Hi:

My 87 300E has almost 150K miles on it. it starts o.k. until the speed increases then I will feel the car hesitates at 20-30 mph then surge from 2k rpm to 3k rpm, back down to 2k rpm then run smoothly afterwards. However, when I increase the speed gradually and slowly the hesitation is not really noticeable.

A shop guy told me that the problem is the transmission (he did not test drive the car). He would rebuild and install the transmission for $1,850.00 He also said that a Mercedes Transmission would last about 150-200K miles. Here are my questions:

1. The problems that I described are only nuisance and I don't mind coping with it until I have to. I know if it's indeed a transmission problem it will get worse, what could be the worst if I keep it going for a while, say, another 50K? Will the car simply dies then I have to have the trans. replaced?

2. The shop guy said when the car reaches 200K, I'll need a volve job for $2.5K.

Please advise, thanks.

DL