Today I changed the transmission fluid on my 2018 GLE350. While I intended to drain the torque converter, the limited access and need to drill out a section of the bell housing discouraged me. The transmission took 5.25 quarts of Pentosin 134FE instead of 9 quarts as the MB WIS states if the torque converter is drained. Has anyone drilled out the bell housing to access the TC and, if so, can you post some pictures?

Is there a "workaround" that I am missing because it did not seem worth the labor to gain access (the bell housing was not easily reachable with a drill bit) and risk of damage to drain the additional 3.75 quarts of ATF.

Am I wrong to think that simply changing the 5.25 quarts at more frequent intervals should protect the gears and valves?

Finally, though my dealer says they would drain the TC, I find it hard to believe that they taking the time to drill out bell housings to access TC drain plugs on these GLE's.

 

As far as I know, dealers "don't do converter drain" as a principle, but maybe something changed lately.
I've been doing pan service only for decades. Older 5G transmissions did not have plug on converter, when per my observation, the most of the dirt stays at the bottom of the pan.
So wiping the pan clean would be crucial service to me.

 

Do you have the 7G or 9G transmission?

 

2018 GLE350 has the 7G with M276 3.5NA.

No workaround.

You are not wrong in thinking that smaller fluid volume changes done more frequently will approximate larger fluid volume changes over a longer change interval. Even when the converter is drained, cooler lines and the cooler itself are not drained.

 

Thank you for the replies and the information. I only wish I had access to the TC drain plug like the video Amusa posted shows. Unfortunately, the 2018 GLE350 with the 7G transmission gives nowhere near the same easy access to the bell housing, not to mention it has a TC drain plug that does NOT line up with the access hole.

I plan to change the ATF at 30-35k intervals going forward. The process is pretty straight forward and requires replacing the gasket, green overflow plug, transmission filter, 6 bolts, crush washer, and 5.25 quarts of fluid. Other than Pentosin 134FE, I used all genuine MB parts from my local dealer since I did not want any fit issues. Both the Pentosin and the adapter for filling the transmission came from FCP Euro.

If anyone has drained the TC on a 2015-2019 GLE, I would love to see some pictures of the bell housing access hole after drilling and know how you got a drill bit into that space (what did you need to remove and how long did it take).

Thank you again for sharing so much wisdom and experience on this forum.

 

Check the DIY in my signature, WIS documents might be there with pictures of the drain hole. Also search this site, drilling the access in the bell housing has been posted.

 

I don't disturb the overflow plug. If you drain the pan with the bottom plug, the fluid level will go below pan rim, so you can remove the pan and drain remaining fluid into the bucket. I also don't hesitate to reuse the crush washer, what I don't think is crush. This is just flat copper washer and unless it is showing some deep scratches, it is reuseable.
On 1 transmission the bottom plug was over torqued and I was on the edge of stripping the head. In this case I just removed the pan full of ATF, what created a bit bigger mess, but still having big catch pan, pretty doable.