I searched the past postings and did not find an answer to my W210 problem. Recently my 97 E300 Diesel has a slight vibration in reverse, not in drive, accelerating from standstill. Is it possible its its an engine mount? Sounds like the exhaust or engine might be hitting something. Coincidently the shift lever is rattling, although I think the lever is electronic.

I apologize if this has come up before , but this is my first post on this forum. The car has 90 K miles.

It does sound like a motor mount. For verification, if you can safely do this, open the hood, and watch what the engine does when you switch from drive to reverse, or accelerate in reverse. You may want a helper for this.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

Thanks,

I doubt it's the transmission. I had the fluid changed at 85K and had the service tech save the filter for my inspection.

The filter had only a thin film of fines, no particles , no discoloration of the old fluid itself.

Is your trans the five speed 722.6? Cause only three or four of the shifter actuations are electronic the rest are mechanical. And there is a bushing in the shifter mechanisim that needs to be replaced every so often - mine was at 50K miles - the bushing in the linkage, accessible from under the car when shot causes a slightly sloppy shfting action, and when really bad a vibration in the shifter.
Not an expensive fix for the bushing.

No vibration at idle in reverse?

Easy to find fault with car on lift, and car put in reverse.

Ethan, you are right on. Trans is a 722.6, no vibration at idle.

I am going to take a look underneath this week. Any idea where this bushing is located?

I an not sure where the shift lever bushing is that should be replaced.
To give you some idea: when I took my car to an independent for trans fluid change he replaced the bushing - I had detected a sloppy shifter but didn't know the cure was so simple - free of charge.

I wanted to strees that it sounds that if your car were put on a lift and the gears were engaged and driven in reverse on the lift, a mechanic would locate the offender in a second.