The 400E tranny will hold a gear longer from a cold start to help the cats warm up. My experience is that even when it's very cold out, this "gear holding" lasts an absolute maximum of 2 minutes - usually much less.

There is supposedly a bowden cable that attached to the throttle linkage (at the back of the engine) that can adjust the shifts - enabling you to adjust the shifts.

My 1995 E420 (essentailly the same car mechanically - only cosmetic differences) usually shifts quite low in the RPM range unless I'm dogging it. I can drive nicely around town all day without even getting near 3000 RPM. That's the beauty of the M119 engine.

Hope this helps. Search the forum "400E tranny" to try and find more specific posts about adjusting the cable to affect shift points.

Troy
1995 E420 75k