str8ridin

Alright, well, I'm going against the manufacture's recomended interval (100Kmiles) and doing it at 60K. I found a local European shop this is willing to do it.

But I want all OEM parts/fluids. So I checked the for the fluid at the dealer and they said it is $22.50 per quart!!

Do I really need Genuine Mercedes Synthetic fluid or can I use a brand name equivalent? What are your thoughts/experiences? How many quarts do I need?

str8ridin

Alright, my apointment is tomorrow, so does anybody know if the shops "MB Sythetic ATF Equivalent" is OK for our W208's or are we to adhere strictly to MB fluid only?

Josh K

Don't use anything but the OEM fluid in your tranny. If you think 22.50/quart is expensive, you should check out the cost of a MBenz tranny. ;0)

nickv

Amen to that....only MB fluid! I did mine at 68K....big difference!

str8ridin

How much did you pay if I may ask?

nickv

I'm thinking it was somewhere around $200 - $250.

joeray

I only have 30K on my car but it's about 5 years old.

Do I need to change the fluid also? Any other thing I need to change based on age and not milege?

str8ridin

I'm not sure, but since it's synthetic, I don't think it would break down as fast as convention ATF's. But, you know, it can't hurt.

I just had the place look at mine and change it. They couldn't(wouldn't) open the TQ converter, so they only changed the tranny fluid itslef and dropped the pan.

They said that it looks "immacualte" in there and were suprised that the fluid wasn't black! I'll take that compliment.

Josh K

You should have gone to a place that specialized in Benzes as there is a procedure for changing all of the fluid, even the fluid in the converter.

str8ridin

I know. I regret going. I already made an apointment at the dealer to get the whole thing done right. Piece of mind after all you guys scared me for not using MB fluid!

brianw430

I just had mine changed and including flushing the converter it costs about $250. It did seem to make a difference, plus the peace of mind.

Q2SUPHOMIES

I'm having a friend how is a motor head coming over and is going to change the tranny fluid. I talked to my brother in law and he deals in all high end cars and said you can use mercon or dexron i think thats right..you don't have to use specifically mercedes brand. (any opinions about that) Does anyone have the procedure for changing the tranny in a 1999 208. Thanks all so much

J Lucas

I would only use the mercedes benz fluid in the tranny. It is like 15 a quart but hey its your tranny right. If you want to use another fluid .. go ahead.. let us know how it turns out.

str8ridin

It uses about 9-10. Draining the tranny itslef is easy from the plug, but the torque converter is the sealed part that most places but the dealer won't touch. That is where 5-6 quarts is held.

I spoke with the certified Merc. Tech at the dealer about other fluids. He said that you can use other fluids, but just make sure they are fully compliant and compatible. There is no "magic dust" in the MB fluid that makes it work only with Mercedes transmissions. Just the "Magic Label" of the Benz symbol on the bottle that makes it expensive.

In my opinion, transmissions are breaking because of the 100K mile changing interval specified by MB, not becasue of using other brands of fluids.