It has 208k miles and I'm getting it on the road for the first time since 99. I'm doing a trans filter change and I want to know what fluid I should get. I was at Advance Auto today and there are a LOT of options.

There's dexron and mercon and each has a myriad of variants. Then there is Mobil 1 and Pentosin synthetics. I do like the idea of synthetics if they are MB approved. I've found a few threads on the topic but not found a concensus.

I want to buy it tomorrow. Help!

Dexron III is what they took originally.

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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.

AA probably has Valvoline blue bottle DexIII, that's what I just used in my most recent service in my 95 E300 diesel. Chevron MD3 is also good, just stick with conventional for the ATF, at least IMO.

Any fluid that's suggested for Dexron 3 use.

I use and really enjoy Valvoline Maxlife. It was a synthetic blend at the least, but I believe it's full synthetic now. Designed specifically for old transmissions, with a very good additive pack to support that.

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'84 190D 2.2 5MT (Red/Palomino) Current car. Love it!
'85 190D 2.2 Auto *Cali* (Blue/Blue) *sold*
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What Manny said. I've also used Valvoline MaxLife on both 95s and 96's with good effect.

I use Mobil One,or Coastal semi sync. in my 83 sd.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

I haven't bought it lately, but the gallon jug of Maxlife at places like Advance and Autozone was also the best value. This would be my dex/merc compatible fluid of choice as well.

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

check out https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolisten/bevo-sheets-sort1.html

236.1, 236.6, 236.7, 236.9, 236.10, or 236.81

Me too.

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83 SD

84 CD

the old dexron, DexII, IID, III, IIIG, IIIH are now obsolete, your transmission was filled with dexron or dexron II ATF.

whatever you buy called dex/merc at the stores will work as they are sort of following the old blending formula.

The upgraded dexron is dexron VI which is quite more stable, very resistant to foaming, flows quite well in cold and has better traction in the clutches (strong shifts). Some older units dont like how it affects the apply pistons and lip seals.

there are some fluids out there that meet Allison transmission TES-389 specification - which is 99% or even 100% close to the old dexron III-H specification of General Motors. There is a castrol transmax dex product and also a mobil product, mobil D/M which meets that spec.

The absolute pinnacle of old dexron III type ATF are Allison Transmission TES 295 ATF, they cost about 40 dollars a gallon, (too pricey for my taste) but they essentially never shear down.

I use the oldschool dex/merc type ATF you can buy from the parts stores, even house brands are good enough - like NAPA's own ATF (repackaged valvoline) or Autozone which sells warren lubes just like walmart ATF. - I add a bottle of lubegard conditioner to the ATF charge. Make sure you fill it correct, the dipstick is very deceiving in mercedes automatics

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

That's the truth. For whatever reason ALL Mercedes I've had, past or present, have the most finicky dipsticks known to man, seems like it take a good week of constant tweaking for the reading to finally be correct and consistent.

Still, it's better than a lot of newer cars, like Toyota, which don't even have a dipstick tube anymore with their "filled for life" transmissions; rather just a hard-to-reach fill port, and inspection port that is used to measure fluid levels at a tiny temperature window, it's unbelievably sensitive...

In my 722.4 I set the ATF level right at the tip where the dipstick curls and the pointer points to the shaft of the dipstick. It always is perfect when I check it hot. The problem is that the hot level is quite sensitive too - e.g. if you check it at 90C ATF temperature it can creep further

ohh - the new toyota with the check from bum method - they finally made a tool that can test the level with transmission at operating temperature, but it requires to pull a vacuum on the transmission case first (with engine running).

Mercedes 7 speed are like that too - infact even worse than toyota. Mercedes had a ford moment when they decided to not provide a separate fill port in the transmission, You fill them up from the drain hole.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

No, Dexron II may have been what they took originally, but it still had an MB sheet number.

Dex III is entirely compatible with Dex II (IMO the jury is still out over Dex VI in older transmissions), but there is no such thing as a Dexron III fluid any more. GM doesn't license the so it's anyone's guess what a D/M fluid might be.

That said, what can you do?

I personally run a name brand D/M fluid, and add lubeguard red for extra oxidation resistance.

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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)