Certainly didn't have all the electronic related problems then that we have today. It makes me leery to own these new vehicles outside of the warranty period but that is the subject of other posts. I spilled approx. 1-2oz. of water over the entire center console when I had to brake unexpectedly. Have since learned to either not have drinks in the car at all or to use the closed lid variety. The problem is that the winter/sport switch is right next to the shift gate and is a part of the shift computer. Since there is no moisture sealing whatsoever, the beverage leaks into the computer and presumably shorts it out. It would be a simple matter for Mercedes to find a way to seal the switch, move the switch to the bank of switches on the upper console or the shift lever but I guess Mercedes would rather have upset customers with cars that will not start, shift, etc. and sell more parts (not a warranty item if the dealer suspects fluid contamination). I'm sure plenty of these $400 shifters have been replaced under warranty due an inability to document fluid contamination which only costs Mercedes money that they really can't afford. I would bet that this could be the subject of an NHTSA safety investigationl if people really wanted to make an issue of it. Mine failed in the not so good section of downtown Jacksonville on a Sunday evening at a stop light. I was fortunate that the car finally went into limp home mode so I could get my wife, my car and myself out of there. To my knowledge Mercedes still hasn't modified this situation. Of course, we could just go back to the days when Mercedes didn't install drink holders at all and we dumped coffee into the power window switches. :p Mark