About two months ago, my transmission started to take a long time to shift into reverse. It would get half way there, and then complete the shift. If I let off the brake pedal when half way shifted, the car will move in reverse while stuttering.

I topped off the transmission fluid, which helps a little. The transmission will shift more quickly when the car is warm. I see no issues when driving forward.

Yesterday I noticed that I cannot drive up a small hill in reverse. It’s like I'm in neutral - the engine will smoothly rev up and I don’t move. It seems like the transmission has low torque in reverse; however, on level ground [and when fully shifted in reverse] the car jerks into reverse motion as quickly as it always did, somewhat contradicting my low torque hypothesis.

Is the transmission dead? Is there a low cost DIY repair that can be done? I’m not afraid of doing a repair beyond my skills, and scrapping the car in failure 😎

I found this thread where a transmission was replaced due to delayed shift into reverse:
Transmission Slipping in Reverse - Repair mine or Mercedes Rebuilt??

Thank you!

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1995 E320 W124 M104 722.3