Hi,
I recently got a 2011 C250 with 84k km, but it seems the previous owner didn’t take great care of it. To be on the safe side, I’m planning to replace all the fluids preventively.

So far, I’ve only changed the oil. What other fluids should I prioritize?
Transmission fluid?
Brake fluid?
Coolant?
Something else?

I’d really appreciate your advice!

 

@--mb-- all of that would be good to change preventatively.

Coolant breaks down over time and can develop deposits that can cause blockages and internal damage to the cooling system and engine.

Trans service for our car is 70k miles I believe. When I purchased my car at 91k miles I did the below:

​​​​​​- spark plugs
- ignition coils
- oil and oil filter
- trans service at MB dealer
- serpentine belt (accessory belt)
- idler puller
- belt tensioner
- brake rotors and pads

I have also replaced the thermostat and while doing that did a coolant flush.

Brake fluid should be good unless you start getting soft pedal and notice moisture building up in your brake fluid reservoir. I have not done a brake fluid flush.

Hope this helps !

Ant

 

Thanks for the reply!!
Notes taken!
Good point for the brakes! It works well as far as i can tell, though it's recommended to be changed every 2 years.
For the transmission fluid the only info i found on my service booklet is that it should be change every 60,000 KM or 3 years for transmissions 722.9 and 722.6 However I'm not sure which transmission I have.

 

Its a 2011 with only 84km on it? That is great. My 2010 has over 250,000km and it drives fantastic. Since I bought the car 5yrs ago I simply go through the Maintenance Manual that came with the Operators manual and make sure everything is up to date.

Why do you say the previous owner did not take great care of it? You dont mention any issues, other than i think you wrote about "dirty oil".

- Transmission fluid and filter would be good. Inspect the old fluid and cut open the old filter to check for anything out of the ordinary.
- Brake fluid may need to be flushed/replaced. That is an easy job you can do especially if you buy a pressure bleeder. I bought one for $40 and do it every 2yrs, so now it basically only costs $20 for the price of a liter of MB Dot4+ brake fluid.
- Inspect the air filter, if its dirty then replace it. that is an easy job.
- Cabin air filter also. They can get musty, also dirty so the ac/heater fan doesnt work efficiently.
- Rear differential fluid. Which is gear oil. Inspect the old oil for anything abnormal, metal bits.
- Inspect the drive belt for cracks, signs of wear. Check the gauge on the belt tensioner to see how stretched the belt is. New belt is around $15 and easy enough to replace yourself. Save the old belt and keep it in your trunk just in case. inspect the idler pulleys, are they smooth and quiet or do they wobble and sound like a skateboard wheel?

In my Maintenance manual it says replace coolant at 15yrs/150,000 MILES. Around that time I had a leaking oil filter housing gasket so I replaced it and did the coolant at the same time. You can take a look at your coolant to see how it looks. But I wouldn't be too concerned about it at this time, can be lower on your list of things to do.

Inspect your brake pads and rotors, see how worn they are. If it looks like you may need to replace them soon then hold off on the brake fluid flush, wait and do it at the same time. Also brake pads and rotors are one thing i made sure to buy from FCP Euro for the lifetime warranty. pads and rotors were one of the first things i did when i got my W204 because it needed it, glad I bought from FCP because its looking like ill need to replace them again probably thing year.

 

What is your vin #? Ill look up what you have.

 

@TimC300 Thanks for the info, that’s awesome! Really appreciate it!
The car runs fine with no issues, but there are a few signs that make me think they didn’t pay much attention to it. For example, the tires aren’t from the same set. All of them are pretty worn out and have different tread depth(so they didn't rotate it), and one of them is actually the original tire from when the car was released, which makes it 14 years old. So, I’m not entirely sure if everything else is up to date either.
So i'm going to go through the list you've made and check it first!

VIN: WDDGF8FB8BA503881

 

Tires should be replaced at six years, regardless of tread depth. That is because the rubber will rot in that amount of time and the belts may begin to separate. Be sure to check the insides of the tires as they may look fine on the outside. (The inside side of the tire, not the interior of the tire.) You can find out how your car was equipped from the factory by entering your VIN in www.lastvin.com.

https://www.lastvin.com/vin/a8NMV2ozZ4KEQln9y

You have the 722.9 (7G+) transmission (build code A89) meaning you use the ATF-134FE (blue) fluid.

 

Thanks for checking that out for me!
Yeah, I ended up swapping out the rims and tires in the first week because they were in such bad shape. One of the rims even needed repairs, so I just found a set of rims and tires in pretty good condition and went with that.

 

There is alot of useful info from looking up the vin. Mainly it helps when looking up the correct part 3's since there are all different variations.

When I looked up my vin I printed all the pages out so I can look at it easily whenever I need it.

You have the 204.085. Bookmark this website, it is your specific parts diagrams: https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/e...fg/204085/62p/

- Engine 272.911
- Transmission 722.963 with code A89. This is the later version, useful to know when ordering trans fluid and filter.

- You have option 486 Sports Suspension. Good to know when ordering replacement struts, springs.
.

 

@TimC300
Wooow, amazing! I'm at the right place !

Thanks very much!

 

Which part of Canada you from? You doing the work yourself?

 

So OPs car is a 272 engine? The C250 in Canada had the V6?