Help! It's a 2001 E320 4matic, 62,000 miles. Several times today the car would not upshift out of 1st gear when in drive, when leaving from a standing start. Also the selector indicator on the dash says 4, not D when this happens. It also wont manually shift when it's stuck in 1st. The only way to reset and get it back into D is to shut the car off, then try again. Now the check engine light is on, but no codes in the dash display. Any ideas where to start on this, is there a shift position sensor telling the ECU that trans is in 4th gear when it's really in first? It's also making VERY hard upshifts from time to time over the last week or so. Thanks Rollin

Has any liquid been spilled on the gearshifter?

The shifter is a COMPUTER, codes may be present.

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Nothing spilled in the shift area, tried moving it this AM, the transmission now bangs when moved from park to reverse or drive, it sounds like it's way over pressured. We recently purchased this car and it's under warranty, so back to the dealer it went via flatbed this AM. If/when they figgure it out I'll post the answer.

Problem solved, It was the shift position sensor located under the center console. The first question the dealer asked was "did you spill something in it?" . They also said that if it was wet, then no warranty. It was dry, so it was a no charge repair. Total cost would have been $635 parts & labor. Rollin