Like many Mercedes-Benz owners, I value keeping my car in top shape. So, when it was time for a service on my wife’s 2021 GLC 300, equipped with the M264 engine, I headed to the dealership for what I thought was a prepaid maintenance appointment. Big mistake. They hit me with a surprise: apparently, we were a mere 200 miles over the service limit, and suddenly, our prepaid maintenance was invalid. Suddenly, that convenient prepaid plan turned into a hefty $900 bill for a B Service. For a car that racks up around 500 miles a week, those service intervals feel tight!
Needless to say, I declined their offer and took my GLC 300 to a trusted local independent shop. The damage there? A much more reasonable $471 for the exact same B Service. However, even after saving nearly half the dealership cost, reviewing the service details left me a bit stunned. A whopping $187 to replace the cabin air filter? Seriously? And $90 of that was labor! That’s when my DIY senses tingled.
Mercedes-Benz GLC Cabin Air Filter Replacement
Turns out, swapping out the cabin filter on a GLC is far from rocket science. A quick search led me to a helpful YouTube video on GLC cabin filter replacement, proving just how simple it is. The filter itself? The shop charged $97, but you can snag a quality Pureflow cabin filter for around $25 online. Highway robbery!
They also mentioned my engine air filter was still in good shape but quoted $157 for a replacement if needed. Again, a quick online search revealed genuine OEM Mercedes-Benz engine air filters available from FCP Euro for as little as $29 to $43. From now on, cabin and engine air filters are definitely on my DIY maintenance list.
Next up on the service schedule are spark plugs. For the M264 engine in the facelift 2020-2022 models, I’m on the hunt for good DIY guides or videos. I’ve seen some for the older M274 engine, and it doesn’t seem too complicated. Spark plugs themselves are reasonably priced at about $15 each from mbpartsource. The key is documenting all DIY work meticulously to keep Mercedes-Benz happy and maintain that valuable lifetime powertrain warranty.
So, what’s the takeaway? While dealership convenience is tempting, understanding the components of a Mercedes B Service cost can save you a significant amount of money. Exploring independent shops and even DIY for certain maintenance tasks can be a smart move for savvy Mercedes owners. Anyone have good resources for M264 spark plug replacement? Let me know in the comments!
