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Re: fuel lights, like others were saying on German cars they are dead accurate. See this pic? The second the needle hits the bottom the car stalls. Very precise. Headed to gas station now lol. This car I don’t mess around with.
Re: fuel lights, like others were saying on German cars they are dead accurate. See this pic? The second the needle hits the bottom the car stalls. Very precise. Headed to gas station now lol. This car I don’t mess around with.
When I bought my first German I ran the tank down to 1/8 expecting the usual buffer.....so out of 24 I thought I would put in like 18 max like the LSs always wanted but nope. 21 gal went in and I realized that zero on them actually means zero.
Meanwhile I can zero out the Jeep and know I have 60 odd miles left, that thing I abuse and it's killed two fuel pumps already. Plus side is when I had I replaced a brake line I put a new pump in and again when it needed an upper rear control arm. Lifetime warranty ftw I guess? Never had the pumps actually die, they just get loud after being run near empty too many times.
God I need to get rid of that car. It was supposed to be temporary so I didn't have to drive my trucks in winter....
I guess I just don’t understand this insane obsession with running cars out of gas.
I start looking for a gas station when my range drops into double digits….
When I see the maintenance required light pops on, the next time I stop(red light or destination) I will reset it myself. Not obsessed with running to the dealership because I’m afraid my car is about to die and not make it to 100k miles
Hey I’m sure you guys are giving solid advice backed by engineers but I’m just giving my experience and what’s worked for me. Continue to give the engineer backed advice but every so often mention you know an idiot who rides on fumes and does 10k oil changes and gets by just fine. And from there let them make their own decision.
My only issue with this is in the other thread you were admonishing us for listening to advice from mechanics about not doing 10k OCIs and trying to out engineer the engineers, but here you're happy to ignore the engineers for your own prior experience of it not being an issue...
IMO you either believe the engineers or you don't...
Originally Posted by geko29
Lol, that's about what I get. But the M3 is no miser (averaging 20 overall so far) and for some reason has the smallest tank (15.6 gallons) of any vehicle I've ever owned.
My only issue with this is in the other thread you were admonishing us for listening to advice from mechanics about not doing 10k OCIs and trying to out engineer the engineers, but here you're happy to ignore the engineers for your own prior experience of it not being an issue...
IMO you either believe the engineers or you don't...
Like you or someone said different engineers for different brands/manufacturers. I went to Toyota.com and it stated 10k OCIs for my vehicle but the local Audi mechanic and Mercedes owner says 5k OCIs. So with that I use my best judgement. Again it has worked for me, over 200k miles. Not trying to reinvent the wheel or fix what’s not broke. I had a coworker who drove a 92-94 Nissan Hardbody with 450k miles that he had serviced at the dealership every 3k miles. He provided the oil/filter and paid the guys in the back $15 or $20 to change it. Could he gone longer intervals? Maybe but that was his choice and what worked for him.
Some guys change their oil after every track day. I change mine every other track day.
@AJT123@Striker223 I’m towing this weekend. Truck needs gas. I’m tempted to give 93 a shot. @JDR76 will attest the majority guys run 87 even when towing on Tundra site. However I have seen posts guys saying timing is pulled running 87. We will see.
@AJT123@Striker223 I’m towing this weekend. Truck needs gas. I’m tempted to give 93 a shot. @JDR76 will attest the majority guys run 87 even when towing on Tundra site. However I have seen posts guys saying timing is pulled running 87. We will see.
Thats a joke, not to get into this again. Why would your owner’s manual never ask for anything above 87?
Like you or someone said different engineers for different brands/manufacturers. I went to Toyota.com and it stated 10k OCIs for my vehicle but the local Audi mechanic and Mercedes owner says 5k OCIs. So with that I use my best judgement. Again it has worked for me, over 200k miles. Not trying to reinvent the wheel or fix what’s not broke. I had a coworker who drove a 92-94 Nissan Hardbody with 450k miles that he had serviced at the dealership every 3k miles. He provided the oil/filter and paid the guys in the back $15 or $20 to change it. Could he gone longer intervals? Maybe but that was his choice and what worked for him.
Some guys change their oil after every track day. I change mine every other track day.
But in my case the 10k OCIs didn't work for me, because I had clogged oil separators that caused a valve cover gasket leak at 50k miles. My MB specialist mechanic told me doing 5K OCIs would have kept that from happening. Mechanics don't make any money from oil changes, they aren't telling me to do more frequent oil changes to make money. They would rather do the $9k repair caused by the longer OCIs.
In the case of the video that was discussed in that other thread this is a Toyota/Lexus specialist mechanic who is saying that 10K OCIs are too long for that engine. My own Lexus specialist mechanic said the same thing for the same reason...at some point you have to take the advice of professionals into account...
Not every engine is the same, and as they get more complex manufacturers are also under more pressure to reduce the required maintenance to make their vehicles seem less maintenance intensive. So like you said you have to make your own judgements and its clearly not as simple as just saying "the manufacturer says 10k so the car will last 300k as long as I do that".
This is the same situation. You have mechanics and vehicle engineers who say "don't run your fuel tank all the way empty because it can cause issues with the fuel pump, it can cause clogged fuel filters, it can cause air to be sucked into high pressure fuel lines etc"...its pretty easy to just fuel up at 1/4 or 1/8th tank to avoid even the possibility of that happening.
I don't run my cars dry on purpose, but they get run dry. Not the Merc though.
LOL I pulled my LS up to the pump once and it was starting to sputter, stated to put the gas in and everything smoothed out, the engine never died haha. I don't turn my engine off when refueling except in the Merc either.
But in my case the 10k OCIs didn't work for me, because I had clogged oil separators that caused a valve cover gasket leak at 50k miles. My MB specialist mechanic told me doing 5K OCIs would have kept that from happening. Mechanics don't make any money from oil changes, they aren't telling me to do more frequent oil changes to make money. They would rather do the $9k repair caused by the longer OCIs.
In the case of the video that was discussed in that other thread this is a Toyota/Lexus specialist mechanic who is saying that 10K OCIs are too long for that engine. My own Lexus specialist mechanic said the same thing for the same reason...at some point you have to take the advice of professionals into account...
Not every engine is the same, and as they get more complex manufacturers are also under more pressure to reduce the required maintenance to make their vehicles seem less maintenance intensive. So like you said you have to make your own judgements and its clearly not as simple as just saying "the manufacturer says 10k so the car will last 300k as long as I do that".
This is the same situation. You have mechanics and vehicle engineers who say "don't run your fuel tank all the way empty because it can cause issues with the fuel pump, it can cause clogged fuel filters, it can cause air to be sucked into high pressure fuel lines etc"...its pretty easy to just fuel up at 1/4 or 1/8th tank to avoid even the possibility of that happening.
Heck I lose money on oil changes due to the time it takes me to get a car on a lift if it's not something I can topside extract.....I only charge $20 if you bring your own stuff. I rather have my customers not have to spend a bunch and get mad at their cars, much more fun for them to have such a low operating cost they can afford to actually have 2nd cars purely for fun
I don't run my cars dry on purpose, but they get run dry. Not the Merc though.
It happens to everybody every once and a while, but to say one runs them dry on purpose to "use all the fuel they paid for" doesn't make any sense lol.
I don't turn my engine off when refueling except in the Merc either.
Yeah we've talked about that one lol.
Curious though, why not on the Mercedes?
Originally Posted by Striker223
Heck I lose money on oil changes due to the time it takes me to get a car on a lift if it's not something I can topside extract.....I only charge $20 if you bring your own stuff. I rather have my customers not have to spend a bunch and get mad at their cars, much more fun for them to have such a low operating cost they can afford to actually have 2nd cars purely for fun
Totally, most mechanics lose money on oil changes. They're a loss leader.
It happens to everybody every once and a while, but to say one runs them dry on purpose to "use all the fuel they paid for" doesn't make any sense lol.
Yeah we've talked about that one lol.
Curious though, why not on the Mercedes?
Totally, most mechanics lose money on oil changes. They're a loss leader.
You know I will also say that I'm not an "Audi mechanic", I work on near everything but I just happen to be one of the few who ACTUALLY know what they are doing on high end cars in my area and Audi just happens to really click with me so they end up at my shop. The vast majority of cars I see are Korean and Japanese with the typical beater domestics sprinkled in.....but the major $$$ work is almost always Toyota owners who think their cars are invincible or Kia owners who don't know that you need to check oil lol!
