My car is a '96 W210 E320.
I suspect the neutral switch that detects the "Park" and "Neutral" positions of the shifter may be responsible for my intermittent no crank problem, so I removed the center console to see if I can find it and test or clean it, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Can somebody look at the attached picture and tell me the 2 brass loking things are part of it? If yes, how do I remove the knob from the shifter stick to get access to them for cleaning? It would seem to me that the switch itself is located somewhere else further down? In that case, how do I get to it?
Thanks

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You're way too high. It's down on the side of the transmission. Follow the gearshift linkage forward and it will attach to the NSS. Click on the picture at the link below for a view of what you're looking for.

http://catalog.worldpac.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=1W50YN0EQ26P1BQR0Z&year=1996&make=MB&model=E-320-002&category=All&part=Neutral+Safety+Switch

Thanks for the reply, after closer look, I realized those things are just LEDs.
I guess I need to get underneath the car to get to the switch.

I think I found the thing, it's mounted on the side of the transmission, on the driver's side. Very tight spot, looks like you'd have to drop the transmission to remove it. If I just want to spray some contact cleaner on the connector and pins on the thing, how do I remove the black connector? do I simply pry it against the wite part, or is there some turning motion required? (see attached photo)

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I just replaced my transmition wire harness, and when trying to replace this switch you should inspect all the wires to make sure they are not crack and deteriorated. You must first turn the white plastic ring approximately ¼ of a turn toward the bottom, and once you have turned the ring you will notice that the black plug gets loose. Also while you changing the switch you may also want to change the gear shift plastic bushings (two of them required).
I paid for the new wire harness $ 139.00 + plastic bushing 0.70 cents each.

As per the shifter knob, you have to remove the small plastic cover on the top of the shifter and remove the bolt. Once you remove the bolt you have to twist the knob while holding the black piece at the bottom of the knob. By the looks of the picture that you attached, you may need to do this in order to install the black dust strip shown in the picture loose and hanging. This is fairly easy to do.

Regards,

Norman

Thanks for the reply Norm, I was able to remove the black connector after turning the white part 1/4 turn clockwise (one would never guess!). It seems to me due to the very tight space, you'd need to drop the transmission to remove that switch? In any event, the wiring looks pretty good still (the car only has 50k miles on it), so I just sprayed some contact cleaner on both sides and put it back together. Turning the white ring back took a bit of leverage with a screwdriver, but everything is back in place now.

Did it work? Did you get the car to start.?

Oh, my vehicle had 70,000 miles and the wire harness was completly bad.

No, shouldn't have to - it's just very tight. It helps greatly to work with quarter inch drive sockets and maybe a swivel head rachet. There is an alignment trick to putting it back in. You have to use an alignment pin of a certain diameter, something like a drill bit, to ensure that it will work properly. It helps to have the MB CD or some other write-up. Poor alignment may actually be your problem.

yes, the car started, but then again, it's an intermittent problem, so God knows if it's gonna do it again tomorrow :-)

Ok, this may be of some help.

1996 E320 Removing, Installing and adjusting starter lockout switch.

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Thanks for the scan Norm, I'm sure the document you scanned can be very helpful, however it's barely readable due to the low resolution. Would you be kind enough to rescan it with double the dpi setting you used earlier? Thanks.