i have an 89 240dl sedan with over 166k. the car is in great condition considering, however i don't know when the transy fluid has last been drained. i'm thinking about doing it in the next week myself. however, i recently read that with really old fluid in an old transy, the dirty fluid actually helps in shifting b/c it increases the friction between older worn gears. in this case, you don't want to put new transy fluid in.

is there any way for a novice brick worker to tell if this is the case with mine?

thanks all.