I recently acquired an 81 300D, 131k, recently rebuild on the engine. this is my first Benz and I love it, however, I'm a little confused about some things as they relate to the transmission (automatic). I've yet to find the "sweet spots" on the transmission. If i drive it very easy it shifts smoothly and seamlessly changes gears as per the dots on the speedometer, then at times when it shifts, it's almost like it is switching gears with a sledge hammer, it kinda slams into gear out of force over necessity. In addition, when driving in the city, it seems to do a lot of shifting, but, while on the interstate she runs smooth and incident free. I don't feel like it is a vacuum problem as I do not experience any of the problems I've read on this board to indicate otherwise (ie; door locks work, engine shuts off when key is turned,....) I've recently ordered the manual set and eagerly await it's arrival, but, in the meantime I would really appreciate any words of wisdom from long time owners. Thanks.

jeric

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