1987 560sl 125,000 miles trans. fluid changed every 15,000 miles. last changed - 1 week ago.
I am experiencing a noise from the transmission which sounds like a bad wheel bearing. Upon inspection, a trans. expert says it sounds like the planetary gears in the trans. and the trans. needs to be replaced. There is no noise upon acceleration, but it begins upon deceleration and continues until the car comes to a complete stop. It goes into gear well, shifts well, no slipping in any gear as well as downshifting, and the torque convertor tested good. The vaccuum on the modulator checked ok. There is no noise in neutral with rpms, only when the car is moving. It's hard to believe I have a trans. prob. with no shifting problems, only this noise. Does anyone know of a bearing in the driveshaft or back of the trans. that is prone to fail on these cars? Can this be a flexdisk problem that shows up when the acceleration torgue is let off? The local MB dealer says it could be some such bearing and he needs to check it out, but they say a lot of things, as I am learning. I have always thought that these trans. were built like a tank and I hope this is a small problem that can be cured fairly easily. The trans. fluid has never smelled burnt when it has been changed. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Does the noise happen on decel when it's in 4th gear? IN 4th gear both of the plantery gear sets are locked & don't turn. I've seen the front pump axial bearing fail & cause this noise. Small bearing between the front pump housing & the K1 clutch pack. In fact I believe that there was a "red fische" topic on this subject. Trans still must come out & apart. I would run the car on a lift & listen for noises from below as the center support bearing(d/shaft) can cause this noise as well.