Got my wife an 06 Crossfire w/ 76000 on it, have 84,000 now. Just did my 1st oil change, looking to do what I can to make sure the trans is in good shape. How difficult
is the fluid / filter chg ? While I was underneath, looked around to check everything out for obvious areas of concern I see 2 small plastic rectangular parts with just a bit of some fluid
on one... what are those ?

 

Pictures please.
It is not at all difficult if you have access to a lift, or 4 jack stands and don't mind working on your back.
Make sure to check the connector at the passenger side front of the tranny for leaks, a common problem.

 

Your first oil change after 8,000 miles? How many miles had the previous owner put on that same oil?

 

The rectangular plastics are inspection/access holes. There is a larger round on on the front face of the bell housing. Simple pop them down and out. The large round one wiggles up and out if I remember correctly. You can't see much without a lighted probe, but dripping oil tells a tail of leaking seals. If it isn't much at the age of our cars I wouldn't mess with it.

 

The rectangular plastics are inspection/access holes. There is a larger round on on the front face of the bell housing. Simple pop them down and out. The large round one wiggles up and out if I remember correctly. You can't see much without a lighted probe, but dripping oil tells a tail of leaking seals. If it isn't much at the age of our cars I wouldn't mess with it.

 

I just changed the SE's oil with 5400 miles on it - as black and smelly as it is after those miles, I can't imagine what it would be like with 8,000 miles.

I'd never go by the FSS, oil does not stay "clean" because it is synthetic, byproducts of combustion are still produced.
The only way to keep oil clean is to convert to CNG.

 

I change the oil in the fall before it goes away for the winter, so the oil is changed after 2,000 to 3,000 miles. Not last year though as I drove it less than 400 miles.
I am going to change the transmission oil and filter this year along with the supercharger oil. That will mean all fluids have been changed at least once on the car.

 

 

I waited for the car to tell me to chg the oil & finally decided just to do it
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jecausey3, That question was answered in the 4th post.
Just for info the oil change recommendation for our sister engine the M113 in a 2005 CLK is 12,000 miles per Mercedes owner manual, but they also say (if I remember correctly) the transmission oil is good for life on the seven speed auto. Just saying, that was/is the recommendation.

 

I call B.S. on both of those, zip (not to say that you totally go along with it, as you said, "Just saying..."). While we are at it, I consider 7000 miles on oil in OUR engines to be asinine, that's too many miles.

And no fluid is good for "lifetime" unless they are saying the "life" of the transmission is 100,000 miles. IMO: NO WONDER we have so many people with noisy lifters and troublesome auto transmissions on our Facebook pages. Over 20 years ago, I worked for a man who's flying buddies included a guy who owned a transmission shop. He once said, "If people would do fluid and filter on their auto trans every 50,000 miles, they would potentially put me right out of business..."

All fluids absorb moisture, that includes trans, differential and steering fluids.
All gasoline engines contaminate their oil.

 

That’s why my transmission oil is being changed at 40,000 miles this year.

 

Interesting how the OP was replied to on mileage with a oil change, but no comments as to the type of oil or filter. ? As a new member he was correct to think the FFS would alert him to the next oil change.
You are correct pizzyguy, I do not recommend the lengthy oil change intervals, but I doubt a 8,000 mile change is very much more damaging to the engine than say 6,000 miles. I did dig out my owners manual on the CLK 500 and the recommended oil change interval is actually 13,000 miles; as to the transmission the manuals maintenance schedule called for the fluid to be checked at 143,000. The manual on our Crossfires say 7,000 or more per the FFS indicator. Since 2005 I think Mercedes has changed those recommended intervals. JUST SAYING !

jecausey3: I think most of us here try to keep oil changes under 6,000. Many use the recommended 0w-40 Mobile one oil and some have switched to 5w-40 using various manufactures. Do not use anything other than a fleece filter. The Mann HU718/5x is the common filter used, but there are equivalents available. Do not use paper filters. More information is available by using the search box in the upper right corner of the forum and using the google option works best. Enjoy your ride and welcome to the forum. We have an upcoming event at Eureka Springs, which is a lot of fun. Check out the EVENTS section for more info, meet other Crossfire owners and check out their rides.