Mercedes-Benz engineers have developed a special monitoring sensor that measures the oil quality inside the engine. They were able to extend the oil change intervals by around 25% by monitoring the oil quality and alerting the driver to change the oil at the right moment. The system will let the driver monitor the oil quality directly on board a vehicle, helping to reduce operating costs, especially in commercial vehicles.

It is widely known that the longer engine oil remains in use, the more it is susceptible to impurities. Its quality is impaired and it gradually loses its lubricative effect; this can even lead to engine damage. Timely oil changes are thus indispensable. However, this is offset by material costs with up to 40 liters of oil in a truck’s diesel engine, and loss of earnings due to downtime during maintenance. An oil change should therefore take place as early as necessary, but as late as possible.

This is certainly one of those technologies that will appear in an S-Class first, and slowly be implemented in all Mercedes vehicles. Looking forward to someday knowing when to ‘really’ change my oil, and not when Jiffy Lube tells me to.