Customers are often mislead as to when the transmission fluid should be changed on their Mercedes Benz. Rumour going around says that it is a “lifetime” fluid. As professionals, we know that nothing lasts a “lifetime”. Fluid in MOST Mercedes Benz should be changed by 100,000 miles. Newer models 2006 – Present have changed the maintenance interval for the transmission fluid. Mercedes is now scheduling to have the fluid changed around an average of 30,000 miles. We aren’t sure what prompted this change, but it could be due to the fact that consumers were mislead and felt that the transmission never needed service which leads to mechanical breakdowns and expensive transmission repairs.
The transmission pan gasket was leaking on this 2005 Mercedes Benz S500 so we needed to remove it, scrape the old gasket off, replace the filter while we were in there, re seal and put it all back together. Low fluid causes the transmission to shift hard or may even cause it not to shift at all. Make sure you are always bringing in your vehicle for a checkup. Preventative maintenance is the cheapest maintenance.