After I changed the trans fluid on my Mercedes, I realized that it was simpler than on my Chevy Astro. The pan gasket for the Mercedes is molded to fit around the lip of the pan. On my Chevy I need to spray some high tack on the pan flange to get the gasket to stick so that I can screw in the dozen or so bolts. I also had to install a transmission pan drain bolt on my Chevy, Mercedes came with one.

Since I am not able to change the fluid from the torque converter on my non-Mercedes vehicles, I change the trans fluid every 15K miles and change the fluid and filter every 30K miles. This is overkill but I consider it cheap insurance since I tend to keep my vehicles until they are ready for the bone yard.

Dale, the 98 E320 is a very nice riding car but I feel Mercedes got carried away with the use of plastic parts. Your 95 E320 is built more like the traditional Mercedes thinking - Quality first, price second which gives it that built like a German Tank feeling.

I believe that the dipstick tool is that long because it is used on various models and they don't want you to leave the dipstick in the "permanent fill" transmissions. The black part at the end of the dipstick is the part that actually measures the fluid level, the long cable is there to attach the black part.

The part number for the magnet is 2202710098 and cost me $3.28 from my Mercedes dealer.

BTW, I also changed my spark plugs (put anti-seeze compound on the threads and dielictric grease on the ceramic portion of the spark plug to make removal easier) and power steering fluid. My hands are a little scraped up but my car has a clean bill of health.

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles