Recently my '06 E350 has been exhibiting some troubling symptoms. It started about 4-6 weeks ago just after I had the transmission fluid and filter changed, though I don't know if the two are related. The first thing that started happening was that it would become stuck in top gear after driving on the freeway for 5-10 miles. When exiting the freeway I found that it would not downshift either automatically or by trying to put it into manual shifting mode. What would correct the problem is simply turning the ignition off and then back on again. Around town it was never a problem, only after driving in top gear. This has probably happened a dozen times or so. A couple of weeks ago it escalated to becoming stuck in 3rd gear after accelerating from a stop or entering the freeway, for example. Again, coming to a stop, turning the ignition off and then restarting the engine corrected the problem. The next time it got stuck in 3rd the CEL was lit. After restarting it stayed on for about 15 miles and then went out. This happened one more time with the same results.

Today, on my way home from work I got on the freeway and found myself stuck in first or second gear ( the trans was in Sport mode). At 25 mph the engine was turning about 3,000 rpm so I'm thinking it was 2nd. This time the CEL was lit and restarting the engine had no effect at all. I had to drive home about 20 miles at this speed. I tried restarting a number of times as well as holding the shift lever to the left and right. I also could not switch from Sport to Comfort mode. The other thing I noticed was that when when shifting into reverse or drive it produced a very sharp, strong jolt when it engaged either gear. This was with the engine idling at about 800 rpm.

I'll be taking it into the shop as I think this is beyond my ability to fix but I'm hoping that someone here might have come across this or a similar trans problem and knows what the cause is.

Sorry to be so long-winded and I hope someone can enlighten me on this problem.

Thanks,

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Gary

1992 300E, 2006 E350 and 2006 C230 Sport