Gilly, I respect what you are saying, but, mine was black, burnt, and at least 15 needle bearings in the pan. The fluid clearly had metal in it. There was no magnet in the pan. Maybe the bearing that failed, and resultant damage, was all a result of an early Monday morning or late Friday afternoon bearing.

Maybe changing it at 30 k or 60 k would not have saved this tranny. But if it did, we would never know, now would we?

__________________
Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport