really curious now just how fun it would be after the 350....