What is Reddit's opinion of FOUR UNCLES Oil Changer Vacuum Fluid Extractor Pneumatic/Manual 6.5 Liter with Pump Tank Remover and Brake Bleeding Hose Convenient Oil Change & Fluid Change Tool No Leaks No Overfills?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I have one of these and I tried hooking up my compressor to it, but nothing would happen....

It was almost like there was a valve closed off or something. If I turned the little knob where the compressor was plugged into thinking maybe it was like turned off or something. It let the pressure out of the container that I had built up from the hand pump. Wonder if mine is defective or something..

Do you have any experience with the manually pumped oil extractors like this one? They're more expensive, but include a reservoir and more hoses and accessories than the $20 12V ones.

I don't know about $30, but I bought this one a couple years ago and it's awesome:

FOUR UNCLES Oil Changer Vacuum Fluid Extractor Pneumatic/Manual 6.5 Liter with Pump Tank Remover and Brake Bleeding Hose Convenient Oil Change & Fluid Change Tool No Leaks No Overfills https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0836GH3G7/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_3DTJDY6KEK20WZGZTKYC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

These are definitely a thing. Here’s a link link to one for sale on amazon.

Fluid extractor is worth every penny. With the filter being on the top of the engine I don't need to put the car up on ramps or crawl around on the ground anymore.

Ha! I have this exact car, same year, and we live in the same metro. If it's painted in palladium silver, I'm going to have to go check my garage. Mine has 195k miles on it, three owners including me. All seemed to have kept it well maintained, the entire car only has 3 dents. I've had it since it had 120k on the odometer, and drive the absolute tar out of it (long commute, about 20k miles a year just from that). It's a fantastic car but since you've come from Honda, the experience will be very different, in good and bad ways. I HIGHLY recommend locating a quality independent German car shop that you trust and that treats you well. I use German Auto Repair out by the Big Chicken. Rocco's European garage is excellent and has more locations.

There is absolutely nothing more important than doing the maintenance on any German car, precisely when you are told to, not a minute later. In no particular order, and being very paranoid myself, here is what I recommend. A lot of this would be the same for any car, so don't let it scare you off.

1. Locate any available maintenance records. If there are none, assume the worst and act accordingly. The service A/B/C menu is available in the gauge cluster. It will tell you what service and how many miles remain. Book the service appointments BEFORE they are due.

2. Use synthetic motor oil exclusively. Mobil 1 is the US recommended version and Castrol is the EU recommended version. I stick with Mobil 1 High Mileage Euro Formula Synthetic. It takes 9.5 qt of oil, so purchase accordingly. Walmart sells it. A good shop should never ever ever recommend anything other than synthetic.

3. Use OEM or as close to an OEM oil filter as is possible. This usually means Bosch. In the X164, the oil filter as well as the dipstick are located under the hood, and you can (and most shops do) pop the hood open, use one of these to suck the oil out, and then just replace the filter. Not a bad way to DIY if you are comfortable. You shouldn't use these on cars not designed for them, like BMW. This is an excellent feature IMO.

4. While we're talking fluids, your car has a lot of them. Power steering, brake, coolant, transmission, differential (as the car is probably a 4MATIC AWD, you have a front and rear diff), and probably some I'm forgetting. It's a good idea to both check the condition of these fluids and to see if they're at the proper level. Old fluids should be flushed and replaced, particularly the coolant as it circulates through the engine and that's not something you want a problem with. There should be intervals for the replacement of various fluids in the manual. Follow it religiously and DON'T use cheaper alternatives. RockAuto is a good place to source parts and fluids if you are a DIY person.

5. Look at your tires and make sure they're evenly worn and have good tread depth, and that all four tires match brand/type. I highly recommend Michelin Primacy Tour A/S. I have the 20" wheels so tires run $1250 a set w/install from Discount Tire. Don't let the name fool you, they're good.

6. Check your brakes, pads and rotors. If you don't want to be shooting brake dust off of your front wheels every single week, get ceramic pads. Not really much more than metallic, stop just as well, and don't produce any stupid dust. Seriously, look at how many GL-classes have nearly black front wheels. In the 2000 miles I've had my ceramic pads, there's been zero brake dust. Worth every single penny. I had to get new pads and rotors at the same time, that ran me $1300 all-in at my shop. I expect to replace the pads every 30k miles at around 1/3rd of that price.

7. The air suspension likes to die. It's oh so nice, but expect to replace it every 4 years or so if equipped. $2k for the whole shebang at all 4 wheels, new bags and new compressor. When I bought mine I knew it was going out, so I was prepared to absorb the cost. This isn't really a Mercedes problem, it's just how air suspension is. For me, it's worth hearing bumps more than feeling them, and I would gladly pay the price to replace it. Some will recommend only doing the front or only doing the rear- that's fine, but just make sure you replace the damn compressor. It's designed to run at 10% load constantly, and once air suspension starts leaking, it's running well above that to keep you inflated, which will wear it out.

8. The 7G Tronic transmission is good, but I don't recommend towing with it if you don't want to have to replace it. That goes for anything that isn't an Allison transmission hooked into a diesel Chevrolet, which was expressly designed for that purpose. Mine is original and has begun to stutter from the 3-4 gear change which I am told could be one of two things- either it's worn out, or the transmission logic (these cars learn how you drive them so they can pick the correct gear) is just not adjusting to me. My mechanic tells me it's likely the latter and reflashing it usually solves 90% of the problem. However, if I needed it rebuilt that would run $7k. At that point I would part my car out because it's about 50% of what it's worth. So let this be a lesson- love your transmission and treat it well with fluid changes. Keep in mind I have more than double your mileage, so you're not likely to run into this anytime soon. I recommend having the trans fluid looked at to see what condition it's in, and if it has a lot of metal shavings in it (some are normal). If it does, sell the car.

9. The accessory drive belt AND ALL PULLEYS should be replaced every 30-50k miles. I don't think there is a noted service interval, but I had mine snap on I75. You will have no power steering, no A/C, no alternator, and no water pump. That last one will lead to overheating and melting your engine. If all I had was the money to do one thing, I'd replace this since you can't drive the car at all. I got really lucky because it snapped 4 miles from my mechanic. Otherwise I would have had to have it towed. It's about $850 to do this, but please do it if you hear any squeaking coming from the front end. It's not a half bad idea in the morning (when the car is completely cold) to open the hood, stand in front of it, and have someone else start the car. You can see the accessory drive belt and pulleys without removing anything. If you hear squeaking, replace them. It is not often checked on these cars and I highly recommend you take care of it before it becomes an issue.

10. Spark plugs and such should be replaced if you have no service paperwork showing when they were last done. Use exactly what the OEM spec is, a lot of places will upsell on different coatings on spark plugs, and they do last longer, but it wasn't what the car left the factory with, so stick with OEM plugs.

11. The front sunroof can be placed in the cracked open position with the sunshade still drawn. This lets hot air exit without getting heat from the sun. The rear quarter windows also crack open. It's the horizontal window switch (I never get the direction right the first time) below the other window switches. If you open these up and blast the A/C, then you'll have a cool car in a couple of minutes at most, even in the ATL summer.

12. The gas mileage sucks. I usually get 16.5 at a maximum. It does take premium and the fuel economy shits the bed if you use regular. If the car has had regular put into it, you might have to wait three tanks or so before noticing a difference. It is worth the extra cost. NEVER buy Walmat/Sam's, Racetrac, or Kroger gas. It is not Top Tier rated detergent gasoline, and I would only buy it if I was going to run out of gas in the next 5 minutes. Costco sells Top Tier fuel at cut rate prices, and that is where I buy gas. Shell/Chevron/Texaco/QT/and a half dozen other stations sell Top Tier fuel. I would never use anything else even if I bought a junker car.

Overall, this might sound like a lot to do, but if you stick with it, you'll have an excellent vehicle that will last you for years. I regularly drive mine at 80-100 mph and it's fantastic, very planted and stable. It's very easy to exceed the speed limit, despite it being a 6500lb car. It is easily the quietest car I've ever driven. Put your finger close to the glass and see how thick it is, it's amazing. It probably stickered around $70-80k, so keep that in mind when maintenance costs seem high. It's built like an expensive car and you should expect to treat it like one if you want the best out of it.

How many quarts? Invest in one of these (or one big enough for your car): https://www.amazon.com/FOUR-UNCLES-Extractor-Pneumatic-Convenient/dp/B0836GH3G7/

And do your own oil changes going forward. Once you've pulled 98% of the oil outthis way, it's a lot less messy to change the oil filter as well. Synthetic oil seems to have increased in price by about 25% in the past 2 years.

You can sometimes find automotive repair chains like Midas Muffler or similar that will advertise low oil change specials, just to get you in there. But you'll often find that they'll try or have reasons to upsell you other services. If you've ever been into a car dealership and looked at new cars or taken your car to a dealer for service and they have your home or email address, they'll also send you periodic advertisements for oil change specials, mainly to get you back in the store. Places like Jiffy Lube tend to be the most expensive.

Being also older and not as into crawling under the car to drain the oil pan as when I was younger, I bought an oil change pump to eliminate that part of the oil change process and it's been a game changer for changing my oil. I still have to briefly get under the car to change the filter but it's made the ordeal more tolerable and cheaper. I got something like this for removing the old oil.

https://www.amazon.com/FOUR-UNCLES-Extractor-Pneumatic-Convenient/dp/B0836GH3G7/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=oil+change+pump&qid=1628433207&sr=8-5