The modern electronic transmission is the great secret weapon of planned obsolescence. I'm convinced my 94-95 cars with 100k miles have more reasonable cost miles left in them than does a new 09, as long as I'm doing the maintenance.

dont go buy a toyota then. they seem to have the filled for life transmission policy at least on the tundra.

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

bingo. although MB says "once at 39k" whatever thats supposed to mean... every 40k fluid changes would be wise. The fluid coming out of these 39,000 mile transmissions that Ive done is about the color of dark brown liquid mud.

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1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

Clearly it means during the warranty period and after that it's up to the owner to continue. Too bad so many have to have their hands held.

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Roger E.

Is that 6-7k for a rebuild or for a completely new transmission?

There's plenty of wrecked C240s out there that could yield a good used transmission at a 1/3 of the cost.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Maybe it was just my car, but mine was red in color @ 100K change. Changed it myself, so I was right there.

Brown fluid @ 39K miles is odd indeed.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

What did they base their opinion on? Can't you take it to a JiffyLube where they advertise a Power Purge transmission fluid flush and see what that does? Is the car not shifting? What are the symptoms? You could always try and go to a Mercedes dealers used car lot and use it as a trade-in. Chances are the appraiser may not even test drive a lower priced car like that. Just bring your title and cash.

It's unfortunate that MBUSA never initiated a Recall Campaign when they found out that the radiators made by Valeo could cause such a catastrophic failure. If ever there was a case where a recall was called for, this was it. This defect has affected many C, CLK, and E-Class vehicles built before 10/03.

There is some good news though. In my experience, regardless of how bad the contamination is, only a small percentage of cars suffering this failure have needed to have the transmission and torque converter replaced. The DTB outlining this issue has been revised a few times, but as of now, here's how it reads.

If the glycol contamination is less than 100mg/liter no action is needed. In cases where the contamination is greater than 100mg/liter, the radiator should be replaced with the improved version, and the transmission should be flushed. Prior to flushing the transmission, the filter should be replaced. As per the DTB, fourteen liters of ATF are needed. If the problem persists after the flushing procedure has been performed, the torque converter should be replaced. That’s how the DTB reads.

Now the bad news. Fourteen liters won’t get the job done in most cases. There’s almost always a huge improvement in shift quality following the flush, but there’s usually still some jerking/bucking that makes the car pretty much a PIA to drive. FWIW, transmission function continues to improve the more the car is driven. At my dealership, I'll ask the SA to obtain the clients' permission for myself, or one of the other Shop Foreman to take the car home overnight, to rack up as many miles as possible. Like I said, the more the car is driven, the better it gets. In many cases, this is all it takes to restore normal transmission function, but in some cases, to make the problem go away completely, we’ll need to drop the pan at least one more time, remove the filter, and let as much fluid drain out as possible. We'll then re-install the same filter, fill the transmission, and continue driving the car. In the last few years, we've taken this approach several dozen times with good success. We've only had to replace two transmissions/converters.

Lastly, all MB dealers were sent a glycol test-kit a few years ago. It works very well, but in nearly every case, performing this test isn't necessary. The contamination is usually so obvious no test is needed.

I havent had the best the experience with the gasser MB's but the deisels Mb's are good.

Have had a stalling issue come back 3 times now, fix one thing, drive the car a little while bam it begins to stall agian. Arghh

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

You mean you don't like stuff from the country that gave us the award-winning "Le Car"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Le_Car

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Prost!

I wouldn't freak out quite yet...work the problem(s) and be sure...good luck