Shell Retinax G grease
 

I'm putting in a new door retainer (strap) and the Mercedes CD says to lube it with Shell Retinax G. What is a modern equivalent ?

Since this thread has been out there a little while and no one has offered an answer, and you might be wanting to put your car together, I will offer what info I have. I was working on the door checks of my C230 and bought a replacement from the dealer (pre lubed) but ended up overhauling the ones I had. What grease to use was a big question. I had about 9 different choices in my garage and actually installed a couple of different ones on the door checks before finding the one that worked the best. I found the difference between one grease and another amounted to: color, viscosity, smell, temp rating. (A grease expert will, no doubt, tell you that there are many more differences, but this is what seemed important to my job at hand). What was on the factory part was about the color and consistency of vaseline, fairly clear and thick. I ended up using some grease that had been purchased for my Stihl weed trimmer. This was special grease in a Stihl tube that I got from the Stihl dealer. I figured "German car, German grease". I since found another grease at my local NAPA that seemed extremely similar called Silglide. It also came in a tube a little wider than a toothpaste tube. If you have ever used silicone based grease before then I don't have to remind you to use gloves or it will take you about a week to wash the stuff off of your hands. Very insidious. Hope this helps.

Mike

Shell Retinax G is a European specified formulation. You won't get it here in the US. I imagine any lithium-based NLGI 2 grease should do the job in this application.

I wouldn't use silicone grease unless maybe it was formulated with thickener. It's just not that good a lubricant for check strap application.

Unfortunately the MB specified grease is pretty lame. These straps are continually being replaced because the grease they come with is not sufficiently water wash resistant, and rain water dribbling down inside the door causes the strap mechanism to rust and fail. I would look into a product we used in the Navy for mechanical devices exposed to seawater called Termaline 2. The lubrication duty required is not severe (meaning the speed and pressure of the sliding surfaces does not pose a serious challenge for the lubricant) but the environment seems to be. Jim