Roop94

my w211 is at 140k now, had it for 2 years from 106k. It came from auction so idk if trans fluid was changed or not, my best bet is it was not.

Question is, does the w211 need trans fluid change? I read around it needs to be changed around about at 100k but isn't the trans fluid supposed to be "lifetime" and no service needed, unless there is some other fluid leakage, a diff story. '

Also heard it might be "bad" to change the fluid if there isn't a problem. The shop i took it to, for a diff reason, i asked n he said yea bring it in next week and will change it and you should consider it changing now, havent seen him for 4 months now lol. He's gona make his $$ but does it really need to be changed?

rapidoxidation

"lifetime". Hmm. Sure, once the transmission is shot (due to dirty fluid) its lifespan is up.
One could call motor oil "lifetime" too and they'd not be wrong. But changing the oil does help the engine last a lot longer.
Change the fluid.

ollo

Mercedes recommends change every 40,000 miles.

Recently sold my 94 E420 with 249,000 miles on original transmission. They had reputation for early trans failure, usually Reverse. Records on mine showed trans serviced at 69K, 129k.

Had about 229k when purchased, so I changed trans fluid/filter along with other fluids with no problems. When placed in R, mine took approx. 1 1/2" to engage but otherwise shifted normally. Was told this indicated "moderate" wear. This was a 2nd car that I only drove 6k+ yearly and it shifted fine the whole 3 years I owned the car and time to reverse was still 1 1/2".

My belief is that a high mileage trans which never had fluid/filter changed, could lose a few months of life if it was close to failure shortly anyway, but otherwise it only helps extend the life of the unit, plus a new filter isn't going to disintegrate like one that has been in use for 100k might do. Don

Roop94

every 40k..hmmm. I drove almost 40k myself in 2 years.

Seems like it should've been done earlier when i bought it lol how much does the bill runs up to on trans fluid change?

arto_wa

Not sure how much since I have always done it myself, but I would be willing to bet it will cost lot less than new transmission!

I would not delay the AT oil change another mile.

Roop94

I did not know. When i bought it, i asked around like what fluids should i consider to change and what would be the timings, all i heard was most of the fluids are unchangeable. Like Trans oil.

I was about to get the trans oil changed but got accepted into a university and been busy ever since lol i'll get free time next sunday.

how long does it take u to change it? is it easy? what tools and DIY steps if you can provide or a thread? which type oil n what else is there to replace besides oil?

mtrevelino

My indie charged me $300 just a year ago. I think my MB dealer charged less as they did not drop the pan. All they did was flush the fluid.
Mike T.

Roop94

?????

i get that it meant to just change the oil, but pan?

mtrevelino

All they did was connect the flush machine (BG flush machine?) to the transmission lines and performed a flush (change the old fluid (oil)). They did not drop (remove) the transmission pan to change the filter. I was surprised that the dealer would do this, but then again, it is lifetime fluid!
Mike T.

Roop94

oh any idea how much they charged?

just came to my mind, one my friend knows a guy in MB dealership, said he does the work half the price MB charges. I'll hit him up and see what he would charge. But i wouldn't mind doing it myself at my friend's shop

mtrevelino

The dealer that did just the flush charged me $200 back during 2010. During 2013 another dealer charged me $300 which included changing the filter. Both dealers changed the electrical connector to the transmission.
Mike T.

kajtek1

For 7-sp it is not "every 40,000" but "at 40,000 miles".
My 2008 had it done as I could confirm with the dealer and at 182k I don't have transmission problem.
Power flushing is not recommended, but some members found plugs on converter.
I will "think about it" once I reach 200k.

Roop94

since this came from auction, neither the dealer knew if that had been changed for once or not. would the VIN search show that on maintenance report right? I'll check that tom if i find anything but i am, though, considering to get it changed at least once in my hands.

Roop94

and i see all these trans numbers like 722.9 (6) i believe, how would i know what is the number of my trans? It is 7 speed

kajtek1

Sometimes Carfax spells the service, other than that you should get MI.
In the past we had friendly members here who would PM those.
You can decode your car here https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/Mercedes-Benz

relinuca

My '09 E350 4Matic has a 5 speed trans, type 722.676. The mntce. manual calls for transmission fluid servicing at 40K miles...that's it!


relinuca

marc hanna

Originally these transmissions were listed as lifetime fluid, but they encountered a lot of failures.

Ive owned several, and I would recommend a flush every 50,000 miles or 80,000kms. In your case I would recommend getting the electrical socket on the transmission replaced at the same time, because if it hadn't started to fail yet, it will shortly. It's only a $10 part, so it's well worth it and might prevent and untimely and inconvenient break down.

kajtek1

Better double check the 09 transmission. To my knowledge MB switched all to 7G by then.
I've been servicing the 5 sp with 150k miles, 230k miles and my impression was that it was still factory ATF.
The one 150k had soft code, but the one with 230k on diesel was running fine, although old ATF was thickened pretty bad and new fluid made gear shifting softer.
So my conclusion is not to worry about fluid for 100k miles.
Pilot bushing has MB note to be replaced with ANY transmission service.
It is the only part that require maintenance every few years, regardless the mileage.

N_Jay

There is not a lot of good information on the "real" requirements for MB transmissions, other than one change around 42K miles.

ZF transmissions are similar in technology and materials recommends a change interval between 40K and 80K depending on how hard the use is.
Even with 80K changes they recommend the first change early at about 40K due to fluid contamination from early clutch wear.

I am guessing That MB figures one change around 42K and they are safe till past 120K at which point most customers will stop blaming the manufacturer for a failed transmission.

kajtek1

And I can understand why car manufacturer is not making maintenance schedule up to million miles.
That also bring the point why I think 722.6 transmission come originally "sealed for life".
Back in early 1990's when those transmissions were design - not too many cars would be used past 100k miles. In Europe not too many cars of the era lasted longer than 7 years.
Now W210 and later proved to be reliable past the expectation and those cars run 20 years, 2 - 400,000 miles with expectation to do lot more.
Can we blame the engineers that they did not worry what will happen past 20 years?

N_Jay

"Sealed for Life" also let the manufacturers not consider the transmission fluid waste requirements when determinting the total pollution from the vehicle.
I believe it was Germany that first started pushing for a reduction in pollution including waste fluids.

In theory, . . .

If you never overheat the ATF,
and you never overload the transmission,
and the filter can contain the entire expected clutch material load,
then a transmission should not need a fluid change at all.

Of course seals are not perfect, and topping up allows for contamination, and, and, and!

arto_wa

It is easy if you have the detailed instructions and proper tools.

The enclosed pdf instructions for 722.9xx 7 -speed AT were posted by member johnand on this forum August 30, 2010


Here it is:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ce-thread.html



If you have the 722.9xx transmission, it does not likely have a AT fluid dipstick (at least my 2008 E320 with 722.902 7G-Tronic has no dipstick or filler tube).
Instead, it will be filled through the drain plug with a pump and you need the instructions on how to fill it to correct level properly.

You may be better off taking it to independent shop who is used to working on these, and make sure they drop the AT pan and drain the converter (assuming the converter has a drain like mine has).

NewShockerGuy

Thank you for the reference! I will be doing this now here in a month or so. They seemed to have linked youtube videos as well. Hoping all goes well.

-Nigel