Hello:
I have a '99 C43 that I bought new. It has 60K miles on it. I called the dealer and told them I want to schedule an appointment to have the transmission fluid and filter changed. They said:
a. there is no filter in that car
b. you don't need to change the fluid until at least 100k miles

I did some searches on this site and have seen some of the stories that people had with transmission failure & replacement at around 60K miles. A few questions:

1. does the car have a filter for the transmission?
2. waiting until 100k miles to replace fluid does not seem right, will changing it earlier potentially help avoid transmission problems or is there something inherrent in the design that will cause x% of them to fail regardless of the maintenance/changing of fluid.
3. I have had no problems with the transmission (but did have to have the engine replaced at 30k miles due to factory defect, and I am not sure if in doing that they would have had to replace the transmission fluid), are there any early warning signs of potential problems?

Thanks

 

I am pretty sure there is a filter (based on my research, since I had C43), and yes, dealers do not wand to deal with it, some of them just don't know, but you can make them to do that. Will it help?? - Some people would say it would help to service it earlier, some would talk about reprogramming the ESU, but, in general, not too many C43 transmissions last more than ~60-70K - that tranny just not ready for that engine. Since C43 is great car - just look at it as a part of maintenance.

 

Dont listen to that BS that MB tell C43 owners. The "life time" tranny fluid is Bull Poo. There is a filter in the car and it does need to be changed. Go find a Place that will do it. you need a full tranny filter, gasket and fluid change. Hurry do it before the tranny blowup and you get stuck with a 4-6k bill!

 

update:
the dealer finally admitted there was a filter, the women who insisted there was not finally did her homework and found out there was, after I would not get off the topic. I had a service done at the MB dealer.

 

msq-i also have 99 c43 with 64,xxxmiles on it, i'm the second owner so i have no service history. how much did your dealer charge you for the tranny flush/service? i'm planning to do it asap..thanks in advance