Very thoughtful of you to post this. I am however one of those that doesn't pay attention to the advice that one use only MB products. MB doesn't make any fluids like ATF or brake fluid. This is pure marketing. Porsche, MB, BMW, VW all say to use their respective fluids, but the components that the fluids are for are made by the same companies. Take brakes for example, what is so different in the brakes on a MB versus a BMW that calls for a completely different fluid? Brakes are either ATE or Girling. So why would the ATE brakes on a MB need different fluid than on a BMW......?

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member