Hey everyone-
I will start this by saying it has been a profoundly sh**ty day over here. Keeping a long story short- on a short drive earlier this pm, we took the 96 e300 out since it hadn't been driven in a week. I noticed a weird clunk taking off from a light that sound/felt like it was coming from below the console somewhere. It shifted through it's gears with no problem though- no flaring, no shudder, nothing like that. I wondered if it had anything to do with the cold since its 24 here- but even after it had warmed up, it made the clunk sound when I took off from a stop to make a turn into a restaurant parking lot. (I take off slowly from lights in all of my cars because people routinely run reds here- so I didn't notice any increase in revs, followed by a clunking into gear, but I suppose it could have been the case.)

The lot was a little bit icey, but it didn't appear too bad. As I pulled into the parking spot however- it slid a few feet on the ice and the plastic skirt bumped up against the curb. I wasn't flying- it was a typical speed to pull into a spot- but even with braking, it slid and bumped the curb. When I got out of the car- I heard a dripping sound, and saw something dripping from behind the plastic skirt/airdam- and the taste test indicated it was coolant, which oddly enough- was cold to the touch.

I decided that since I was less than 3 miles from the house, I'd try to make it back- since I had no tools, no light, etc., it's 24 degrees out and it was only a slow coolant drip. We got back in the car, started it up, backed out, and pulled forward to exit the lot and run back to the house, when I had to stop (about 50 feet from the parking spot) and let another car into the lot. When I pressed the accelerator to exit, however, the engine revved- but the car only barely crept forward, and this was followed by a really odd metallic sound (For lack of a better or more detailed example, like the sound of an old fashioned tin coffee can full of old rusty nails would make if you tilted it on it's side and rotated it 180 degrees) which happened after the revs came down. I let off the accelerator pedal, let it glide out of the way of oncoming traffic, shut it off and called a tow truck.

After it was parked, it drained about a quart of cold coolant on the ground- (no more than that)- and it took a ride to the indy shop on the back of a flat-bed. There was no tranny fluid on the ground, or anywhere- only coolant.

So, I'm wondering if the bump with the curb damaged something related to a coolant oveflow? I'm obviously hoping it's something minor/cheap. My big worry is with the tranny- it didn't exhibit any symptoms of problems whatsoever- until the clunk sound (which happened 3 times max) followed by a rev from a stop and the weird coffee can full of metal bits-noise.

I did a quick search of old posts to see if any other w210s / e300s exhibited similar problems, but didn't find anythign and since I'm sorta stranded now and freaking out, I decided to post because I/we could really use some advice. If anybody has any guidance to offer I'd really appreciate it. I need to call the shop in the am... Thanks in advance and I hope you all have better days. - John