I test drove a 99 e300. Wife was not thrilled about it. I guess I am going to have to work on her(she has never drove a european or diesel car). The car felt pretty good to me. Only knock is it did not seem to decellerate smoothly. It felt rough. I don't know if it is the downshift of the transmission or the suspension. The car has 101000 miles. I don't think I am buying this one but just wondering if I should be concerned.

Thanks

I bought one recently and had to redo the engine mounts, shocks, and much, much more at great expense. The DB people serviced the transmission, which to my great relief, accepted the procedure without complaint, for it had been abused and the old fluid was a sickening color. Mine now shifts very well, though. It had 109,000 miles when I bought it. It is striking how little fuel it uses, as well.

it probally needs a bit of work. I have a 98 E300DT with 152k on the clock. I recently had the transmission fluid changed, which unfortunatly had to be done at the dealer. But after the service, the tranny feels great, shifts are much smoother. The torque converter does not have a drain plug, but 5 of the 7.5 quarts of new fluid plus a new filter is better than nothing.

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2002 G500 74K
1998 E300 200K and rising
1995 S600 73k


"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering
if they've made a difference. The Marines don't
have that problem."-Ronald Reagan

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them
what to do and they will surprise you with their
ingenuity."-General George S. Patton

My 99 E300 does have the drain plug.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I believe the 210 chassis had a torque converter drain plug through 9/99.

Len

I'd be careful;-

Pay to have the codes checked. I've seen the same symptom's on my friends 99' be a transmission replacement at 80,000 miles. W210's are known to have more transmission problems than previous generations.



Michael

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Michael McGuire
83 300d
01 vw A4 TDI
66 Chevy Corsa
68 GMC V6 w/oD
86 300E

Why is it? It runs a 722.6 transmission which is used by other models, isn't it?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Thanks for the info. I did not by that e300 but I will remember it next t ime I go. It wasn't a continuous rough it just felt like possibly one downshift in the sequence.

Someone mentioned that when they changed the fluid they noticed better shifts. I dropped the pan on my at 70K and noticed that the fluid was not the bright red color. On the plus side, I didn't see any sediments at the bottom.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

the toque convertor does have a drain plug...

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#dieselFLEET
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'97 E300
'99 E300

I didn't say that the turbo diesel's 722.6's were worse than the rest of the fleet. I did say that the since removing transmission and filter services, transmission life can be much shorter* or* it can be the electro-mechanical shifting of the 722.6.

Noting, that the turbo diesel would be the *highest* torque engine for that transmission and hence would be the hardest on the linings.

About 50% of the 98-99 turbodiesel I know have had transmission replacement under Starmark warrentee. All the ones I'm thinking of have less than 100,000 miles and the symptoms seemed relatively minor.

Michael

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Michael McGuire
83 300d
01 vw A4 TDI
66 Chevy Corsa
68 GMC V6 w/oD
86 300E

The 722.6 if I'm not mistaken was also used in the E55.

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#dieselFLEET
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'97 E300
'99 E300

I'm one of those. Ever since new, the car has been slow to downshift to 1st at a dead stop. I have to wait an extra second or two, or else it will slam when taking off again. I believe this to be a software problem, and complained about it several times. When the car was in for service at around 80,000 miles, I mentioned it again, and the tech's diagnosis was "clutch packs out of spec." They rebuilt the whole tranny under my extended warranty. When I got it back, it shifted slightly better in normal driving, not that it was ever bad. But the slow downshift to first was still there. So it makes me think they were just trigger happy on doing a 722.6 rebuild. Maybe that's to make up for their mistake in saying the tranny is "sealed for life" and doesn't need fluid changes. BTW, I did have the fluid changed, at my expense, at around 70,000 miles.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

There are "big" (V8) and small (V6 and under) versions of the 722.6 - The diesels use the smaller version of the 722.6 but I don't think the OM606 turbo engine has substantially more torque than the M112, as I recall the diesel was 244 lb/ft and the gas engine was 232lb/ft or something like that.

I have a 98 E300 with 78K on the clock and, so far, the transmission has been flawless.

In my case at 65K, the fluid was not bright red anymore. It didn't smell burnt or anything. I just did it because I wanted to put the pan magnet and see the color of the fluid. I think I will do it again at 120K

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow