For this purpose, since you are only looking to remove a few ounces, 6 or 7 feet of vinyl tubing (maybe 5/16", you have to eyeball it) from any hardware store--new and clean. Slide one end down the dipstick tube, place a container on the garage floor, kneel next to the container and suck on the tube. Once the siphon is started, it will drain itself. Keep one (or both) eye on the tube or you may get a little tranny fluid in your mouth. Not healthy, not tasty, but not fatal. Do not swallow.

On a related note, I have been considering a topsider for some time, but last week our volunteer fire chief pulled out a small electric pump to change the oil on a tanker, sweet little unit and really fast pumping of 15 or 16 quarts. Gonna check on that tomorrow when i see him next.

__________________
Earl McLain
'02 C230 Kompressor
'89 560 SEL "Frau BlueCar" (retired April 2004)

I'd like to address something that was mentioned in the original post here, the hard shift when cold. Was this shift really hard or just delayed?? My understanding is that all Mercedes have a delayed shift when cold due to them warming up the smog equipment faster for lower emissions and better gas mileage. This makes sense and hasn't ever really bothered me. On my Benz a dirty tranny filter caused it to "flair", acting like it was slipping out of gear when changing from 2nd to 3rd, warm or cold. When I took the pan down for the filter change I was surprised to find nothing gunked up or caked up in the pan like I'd seen on many other cars before. With the new filter I have had smooth as glass gear changes. The cold delay still occurs but now I don't even think about it any more.

My .02 cents worth

210,000 miles on a '91 300SE, runs like a new one and many have thought it was brand new.

__________________
1991 300SE (my ride, 279,000 miles, looks almost new
1954 Cadillac (21 yo son's car, he bought when age 15)
1972 SeaBird 19 ft runabout (old but solid, slant six, Volvo sterndrive perfect condition, undergoing complete overhaul and refit)
1998 Toyota Rav4 (my sons daily driver when he is in the Continental US, PROUDLY serving in US Navy)

My car just shifts hard on the very first shift usually at around 10 miles per hour. I can soften the harshness by only giving it a little gas. Its too bad because all the other shifts are very smooth. I would kill to fix this because my car would be 100% perfect without the jolted first shift

__________________
1993 Benz-190E-2.6 liter

Also, consider switching to synthetic ATF next time you change it.
I spent some $$ at AutoZone (it's $4.99 a quart and my 84 SD takes 6.3 quarts) but both my cars shift better with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF than with dino ATF.
Much less shift-related sluggishness during the first few miles, in the SD especially.
The SD is a car where my mechanic is really pushing me to get a new tranny...
With the TE shifting is pretty darn good for a Mercedes transmission, and I've never driven a Mercedes that has a GM-smooth transmission. I'm dating myself with the TurboHydramatic 400's...

__________________
Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic