I just got my car serviced at MB dealership and I was told that my rear main seal had a small leak. They said it would cost me about $1500 to fix. Any advice on what other things I should change while they drop the tranny ? My car is out of warranty and my extended warranty doesn't seem to cover preventative maintenance. What should I expect after a major service like this ? Is $1500 a reasonable price ?
Thanks for any input.

Sorry to hear that,What year is your C36?I think this car is 5 years old and you have a rear main seal leak,I guess i should get a bimmer or lexus next time.

I changed one recently (my first one) on an E320 and it took 3, 6 hour days. I am so slow at this stuff that I would not be able to do it for a living.
The seal is inexpensive.
Jim
'85 300D
'95 E320
'97 CRV

My car is 1995 C36 with 69K miles. It is not leaking enough to leave oil in my garage, but when I had it serviced the mechanic saw some oil right under where the rear main seal is. Other than that the car is in great shape.

blackmercedes,
I bought this car used and I was aware of a possible leak in the rear main seal. I had a mechanic do a full inspection on the car but he could not confirm the leak without steamcleaning the bottom of the car. I recently had a rear brake pad replacement at a Mercedes dealership and they too recommended repairing the rear main seal. So did you have yours repaired ?
Seals and gaskets seem to be a very common problem with these cars. I used to drive a 1991 Civic and it now has over 165,000 miles and the only major problem I had was replacing the radiator (wear and tear). I also own an Acura Integra with 30,000 miles and it seems like it can go another 100,000 miles without any problems. My Mercedes service records showed visits to the mechanic with only 17,000 miles ! But despite that I still love this car.

I'm sorry to hear about the premature wear of your seal. How bad is the leak? Anyway, I think that price is pretty steep for removing and installing tranny. Personally I think Mercedes transmission are the easiest to remove and install. I've done a few 124s and 126s. I usually take a little under 2 hours to drop it (this is without air tools). A little over 2 hours to put it back. I know most people don't work this fast but $1500 to remove and install is ridiculous. This is how much I would charge to rebuild a transmission. How much do they charge per hour? Even if it it is $70 we are talking about 21.5 hours. This is ridiculos if you ask me.
Whatever you decide to do I recommend changing transmission seal as well. It costs about $10. I'm real curious to see what the extra charge would be on labor. I wouldn't be surprised if they charged you an extra $200 for a job that can be done in about 5 minutes when the transmission is down.

Vinamg