My 1994 E420 has 131,000 miles, and is on the original transmission. Whenever I shift into reverse, there is a 2 second delay before reverse engages. Once it is in gear, reverse behaves normally. There is no delay whatsoever in Drive. Is this indicative of a problem? Since I have owned the car, I have changed the transmission fluid and filter every 30,000 miles. I intend to drive the car for a very long time, and just want to do everything I can to make it last. Ordinarily, with transmission problems, I have always been told to drive it until it drives no more, but just wanted to be sure that adage holds true in this situation. Thanks!

It probably won't hurt anything if you leave it, but there is a bulletin that documents some fixes. Its number is AF27.60-U-6104C.

They change the intermediate plate with one with a larger hole and they plug a hole with a pop rivet. If you would like a copy send me your fax number.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Had a similar problem with my 93 400E. When I backed out of the garage in the morning, there was a couple second lag before it kicked into drive. Dealer put 2 transmissions in it and the problem never did get resolved. Has 72K on it now and no other issues have arisen with the tranny. Just how it is I guess.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

Thanks to stevebfl for faxing the TSB regarding the shift delay, but it would appear that it does not apply to my transmission, as it came after the effective date for the TSB range. That said, is there anything else that can be done to alleviate this two second delay while reverse engages? I have been told that since reverse is the "highest pressure" gear, it is usually the first to see this kind of problem. I did hear about trying some TransX for 100 miles or so, but don't want to do anything that might make the problem worse. Any suggestions?