Recommended Service

[osdesierto]

I brought my car in today for a steering wheel noise. They said its ready and the noise should be gone. CPO car but also told me about receommended service. My car just passed 50K miles. 2002 E320

Transmission flush - $275
From what i know transmission fluid is not until 100K miles

Fuel Injectors: $200
Brake Fluid Flush = $155
Power Steering Flush = $155
Coolant Flush = $155

Which one of these are have to's

Thanks!

[Matt L]

Many people want to change the transmission fluid well before 100K. 60K is probably fine, and there's nothing wrong with doing it at 50K. Transmission hard parts are expensive and should be given good lubrication.

I don't know what your fuel injectors may need, but if the brake fluid and coolant are original, you're well past due. Power steering tends to get flushed less, but it's not a bad idea to do that one too.

[Musikmann]

I think it's a good time for everything on there (unless done previously) except for cleaning the injectors. I have never heard of anyone having that done. I think it might become necessary only if someone has been using very bad gasoline for a pretty long time.

The coolant and brake fluid are suggested by MB every 3 years. We had a long thread on here about the transmission service and the concensus of opinion was at 50-60,000.

Flushes vs. gravity drains will open a can of worms again. Opinions here differ on those 2 techniques.

[ohlord]

in a can of seafoam injector cleaner in the gas once a year that is all the injectors need.Do you diy?
all the others are simple diy jobs.most in the diy section or you can get the procedures step by step from alldatadiy.com for 25 bucks a year.
if not into diy any good indie shop can do the fluid changes for far less money and sign off in the service manual and it is covered.
No need to go to the dealer to maintain your cpo warranty.
ohlord
50k miles is perfect for the trans drain,diy in the diy section.

[Musikmann]

No matter how you slice it, those of us driving CPO cars paid about $2000 more than blue book for our cars. As long as mine is active, I decided to use the dealer for everything. I would call that "cover your ass" protection. Yes you will pay more, but having your services done by some franchised dealer leaves no holes for MB to crawl through if something serious goes wrong.

[osdesierto]

Thanks guys i just saw the DIY Trans... Yes it seems like the other flushes needs to be done as well. Some i can do myself but some don't so will have to find an indie place.

Thanks for the rapid response.

[RichardM98]

"They said its ready and the noise should be gone."

Boy, that's a confidence builder. "Should be gone"? Don't they test it?

I agree with Matt that almost all of them should eventually be done.

Do you have any service records showing whatever previous maintenance was done on these systems?

In the absence of any info on how long it's been I would tackle them in the following order:

Brakes
Coolant
Transmission (and differential)*
Power Steering
Fuel Injectors**

*Apparently some dealers are suggesting transmission service before 100K. Since there's no downside (for them) to changing it more frequently, many people are suggesting 30K, 50K, 60K, etc. In my opinion and it's just my opinion, if the manufacturer is willing to warranty the transmission for 100K then they must have some confidence there won't be many failures.

Preventive maintenance is really a risk management issue so it comes down to what the individual wants to tolerate in terms of cost and cost avoidance.

** Is the car running smoothly and getting good gas mileage? If so save your money and try Chevron gas. Seems to work very well at keeping injectors clean.

[osdesierto]

Thanks M98,

Yes it all comes down to "Preventive maintenance is really a risk management issue so it comes down to what the individual wants to tolerate in terms of cost and cost avoidance."


The car on the other hand is running fine. putting good high octane gas really help and I can vouch that experience with my E53...

Thanks for all the info.

[gregs210]

Originally Posted by osdesierto

Thanks M98,

Yes it all comes down to "Preventive maintenance is really a risk management issue so it comes down to what the individual wants to tolerate in terms of cost and cost avoidance."


The car on the other hand is running fine. putting good high octane gas really help and I can vouch that experience with my E53...

Thanks for all the info.

Hey, osdesierto.

While I'd generally tend to agree with your quote, from what I've seen on the forums letting maintenance slide with an MB turns it into a disposable car as opposed to one that is still around 20-30 years later. Some makes seem more susceptible to that than others and MB seems to be one of them; there are lots of very old MBs out there and the one thing they have in common is a proper maintenance record. (Or maybe it's just that they cost so much new they tend to be better maintained, i.e., if you can afford the car you aren't bothered by the costs to maintain it, so there are more of them around, whereas your average Ford owner is probably struggling to make the payments...)

The other folks have addressed your concerns, but I wanted to add a bit on the ATF issue. While I'd agree you can wait a bit on the ATF service, two things: first, I did mine around 72,000 miles and I think that was really too long to wait, the fluid was pretty gross. So 60,000 is probably a good compromise, although if you can afford it sooner go ahead. Second, your dealer recommended "flush", which I never do, at least with the commercial flushing devices. The problem is that the commercial devices simply connect to the cooler lines and they never drop the pan to change the filter and wash the accumulated garbage out of the pan; rather, the pressure with which they run the new fluid in swirls all that junk around and forces it up into the valve body and all the other little passages. I've heard more disaster stories resulting from ATF flushes than I care to recall, and I'm convinced that's the root issue. So the DIY will direct you on how to drop the pan and refill, etc. If you do that yourself it won't be that costly since you can only change about 4 quarts anyway (although you can use ohlord's technique to flush out the cooler and converter after you do the change, then you'll need 12 or thereabouts, if you go this route you can buy the cheaper 7-sp fluid). Or you can shop around for a quality transmission shop that is familiar with MBs and have them do it (I didn't really have the facilities and didn't want to mess with draining and flushing, etc., so that's what I did).

Hey, that's my .02.

Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg

[Musikmann]

It was pointed out to me that I posted some mis-information. MB recommends that brake fluid be changed every 2 years. Thanks to the member who corrected me!