ldye

Best I can see it is leaking from the front of the transmission. I'm guessing a front seal. Is this something MB will repair or will they replace with a new tranny.
I'm not very happy to see this happening with only 5000 miles on the clock.

blueSL

Well, one puddle on the garage floor looks pretty much like another; could be the transmission, could be the engine, the brakes, the adaptive damping (ABC). My car lost its ABC fluid twice and was trucked in the second time. The under-body cladding makes it difficult to know exactly were it's coming from, needs to go up on a ramp and have the cladding removed.

I'd get the car in without delay and certainly before driving it any more.

CASL55

I found Automatic Transmission Fluid (red, doesn't look like motor oil) on the floor of the garage. Not a puddle, just a few drops. I took it in to the dealer, and they found a faulty seal around an electrical fitting on the transmission. Dealer replaced it, and it's been fine since.

If your problem turns out to be a similar seal, maybe there's a broader problem than a random failure.

"Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and three times is enemy action." Ian Fleming.

Jim

blueSL

The electrical parts of a Mercedes transmission are immersed in the ATF fluid, so the seal around the electrical connector is important. Here's a picture of what sits in the fluid... you can see the connector at the top.

ldye

it was the electrical fitting. My guess is that it was not installed correctly causing the leak around one of the o rings. My dealer had this part in stock. That tells me something.

blueSL

Agree with that, my experience is that Mercedes dealers hardly have anything in stock, apart perhaps from oil filters.

JosanK

A friend has an 03 S55. Same problem. 16K miles.

Xeron

watch for slippage afterwards. If so they need to replace the ETC