OK, not having any current problems, let me see if I can get some input on a future item....

When (not if) my transmission eventually goes, am I better to go with a rebuilt or remanufactured one? What are the tradeoffs? And where would I find a remanufactured one...is there a reliable vendor (other than the dealership)?

Thanks.

For some reason the transmission is the one part of my car that makes me feel like I'm living on borrowed time...

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

The terms "rebuilt" or "remanufactured" are not defined by anyone other than the supplier.

In all cases, what is done internally to the transmission is strictly based upon the supplier and the internal condition of the transmission.

It's a bit of a blind article to the consumer.

Personally, I have 100% confidence that the "rebuilt" or "remanufactured" transmission received from any of these outfits is not anything close to a "new" transmission and will not have a prayer of going 200K miles as most of the original transmissions are capable of.

My SD has a factory remanufactured transmission installed at some point by the PO. We'll see how far it goes. But the SD only has 195K on the clock. If it makes it to 300K, I'll be suitably impressed.

Well my friends 81 SD has 650K miles. The engine was shot at 400K, so it was replaced with a new crate engine from the dealer and the transmission was rebuilt by AAMCO (found the receipts) about 250K miles later the car runs like a top and transmission shifts just fine.

My dads 78 300D transmission has just been rebuilt, the guys at the transmission shop said they were amazed that the thing had never been rebuilt for 400K miles.

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Current:
05 E320 CDI
07 GL320 CDI
08 Sprinter
05 Dodge Cummins
01 Dodge Cummins

Previous
2004 E55 AMG
2002 C32 AMG (#2)
1995 E300
1978 300D
1987 300D
2002 C32 AMG(blown motor :[
1981 300SD
1983 300SD
1987 300SDL
2002 Jetta TDI
1996 S420
1995 S500
1993 190E 2.6
1992 190E 2.3
1985 190E 2.3 5-Speed

Many commercially-rebuilt transmissions (and alternators and starter motors and carburetors -- remember carburetors?) are done in huge factories by minimum wage employees driven to work as fast as possible. Every possible corner is cut to keep expenses down and profits up while selling at the lowest possible price because many people replace the bad assembly and immediately dump the car so they don't care about quality.

I replaced the transmission in my wife's Oldsmobubble with a factory "gen-u-wine Delco" remanufactured unit -- $1700 plus labor! It lasted barely 70K miles and started making bad noises. I took it to a local tranny shop, oldest and best in town, and had it rebuilt. They found all sorts of crap in the transmission during the rebuild. I complained to GM; they didn't care. Although the local place officially warranties their work for only a year, they probably will stand behind it for as long as we have the car. We're local and they're local and they have their reputation to think about.

As Brian said, the terms "rebuilt" and "remanufactured" have no real meaning and many if not most rebuilt components are of questionable value. Incidentally, I not only replace the transmission oil and filter every 25K miles, I take the car back to the tranny shop and let them do it. It costs $95 for a job I could easily do myself but leaves them with no excuse if something goes wrong.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Now, that's definitely a first..............

I have about 80K on my "reman" tranny (almost all highway), we'll see how it does in the long term.

Ruben's family is disgustingly lucky. We should all be so fortunate.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Well, with three shifts every 100 miles, you're not exactly the epitome of the "normal" user.

You, too, might have been successful with Aamco.........

That's what I'm counting on, today it was more like 3 shifts every 300 miles (I drove across most of KS, MO, IL, IN).

The trans in these cars are extremly durable, I do all around town probably 12 shifts per mile! The SDL's trans is getting a bit soft but still goes good, 250k+ miles, 20 years, and lots of around town, I'm impressed!

I found a local trans shop that seems to know there stuff, when I get mine done I'll probably send it there way. I'm not to keen to pay a few hundred for shipping when I can get it done locally. These are simple trans, also there are a lot of these cars around here, they have all worked on them.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

This is probably a prudent question for you to ask, being that you have a W124. Seems their failure rate is higher than the W123's and W126's..........
Around 200K also seems to be the magical #.

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John