I'm not going to run regular gas lol. I'm paying for the car, I want it to perform its best. With the turbocharged engine running regular isn't a good idea. I couldn't even bring myself to put regular in the loaner. On top of that, being a car person I just can't bring myself to mistreat a car.

But yeah, this service is the scheduled service thats required.

Brake fluid change is premature but its in the factory maintenance schedule.


Correct, but all the normal cars are

 

I think I can see why it is rated early. If the car is driven hard or high speed stuff, likely brakes, pads and wear will be quicker than that of a Yaris.


What the dealers should really do. They should just build the cost of the service loaner for the highest end cars. It’s just rediculous that the S class customer has to pay some dumb fee.

 

Exactly, its designed for the cars to be driven hard on the autobahn and its way overkill for 90% of people.

Thats what they do...hence why an oil change, a cabin filter, a remote battery and a brake fluid exchange is $970 lol

If that dealer were way cheaper that would be one thing, but my guess is they aren't. Like I said, if I was going to screw with Enterprise I would have taken it to an independent and paid $400 for this service.

 

But one of the dealers wants extra for the rental Am I see in that correct?

 

Yep, exactly. The other dealers in the area price the loaner into the service, and I bet if you found out what the B service for an S560 was at Mercedes of Silver Spring, its about the same cost but without the benefit of the loaner.

 

‘Pretty dumb.

 

The way the guy at Bethesda described it to me was, Silver Spring and Germantown service mostly lower end cars where the service margins aren't as high (Bethesda is very upscale, Silver Spring and Germantown aren't), so they try and nickel and dime everyone with added on needless stuff (like wiper blades and a side to side tire rotation, and not offering the loaner, etc). In Bethesda they serve everybody down lower in the county or from DC or even NoVa who are much more affluent and thus they service more higher end cars where the margins are better and they don't screw around like that.

To his credit, he tried to upsell me nothing. I was expecting to get hit for brakes and even tires but nope.

Its really short sighted, and I did send them a message and let them know that as soon as I saw they had no loaners and wanted me to rent a car, I just closed the window and took my business elsewhere. They won't respond or care lol

 

There’s half the appeal right there. It’s good to know you at least get a proper Mercedes that tracks like a Benz should, even if powered by a god awful 2.0t engine.

I see your point about using premium in your S Class but in a rental loaner, lol I don’t think so.

 

I don't see wiper blades as needless stuff......unless it gets to an unreasonable level, you probably can't change them too often, especially in this area with its huge traffic level and rubber-harming ozone in the air. Even in ideal conditions (which we often don't have here,) the rubber is going to deteriorate noticeably after about a year or so, and, each time they swipe a too-dry windshield (or with abrasives on it), that takes away more rubber-life (and sometimes very tiny arc-shaped glass-scratches) with each stroke.

Are the tire PSIs correct? That can make an enormous difference. Most vehicles today require from 32-35 PSI cold (defined as having sat overnight or out of the sun for three hours). If it has run-flats (you made some references to run-flats earlier)...that won't help, either.

You also mentioned the difference in fuel economy between your big V8 and the 2.0T....not surprising, considering half the number of cylinders, although if you are using the turbo, that uses more gas, too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mercedes must not be using a cylinder-shutdown feature for the V8 when in low-stress cruise, and the extra power is not needed. That was one thing that worked very well on my Lacrosse's GM 3.6L V6...it shut down one bank of cylinders, and, with the nine-speed transmission, gave it about the same economy as I'm getting with the Encore GX and its turbo-three. The GX, though, is MUCH easier to drive and park at close quarters....it's ideal for my needs.

 

They don't need to be replaced on a car with 9,500 miles on it. When wiper blades cost $200...you can replace them too often lol

They were actually low, I aired them up and that improved the highway tracking but made the ride worse.

The better fuel economy was going to be obvious, it was just a comment as to what few things were an improvement.

And you don't use or not use the turbos, the engine always uses the turbos.

 

I agree $200 is ludicrous, but you cannot convert the arms to aftermarket ones?









It depends on how the engine's designers have programed the turtle and fuel-injector systems. Typically, the engine will run without the turbo (or with very minimal boost) if you feather-foot it....but step on it, and boost-levels will go up accordingly. That's why lead-footers tend to wear out their turbos over time.

 

Turbos let you have a small displacement engine that runs at wide open throttle in low / no boost conditions. You also take advantage of exhaust gas pressure that would otherwise be "wasted" in a regular NA otto-cycle (i.e. not... significantly... overexpanding) engine. The number of cylinders themselves don't matter that much per se.

Anyways, lower displacement (with turbo boost to compensate when you need power) + valve timing to overexpand when possible allows for significant efficiency improvements. Can't get to the level of a dedicated atkinson engine, but those have very high static compression ratios and a valve timing "range" more suited for overexpansion - and you don't have much in the way of exhaust gas pressure to spin the turbos anyways - hence why they're (almost) always a hybrid (with torque filling capabilities) or supercharged (mazda).

It's all a compromise. Efficiency, transient response...

 

Why would I want to do that!? lol. That would be absurd. I bought a really amazing car, and that means I have to spend money to replace consumables that are unique due to its amazing features. No big deal, I just don't throw out wiper blades every 3 months when they don't need to be thrown out anyways...

Not true in a modern turbocharged engine like this. There is ALWAYS boost. And...its better on gas than the previous NA V8 I had so I just drive normally and don't even think about it

 

absolutely. It’s the right thing to do

SW. you 100% sure there is a always boost?

 

Yep, there is always boost under any kind of acceleration load.