How often did you replaced MAF - at what milage?
How often did you replace the tranny fluid? at 100K?
Was there any other problems along the way?

I've 2003 c230 and has 61000 miles on it.
I'd really appreciate it if you can share your knowledge.
Thanks.

 

[/align][/align]I feel you on the commute thing as I drive close to 172 round trip dailey. The worse is those dirt haulers that don't cover their load [:@]I don't mind road kill but retreads and dirt haulers suck big time. [/align]

 

I know what your saying I got a rock on my windshield and my headlight. Both replace on my C Class with in a month of ownership. They definatly need t cover their loads better.

 

To answer some of the questions, I changed the tranny fluid at 100K miles. Pictures of the filter and the fluid itself so you can see it are in my gallery. It was "dark", but not black. I did it AGAINST the recommendation of the dealership, who naturally said it was a "lifetime" fluid. Sure. Right. Lifetime. This is how they make money on new transmissions. Here in the desert heat of Arizona, it's even worse. We all know heat is the biggest enemy of automatic transmissions. So I did it. I have never had a tranny problem.
If it were me, I would do it at 100K or less. Up to you. I have never had to replace the MAF. The supercharger itself went out on me at around 65,000 miles. Ouch. Extended warranty covered it thank goodness. That's the only major thing that has happened. I have tons of posts about these cars, all you have to do is search the topic, and there's a good chance I put my 2cents in somehow.
The front bushings in the suspension on these things wear out. I think you know about this. Did that too. And rear tires go pretty quickly. Between 100K and 142K now, there has been almost nothing except a few bulbs here and there that burned out. Knock on wood. The freeways here are brutal. Construction trucks with junk flying off them is commonplace. Since rock landscaping is popular here for maintenance reasons, these trucks are out in force on the freeways and it ruins your new windshield in about a month. Also the fog light covers and headlights are peppered with road rash. But, I'm driving the darn thing and I can't be worried about every little nick and ding. I need a car that gets good mileage and runs well and this seems to be working. Oil changes!!!
I do them myself here in my garage and save a ton of money. Any other questions about these cars and my experience so far, I am happy to try to give you some insight. No guarantee that your car's behavior will mimic mine, of course. Seems that everyone has different problems along the way with the same cars. I may be a bit slow to answer for the next week or so, I just got out of the hospital. Nothing that serious. Thanks. MrCoyote

 

How hard to do a tranny flush?

 

The tranny flush involves finding and lowering the fluid pan, undoing the filter, replacing the pan and gasket, and most importantly, refilling with the RIGHT amount of the CORRECT fluid in the CORRECT tube in the engine compartment. Most people screw it up. I'm not saying you couldn't do it, but......for this job......let the shop of your choice do it. It can be messy too. [:@]
Not all that expensive if you shop around for an independent shop that's competent.

 

I think I'll just take your advise on that one and let a shop handle it [sm=smiley2.gif]

 

I think you'll be thanking me for that one. Also, your garage floor will be thanking me.

You know, like anything else, a lot of these things with our cars depend greatly on a person's level of mechanical ability. And I'm not saying anything about your particular expertise or lack thereof......just making a general statement that I have come to learn by posting on these types of sites. As you know, I also have a Viper I work on myself. Some guys have them and don't even know how to open the hood. They let the "Viper Tech" at the local Dodge dealership do everything. Some guys can take the engines out or the cylinder heads off and work on them. So......when I say, "better off letting somebody else do it", I'm taking into consideration that a lot of people haven't been playing with cars enough to do the job but a lot have, and I have no idea who is and who isn't qualified......even for the simplest things. I have done most of these types of jobs for many years on many different types of cars, but I am no expert by any means. I am a hot rodder who can't leave anything alone (for long). My MB is just a daily driver to commute, and I don't hot rod or modify it. The only thing I've ever done was replace the stock air filter with a K&N, just because I do that with all my cars. I'm so used to them I just figure......what the heck. Just easier for me than buying filters, especially out here in the dusty desert. If I know something, I'll tell you. If I don't, I won't. For me, the sensible thing to do is to DIAGNOSE problems, then fix them. Not guess what's wrong and start replacing parts. Waste of time and money, especially on today's new cars. Right?

mrcoyote

 

Keep us updated on the miles. I bet you will be at 200k by the the beginning of summer.

 

Let get an update on that C230K. We at 150,000 yet?