I've considered that as a possibility for the electrical malfunctions- and the why is that I (left this out of the initial post) found the key was turned on these three hours it sat before being restarted. I must have turned it on to lower the rear windows since it was warm and I wanted to keep things cool as i knew I was going out again in a few hours and forgot to turn it off (got a call when I was lowering them).OK, but why did I lose uphill and shifting ability so suddenly? Its a mystery to me how these unrelated systems failed briefly. Everything is still functioning today

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1969 220D "Berta" RIP
1982 300D turbo 250K