hhhmmm, Maybe. How could I tell?

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1995 E300 Diesel
1994 E320
1999 C230K
1994 S500 W140
1990 300 SEL

The part number is stamped into the flange on the passenger side of the casting just above the pan. This will tell you what the transmission was originally, but it could still be the correct transmission with the wrong valve body in it.

If it has been rebuilt, and won't shift into 1st gear properly, it was rebuilt improperly. Further, it is as likely that this is how it worked when installed, and the tech told you that it will "be slower off the line but last longer" in an attempt to make it sound like it was intentional/advantagous rather than correcting shoddy workmanship.

Sorry if I'm cynical, but there are plenty of crooks out there making the good mechanics look bad.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Where can I find more information on resonance flaps? I've searched but can't find anything specific to my E300 non turbo.

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1995 E300 Diesel
1994 E320
1999 C230K
1994 S500 W140
1990 300 SEL

AFAIK, your '95 (W124) should have the same engine (OM606) and transmission (722.4) as my '96 E300D (W210), which always starts in 1st gear.

Jeremy

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Is your 96 a turbo?

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1995 E300 Diesel
1994 E320
1999 C230K
1994 S500 W140
1990 300 SEL

No, turbo 606 was not offered until 1998. The '95-'97 E300Ds all had the normally aspirated OM606, offered in the '95 W124 chassis and the '96-97 W210 chassis. The basic engine was identical across the three years with only a few changes.

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

He messed it up. Find a good MB diesel mechanic to put it right. It should start in first (mine does) and adjusting the bowden cable will move the shift points up or down as you like them. Start with the cable adjusted so that it is just tight or maybe even just starting to pull, try it out and adjust as desired from there. This assumes your throttle linkage is adjusted properly and your engine is producing full power.

Resonance flaps - I recently purchased the "Model Year 1995 124.131 Introduction into Service" book from MBUSA for $2 plus shipping. That book describes this new engine in great detail, and includes good info on how the resonance flaps work, including a torque curve.

If you want to order this very useful book, call 1-800-FOR-MERC (1-800-367-6372) and ask for technical literature, and then order part # S-2609-093. This is a great supplement to add to the 124 series CDs of the service manuals.

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Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

Nobody's asked the first question: how do you know it's starting in 2nd, and not just lacking in power?
All E300D's should start in first all the time, regardless of gear selector position. So saith the intro to service manual. 2nd gear start is an exclusively gasser [mis]feature.

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RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

Yup, 1st gear start for my E300D. The biggest performance improvement you can do imho is disable the EGR and lock the first air flap after the filter fully open (or remove it). My car is noticably more sluggish with the EGR system engaged. Plus drive the engine hard when you can- 606's love high revs and when fully warmed and past 2500rpm they really wake up.

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1993 320TE M104
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past:

1983 230E W123 M102
1994 E300D S124 OM606 (x2)
1967 250SE W108 M129
1972 280se 3.5 W108 M116
1980 280SE W116 M110
1980 350SE W116 M116
1992 300E W124 M103
1994 E280 W124 M104
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"music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business" -Pepys