So as a (hopefully) final installment in my quest for a rebuilt tranny for my 92 500sel. The choices were:

Dealership rebuild - $4500

Indy rebuild - $2600

Phoenix Reman Tranny - $1885

German Trans - $1200

Although I was tempted to go with Phx Reman (they offered a strong warranty, and also had the most experience - they rebuild over 100 tranny per month), the guy at German Trans convinced me that he would do a good job and stand behind it.

I picked up the car (he got it in and out in 48 hours), but at first it wasn't quite right. He agreed that there was something wrong, and he said to come back in a few days and he would fix it. (It was short shifting sometimes, but the big problem was that at 20mph if you floored it there was a harsh kickdown.) A week later, I gave it to him for a day, where he replaced the valve body, and now it works fine.

Wow, I forgot how wonderful the MB tranny's work when they are working properly. I bought this car mainly on my experiences with my 560sel (which had a great powertrain, best automatic tranny I've ever driven), and it was a little dissappointing living with the failing transmission for the last 10k miles.

So, in final, German Trans gets a B+ rating. Not perfect (I was a little frustrated when it wasn't fixed right the first time), but he took care of it without hesitation, and has agreed to continue to service it for as long as needed.

-David