car is a 99e300 155,000 miles

ok, 1 of my shops thinks that it is unwise to change the diff fluid this late, i dont have the full service records for the car, it could have been changed at some point but maybe not
the car seems to have been well maintained but.....

this indie shop feels i am likely to get noise/whine/problems out of the rear diff if i change it now and it has never been done before

said they have never seen a mercedes diff fail so just leave it alone



my other shop feels i should change it

what are everyones thoughts on this?

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Courtney
2006 E320 CDI
2008 ML320 CDI

Go with this shop. Diff gear lube should be good for ~100k miles.

If the transmission has not been serviced (fluid/filter change, not a flush) then have them do that. Is it a MB specific shop? That particular application has a drain plug on the torque converter too.

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Jim

Change it.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

that is what i think too

chances are 80% or better it waa changed at some point anyway, at least i would think so from the records i do have

already did trans, doing brake fluid this week and will go ahead and do diff

i feel better knowing it has all new fluids in it and plan to change all the rest over the next few weeks


the shop that recommended not changing it is a mercedes/bmw shop

i just worried maybe there was some thing about this particular differential that caused it to whine etc if left too long and then messed with

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Courtney
2006 E320 CDI
2008 ML320 CDI

If changing the fluid causes a problem, it was on its last leg to begin with.

An unserviced AT may be asking for trouble. But a diff? Do it!

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Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)

change the rear diff fluid. and if the old stuff comes out looking particularly dark or nasty, change it again a month later.

My '96 E300 -- I changed the diff at 249,000 miles, probably for the first time (no records of previous changes). The stuff that came out was not particularly nasty. I refilled and have had no problems in 36,000 miles and 4-1/2 years. I agree with the 100,000 mile suggestion.

Jeremy

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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

Change it. It's not like a trans.

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 373K, 2 diff fluid changes

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Objects in closer are mirror than they appear.

By my notes I changed Diff & Trans at 134,305 miles, I now have another 38,000 miles on then and likely will change them again this summer.

No problems, just do it with 100% synthetic fluids.

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1999 Mercedes E300TD daily driver sold at 238K miles 106K miles were mine, rust worm got it :-(
2006 Mercedes CDI new daily driver! 56,000 miles May 2016 now 85,625 Apr 2018 and Apr 2019 101,000 miles Apr 2020 109,875. March 2024 135,250, Dec 2024 145,000 miles