Frank Wiesmann

I have had the tranny fluid and filter changed twice on my 2003 E500: Once at 51000 miles and a second time at 56000 miles. It was not a flush, they just dropped the pan, drained all the fluid they could, replaced the filter and refilled the fluid. On each change, about half of the total fluid (4 quarts) in the transmission was drained. The cost amounted to a total of just over 300 dollars for the two changes combined. I am now approaching 64000 miles and am wondering: Does my car need a third change to get the last bit of dirty fluid out or am I good to go for the next 20000 to 30000 miles? Any input or experiences would be appreciated.

lkchris

For 2006 Mercedes changed the requirement from never change it to once at 39K miles.

Frank Wiesmann

Thanks,

I was aware of the change in the maintenance schedule. I just am not sure whether two drainings in combination with a fluid and filter change are enough to clean out all of the dirty fluid and make the transmission safe to go for the next 30000 miles.

Diesel Benz

When they do the change, they should flush the tranny a couple of times to get all the oil changed (as there are no drain plugs everywhere, like the torque converter). This should be done per the service schedule, be it 39000 miles.

It does not make sense doing it after 5000 miles from the previous service. Sounds like there would have been the engine coolant leak issue, which should be fixed instead of curing it by extremely frequent tranny oil changes.