1989 300SE shifter weirdness
 

Hi, I recently bought an '89 300SE that has 114k miles and shifts well on its own. One thing I noticed though is that there seems to be a shift detente when manually shifting down between D and 3. The shifter stops between the two as if it has selected a gear. I noticed that when continuing to shift down past 3 to 2, it's as if nothing is really selected down there at the bottom. I'm wondering if on my car currently that selecting half way between D and 3 is actually selecting 3rd gear and selecting 3 is actually selecting 2nd gear (or 1st gear start from a stop). Any thoughts? Time for new shifter bushings?

Time for shifter bushings for sure. There are 2 up under the car that seem to disappear frequently. My SDL had enough slop in its shifter that "D" was somewhere about where it should have been, "3" was down around "2" and "2" was unselectable. It also went into "P" somewhere around "R".

If you hear a "click" or a metallic noise when you shift or the shifter feels sloppy AT ALL, the bushings are toast.

Mine were completely gone, new installed bushings made a huge difference.

There are also in cabin bushings that do go bad. Rare, but it happens. Start with the two under the body and I would 100% recommend buying that $40 set of pliers for the job.