When stopped at the light with car in drive and foot on brake,
car has very significant shakes/surges, but stops as soon as I move on. These aren't the vibrations caused by the engine mount problem. Wondering if it is a tranny issue or....????

thanks guys.

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"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

Does the vibration go away when you put the gear in neutral or park?

What year is your car? Do you have a W124 chassis E320, or a W210 chassis E320?

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

yes it does go away in P or N. It is not really vibration but jerkiness ...thanks buddy

__________________
"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

Sorry it is an e320 coupe 1994 W124

__________________
"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

Any ideas???

__________________
"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

If it was just a vibration, I was going to suggest it was your motor mounts.

But since you describe it more as a shake / jerkiness / surging, it sounds like the car is misfiring.

Sounds like you might have a bad connection between one of the three coil wires and the resistor boot.

Do you know if your engine wiring harness has been replaced? It causes all sorts of weird problems. Degrading insulation is a problem on '93 to '95 E320's...

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Thanks buddy...I will look into that...

__________________
"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

do you find the problem??
let me know

I looked around....I am scheduled to take it into a shop on thursday.......I will let you know..thanks.

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"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

I am back!!! R-C imports (Rick ) rockville...did a very solid 90,000 mile service on my coupe. The jerkiness described went away. He says it was to do with the tranny needing a fluid change etc.
That was the good news..after a week it is back again...so I can't post anything solid here. I will have to take it back for him to look at. From what I am hearing, it could be a tranny problem. Thank God I bought that warranty...!!!we' ll see...

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"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

I had the same problem. I bet you need new resistor ends on your spark plug wires! That and the correct (F8DC4) spark plugs will correct your problem. Easy DIY and cheap, too.

Wow...I took the car to a very highly rated guy on this site and I can't believe it could be something as minor as you indicate.
I will look for the parts from MB and try it..I will post after...
thanks in advance.

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"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

It happened to me. My mechanic at the time missed it. I had similar symptoms as you, and took it to a well-regarded shop in town that specializes in European cars. He has been working on Mercedes since he was 16. He couldn't fix it and had me take it to the dealer.

The dealer quickly diagnosed the problem as one coil wire with a bad connection to the boot.

Needless to say, I have a new mechanic.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

well...which is which? these ar two different solutions right?
Coil wire or spark plug wires?
Could be both I guess...might have to take it to a dealer for diagnostics then unless these ar the same solutions...?

thanks in advanceh

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"Paps was right. Wish I had listened."

Spark plug wires aren't cheap. Resistor ends are about $50 at the dealer. THey also have the correct plugs. Coil wires I haven't replaced. I'm not sure they can diagnose the exact location of the errant electrons. If you're under warranty, let them fix it, whatever it is. Just point them in the right direction.