Hi guys,
I have an 03 E55 AMG and wanted to change out the rear differential fluid but I seem to be getting conflicting answers on which fluid type to use.

the dealership closest to me said to use: 85W-90 hypoid oil
Dealership in a bigger city said to use: 75W-140 hypoid oil
Tuner said to use: 75W-90 full synthetic oil

im pretty sure I do not have the p030 package as those didn’t start until later years.
any help would be appreciated.
Thanks and happy holidays.

 

I went through this same thing. In the end, (as suggested by others here) I looked in the owner's manual. It says 85w-90. I ended up using Liqui Moly in my 2006 E55.

 

Thank you for the response, I don’t have the manual but will look for a digital copy and proceed accordingly.

I tried looking up in WIS but that thing is even more confusing.

would you by any chance know how big a difference would it be in between 75w90 & 85w90

 

Here is a pic from the owner's manual.

You either want to follow the recommendations from MB or you don't. I don't think running an oil with lower viscosity than MB calls for in a high torque car is a good idea, but that is just my $.02

 

my owners manual didn't indicate which diff fluid to go with. there's so much contradicting info on it for our cars (is it an LSD or no?) that it's tough to get a definite answer. I believe i saw somewhere that 235.7 is the most updated diff fluid spec we should use (feel free to correct me if i'm wrong) so i ended up grabbing 001989330312 from ECS tuning
https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevol...hbegriff=235.7

 

Unless you have an aftermarket unit, our cars are open differential (Non-LSD).

Yes, there is a lot of contradictory information on this. You can read the thread I started a while back on this https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...rch-first.html

I went by the manual in my car. Everyone is free to use what they want, but the OP was asking what the original MB spec was in the car. 85w-90 is what is shown in the manual.

 

you'd only run the heavier weight if you have an LSD.

i use the same weight as factory weight 85W90 Hypoid Gear Oil liquimoly from FCP Euro for my Wavetrac. Since it isn't a clutch type either weight works for it.

 

Thank you for the picture. I changed the fluid with liqui moly 85w-90 hypoid oil.

Not sure what was in there but it looked to have been changed recently(I’ve only had the car for a year, approx 5k miles). It was golden brown and flowed similar to engine oil. I emptied it out and added the liqui moly till I got the drip. It was a workout adding the liqui moly back in, need a better hand pump.

Butt dono feels a difference lol but one thing that it did resolve is a weird random kick I used to feel going from 2-3 in sport mode, felt like a power hiccup for a second. That is gone for now

 

I don't think my diff oil had ever been changed. At 130k miles I drained it and it looked pretty good too. Since there is no LSD, there isn't much heat being generated and no clutch pack particulates being mixed in with the oil.

The Liqui Moly bottles I had came with a built in "straw" that extended from the bottle and made refilling fairly easy.