Vehicle: 2001 E430 Sport in Desert Silver and 2002 C320 Sport Wagon in Arctic White
Location: Germantown, Maryland
Posts: 1,507
Tranny Failure Range
I just had my fluid changed and I now sleep better at night. But I am curious to know how long the "Life Time Fluid" is lasting out there. I want to see a range of failures for those who have decided not to change the fluid.
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E430 Sport
2001 E430 in Desert Silver with Sport Package, COMAND, Xenon Lights, Rear Sunshade, Heated Seats. Added K40 Stealth Radar, 30% Tint, XM Radio! www.premierbasement.com
I'm hopeful that most people here will have adopted the wisdom of changing the fluid, so the poll will be sparsely answered for that reason. However, you could plug in UncleCameron for the 160K mark if I remember correctly; his went out with a bang, not a whimper.
In the category of the exception proving the rule, Kajtek1 has to hold some kind of record for 722.6xx transmissions that lasted a long while without service.
Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg
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When you learn from your own mistakes, that's experience.
When you learn from the mistakes of others, that's wisdom.
When you fail to learn from any mistakes, that's government.
Vehicle: 2001 E430 Sport in Desert Silver and 2002 C320 Sport Wagon in Arctic White
Location: Germantown, Maryland
Posts: 1,507
It still disturbs me that we hear of some Dealers who still preach the Life Time Fluid trash and refuse to offer the trans service. I could not imagine spending 2k to 3k on a new transmission because I was told that it would last forever an not to touch it. Or, it could be that I dont know the correct definition of Life Time. They could make more money suggesting that service at 60K and 120K to every customer, rather than waiting for the poor guy to walk in who needs a new transmission for 3k.
It still disturbs me that we hear of some Dealers who still preach the Life Time Fluid trash and refuse to offer the trans service. I could not imagine spending 2k to 3k on a new transmission because I was told that it would last forever an not to touch it. Or, it could be that I dont know the correct definition of Life Time. They could make more money suggesting that service at 60K and 120K to every customer, rather than waiting for the poor guy to walk in who needs a new transmission for 3k.
My little rant for the day
It's actually worse than that; the last couple of dealer stories I heard re: replacement, one would not use a rebuilt transmission and the bill was about 7 or 8 thou (whether they were putting in a new transmission or rebuilding the existing one wasn't clear); the other wouldn't handle it at all and referred the customer to the indie shop they used, which would only rebuild but not install a rebuilt.
I have to think the dealers don't like being in the middle of this either. On the one hand you have to "respect" the manufacturer and it's specifications and recommendations; the other hand, however, has to care properly for customers. After all if the dealers are saying one thing then the media would pick up on it and some dealers would probably lose their affiliations. It's easy for us to sit back and say "bums!", but we're only a microcosm of the larger issues. In part I think that is why you see a lot of indie shops that are started by a couple of "disgruntled" MB techs, that way they can go out and serve the customers without having to deal with manufacturer media hype.
Vehicle: 2001 E320 - Brilliant Silver/Ash: MBCA member
Location: West Virginia, USA
Posts: 5,170
I am curious what your poll reveals. I feel fortunate to have been a member of this forum when this issue was cussed and discussed. As a reminder, I had my partial change done at 58,000 and have had no problems since (had none before that I noticed anyway). I am totally convinced that we need to have this done, but the flush vs. non-flush for those of us who do not have the TC drain still has me wondering.
Vehicle: 2001 E430 Sport in Desert Silver and 2002 C320 Sport Wagon in Arctic White
Location: Germantown, Maryland
Posts: 1,507
One question deserves another.
By the looks of the voting there are more failures from cars that did not have services at 200k and up. I wonder how many trans failures occurred on cars that did have the service?
I do agree with Greg that there should have been an under 100K mile category as well. I seem to recall a good number of anecdotal posts here on BW re "early" transmission failure and bad ATF.
This poll would more likely get more traffic/responses if it was placed in the general Mercedes forum. Of course then, you will get false positives from newbies who report on the failure of the transmission on their 1975 240D...
By the looks of the voting there are more failures from cars that did not have services at 200k and up. I wonder how many trans failures occurred on cars that did have the service?
I'm not too certain how many reliable conclusions you can draw from three votes.
When the revised poll is done (lol) it might also ask how many people did the service regularly and have had (1) failure or (2) no problems. In other words it would be interesting to see who did and did not have service and who did and did not experience problems ... as well as when. And of course it should include the catch-all option: "I never vote in these things because I don't like polls" or the one recently offered by MM: "I'm too lazy to vote".
I realize I'm rambling (no, no scotch), but given how few miles I put on my car I'm just trying to find a sub-sub-category so I can vote...unless it turns out I'm too lazy. (I couldn't find a smiley that was sleeping, so...)
They could make more money suggesting that service at 60K and 120K to every customer, rather than waiting for the poor guy to walk in who needs a new transmission for 3k. 
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