CLK500 Transmission Service question

[wazv6]

Whats up guys. I'm at 60k miles and I want to get the transmission flush service done. I know guys I'm late on this but I'm taking my car in to get an oil change and figured I'd get it out the way now. Just want to know whats a fair price the stealer-ship would charge to do the complete tranny flush and from your personal experience how does your car feel after you have had the tranny serviced. Thanks guys

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[anwar_m14]

when is the transmission service due for a 2003 e320? same mileage?

[quaalude]

When I was getting pricing from two dealerships, they both were around $400 for the tranny filter replacement and 6 qts of tranny fluid. Ending up buy the tools and doing the service myself. Car's transmission felt much better with smoother and crisper shifts.

Recommend service interval is 60000 km or 39000 miles. I ususally do mine at 50000 miles. The 5 spd tranny on the e320 can be flushed and requires 12 qts to do the flush and fill.

[wazv6]

Originally Posted by quaalude

When I was getting pricing from two dealerships, they both were around $400 for the tranny filter replacement and 6 qts of tranny fluid. Ending up buy the tools and doing the service myself. Car's transmission felt much better with smoother and crisper shifts.

Recommend service interval is 60000 km or 39000 miles. I ususally do mine at 50000 miles. The 5 spd tranny on the e320 can be flushed and requires 12 qts to do the flush and fill.

Thanks for the input. I just got a quote from Helm's Bros. Mercedes here in NY and there quoting me $260 for the complete tranny flush but no filter replacement. They said they do not change the filter?

[wazv6]

Any idea on why some dealers change the filter and some don't?

[bheng]

cuz they like to cheap out?

can you request to change the filter?

[Kevwood]

My 500 is in the MB shop right now waiting for a trans shift module (coming from Germany) so I had them do the full trans service while they were at it. Complete flush, new oil trans oil (obviously) and filter is $500USD on the nose here. Pricey but with the searing heat here one is foolish not to maintain the oils well ahead of schedule.

[wazv6]

Originally Posted by Kevwood

My 500 is in the MB shop right now waiting for a trans shift module (coming from Germany) so I had them do the full trans service while they were at it. Complete flush, new oil trans oil (obviously) and filter is $500USD on the nose here. Pricey but with the searing heat here one is foolish not to maintain the oils well ahead of schedule.

Whats the need for the trans shift module ? is that a electrical or mechanical issue?

[Kevwood]

Electrical. The car went into 'trans limp in mode' two days after I bought it (how's them apples?) so i took it into MB to have it checked. They said the code had been thrown a few times, did the diagnostic and it came up as a faulty module, $750USD to replace and they don't stock it in the Middle East so it's on it's way from Germany. I decided to have some other work done on the car while it's in as well. I never have and never will cut corners on maintenance, in fact, I'm always doing things ahead of schedule here.

[wazv6]

Originally Posted by Kevwood

Electrical. The car went into 'trans limp in mode' two days after I bought it (how's them apples?) so i took it into MB to have it checked. They said the code had been thrown a few times, did the diagnostic and it came up as a faulty module, $750USD to replace and they don't stock it in the Middle East so it's on it's way from Germany. I decided to have some other work done on the car while it's in as well. I never have and never will cut corners on maintenance, in fact, I'm always doing things ahead of schedule here.

Ouch. That's unfortunate. I def agree with doing maintenance on time.

[BadDebt]

I would get a drain and fill not a flush at your mileage.

[wazv6]

Originally Posted by BadDebt

I would get a drain and fill not a flush at your mileage.

Any particular reason why ? I spoke to a service rep and they informed me that in some cars with certain age and miles they would do a flush and then some they wont mainly not to cause any more damage. Last thing I want is to get a flush and then my tranny goes.

[wazv6]

Now I'm confused. Do I need a complete drain, flush and fill or just a drain and fill ??????

[hawk25]

A flush will be fine... I just did one at 98,000 currently at 109,000 no problems whats so ever.... Oh while your doing the trans flush you might as well have the differential oil changed too.

[BadDebt]

flushing a trany can break old deposits off and they will go thru the trany some times causing problems when they block up small holes that the trans fluid goes through. It's not a perfect science. You could be okay or it could cause problems, no way to know. I drained mine at 55 will do it again at 85,000. I was told the majority of it was changed although some fluid that was sitting in the tranny itself stayed in. 2/3s of it is new.

[wazv6]

Originally Posted by BadDebt

flushing a trany can break old deposits off and they will go thru the trany some times causing problems when they block up small holes that the trans fluid goes through. It's not a perfect science. You could be okay or it could cause problems, no way to know. I drained mine at 55 will do it again at 85,000. I was told the majority of it was changed although some fluid that was sitting in the tranny itself stayed in. 2/3s of it is new.

Thanks. That does make sense. Did you notice a significant difference after you preformed the service?

[BadDebt]

No, not really, it was shifting fine before and after.

[wazv6]

Originally Posted by BadDebt

No, not really, it was shifting fine before and after.

Thanks for the input Baddebt

[buffyclk500]

also just fyi they just came out with a new oil for the tran
i was told by the forman it is alot better and if u drain every 30,000 u will never have any thing go wrong

[Kevwood]

Originally Posted by buffyclk500

also just fyi they just came out with a new oil for the tran
i was told by the forman it is alot better and if u drain every 30,000 u will never have any thing go wrong

Similar story here, I drain every 25K and flush every 50K on my C class and will do the same with my CLK now.

[wazv6]

So I'm at 60k and i doubt my car has ever had the tranny service preformed so should I preform the full flush or just a drain and fill?

[Kevwood]

Personally, I'd do the flush but I understand what BadDebt is saying. If you had 100K on it, driven like hell, brake stands and in a really hot weather location it might be a different story. MB trans fluid is very, very good - it's probably unlikely that you'll have any issues with deposits.

Have you owned the car since new?

[wazv6]

Originally Posted by Kevwood

Personally, I'd do the flush but I understand what BadDebt is saying. If you had 100K on it, driven like hell, brake stands and in a really hot weather location it might be a different story. MB trans fluid is very, very good - it's probably unlikely that you'll have any issues with deposits.

Have you owned the car since new?

Thanks for your input Kev. I have heard that sometimes doing the flush can actually cause more problems for reasons that Baddebt stated. Of course along with everyone else I am not trying to deal with that. 70% of the time I drive my conservatively ( here in NYC with moving parking lots opps I meant crowded streets and highways you kind of have no choice). I bought the car 2.5 years ago with roughly 32k miles.

[quaalude]

I would do just the drain and fill. Like Baddebt said, a drain and fill replaces 2/3 of the fluid anyways (6 liters). Another thing is definitely have them change the transmission filter.

[wazv6]

Thanks for the input Quaalude