test fluid in gear box

[nim]

I have a e240 w210 2002 I was just about to check my transmission fluid only to find dealer only marked on where the dip stick should be I contacted the nearest MB dealer only to be told that was reserved by MB, as a nice little earner to be honest the tech was quite bemused as I was. After all I wanted to was 1. Check colour and viscosity of trans fluid 2. top up if necessary. This has made me hopping mad us as customers can check oil water lights and so on but not transmission fluid so I will see what trading standards have to say about this. First I will contact MB head office to see what they have to say about this restrictive practice.

 

[Blobcat]

It isn't a restrictive practice as you can either buy the dip stick or make one yourself from curtain wire - details on this forum.
The gearbox was sealed for life when built which is why the dipstick tube has a security seal on it. The latest guidelines from MB is that the ATF should be changed once at 40K miles.
Your gearbox will not have a torque converter drain plug as that was dropped in early YR2000. What that means is that by dropping the sump and changing the filter you can only easily change 4ltrs of the ATF. Other members have looked at pumping out the ATF, although I cannot remember seeing a thread where anyone has done that and reported back.
There is an excellent "How To" written by Parrot of Doom in the DIY section if you wish to give it a go yourself. POD's gearbox has the torque converter drain as his W210 is from 1998.