Originally Posted by ykobayashi

Hey everyone.

I got my transmission installed by Sun Valley yesterday. It is really good. Shifts perfectly. No banging no flaring. It's like (as if I actually know) the way the car was when it was new.

I got to know Marc during the process and here is what I have to say. He is an amazing individual in that he has gone to great lengths to understand Mercedes transmissions and their weak points. He has the mind of a research scientist having spent years doing experiments on the 722 to find out how to improve its performance and reliability. He literally knows the effect of every spring tension in a valve body which he learned empirically using his engine stand and dynamometer. You're basically getting the product of thousands of hours of background work when you get a Sun Valley unit.

Along with that he's done extensive failure analysis on dead transmissions. He is aware of the common failures and the engineering flaws or compromises that caused them. The guy is a nexus of information. In addition the shop has an extensive library of rare MB documentation which has been extensively finger printed up.

In the warehouse there are few completed transmissions. The parts are shelved and organized so his guys can walk back, get a housing, planetary sets, seals, valve body etc. and put together a unit from scratch on demand. This works because the gas and diesel 722.3s are so similar. It is just in time manufacturing.

And that brings us to time. So I'm about five weeks into this since I first contacted them. They are busy because a lot of people know the deal. I just was unclear when I first posted this thread. It is what it is. You need to be patient.

But at the end of the day I believe I own the best remanufactured transmission available. It is upgraded with Sun Valley's own engineering to toughen up the original units' weaknesses...so in many respects it's better than OE. It shifts like a dream and it is whisper silent under the clatter of my 617 engine.

Lastly, the price was too good. $1750 for the trans and $550 for installation. The trans sounds steep for a rebuilt but that's because there is a no questions asked no clawback on the core. Nobody says, "hey one of your planets is dead and your front pump is scored so I can only give you X$ on the core. The price is set. The installation cost is so low (remember this is Los Angeles where everything costs more than anywhere except San Francisco or NYC) I thought it was a joke. The bottom line is the install crew must do it in a short time to keep costs down. And Marc isn't terribly greedy.

Foothill Ranch MB quoted me $7500 not including tax to do the job. Sun Valley charged $2300 out the door.

If I had to do it again I will 1) call and request a tranny and a date to install it. 2) wait patiently for up to a month. Don't even worry about pestering Marc by phone. I'll know I'm in the queue and I just have to wait. 3) buy a beater car to drive in the meantime. This will be my chance to try something different for a month. Get a beater on Craigslist, sell at a slight loss and consider it a rental. 4) when you get your slot for installation just drop the car off and leave your email. They do email well. 5) go away and happily drive my beater car.

And I will do this again. I've passed so many great deals on Craigslist for an old Mercedes that needs a transmission. If it isn't fixable with the easy tricks I'll just send it on a flatbed to Marc.

Overall I'm jazzed to have the Sun Valley unit in my car. Like the other people here say, it is THE place to go.