I recently bought a 97 E320 ( it was built 6-96 ) parts car and the 5 speed electronic 722.6 trans won't shift out of 1st sometimes. ( Got it to build a M104 + 350SD crank = 3.6 AMG clone into a SL320 ) I can tell at start up when the trans isn't going to shift as the driver information display will show: Lamp out warning , ASR warning. The in dash high beam indicator will also be on.

It is definitely a electrical problem as occasionally the trans will shift just fine if none of the warnings are active. There is a awareness that the electrical adapter through the trans case and valve body harness tend to have problems but that does not explain the high beam indicator being on.

Past experience with other cars would make me think the speed sensor on the output shaft isn't sending a signal to the shift computer, but the speedo is working. Do these cars have 2 output shaft sensors? ( one for the speedo and one for the enigne/trans computer )

Since I'm not sure if this car will be used as a post engine build test bed, I'm not looking to spend a lot of time on it for the moment.

Information needed is beyond generic "look for loose wires, change fluid, hit with hammer"

Thanks

A fault in the traction system CAN cause a limp home mode of the transmission.

So you need to have the car scanned for codes in the traction system as well as the trans.

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