Ok I just bought my 98 c280 sport litterally days ago. I love this car. Stylish, sporty, and comfy. I've been doing some reading on the board and came upon the bad 5 speed tranny issue. I'm a student, who bought a car hoping that it would last me another 6 years or so (already 84,000 miles on the clock). I don't need a serious problem like this. Had I seen all the threads on the tranny issue and the crank damper, I probably would have not bought the car.

But with the whining aside, I can find no records, 0, on any transmission work being done on the car. So I assume it is safe to assume that the fluid is still original. After reading up on previous threads, I can't seem to be sure whether it is safer or not to get the fluid changed at this late of mileage. If it will help, 200 bucks is sure a hell of a lot less than a new transmission. If not, do I just bite down and hope for the best?

Like I said, I'm a student with, lemme check, oh yeah $0 right now. But any little preventative maintenance item I can do, I will gladly fork out the cash (when i find it, it grows on trees right?) to do.

Thanks guys.