I have a question for everyone. I've been searching on what will need to be done when the time comes for changing the transmission fluid and have found these facts so far:

1. The w210 model I own is 2002, and will NOT have a torque converter plug to allow me to totally drain most of the fluid.

2. Without a torque converter plug, the best I can hope for is getting part of the fluid out by draining the tranny pan and diluting what's in there by adding new fluid.

3. One possibility for non-torque converter plug models is to flush the fluid by disconnecting the tranmission cooler lines and running the engine and re-adding fluid. However, this is messy and expensive since it requires a lot of MB tranny fluid.

4. General consensus is that tranny fluid should be changed between 45k-65k miles, unless you buy in to the "transmission for life" stuff.

My question, is if I just drain the tranny pan and replace filter on a regular basis, say every 10k miles, would I avoid having to do a major flush later on, since my car is relatively low mileage? I read that some people do this, although it's overkill, but my options are limited without a torque converter and it certainly wouldn't hurt!

I drain/re-fill 4 litres of trans fluid annually on our '02 car. I change the filter every other year. Car is driven 25kmiles/year.

Thank you, that's exactly what I'm wondering about doing. Definitely overkill, but is less troublesome and worrisome than flushing, and sure doesn't hurt!

No power "flushing" for me.

My 98 E320 has the drain plug on the torque converter so I can change most of the fluid.

On my other vehicles that don't have a drain plug on the torque converter, I change the trans fluid every 15K miles and the filter every 30K miles. My 92 Astro van currently has 176K miles on it (original trans) and my previous cars have had 200K miles on the original trans.

Make sure that you clean your transmission pan magnet when you change your trans fluid.

__________________
Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

Roger that! Thanks guys. I figure routine transmission fluid changes ever 15k miles and filter every 30k won't be all that much more than oil changes and much easier than flushing!