I haven't posted here in a while because honestly I've been having very good results from my '93 300D. However, as the cold came in, my car began shifting unusually. One morning, upon initial take off, it would shift into reverse and drive, but not shift between forward gears. This would last for a few minutes, and then would a) begin shifting hard and then b) everything would be normal. I called my independent mechanic for advice and found out he doesn't do transmissions but he told me the name of a good transmission shop that "knows mercedes transmissions" and he said "mention my name - they'll treat you right. I take the car over to them and leave it for the night, and I'm thinking - new transmission, valve body, seals, or who knows what else but I was bracing myself for $$ when the transmission mechanic calls me the next morning and says - " the linkage lubrication was old and freezing up. I lubricated it, and then serviced your transmission (filter/fluid). Charge was $100"! I could have easily been taken here, but now my car is again running like new (only 131k miles). If I had taken the car to the local dealer I am sure my bill would have been 100's or thousands of dollars, and I would have never known the difference. Just an interesting story that I wanted to pass along, and I still love my Benz!

__________________
John Gillespie
1988 560sec - 192k miles
2006 CLK500 - 40K miles
1995 E300 - 202k miles