My transmission started to act up on my E320 wagon with 270,000km on it about a month ago. Forward gears were fine but reverse was shot. Shopped around for quotes on a total rebuild. I'm located in Toronto. The Mercedes dealer quoted me Cnd$3500.00 for replacement with a rebuilt unit plus extra for the torgue converter, plus, plus, plus. Bottom line I was told to expect a total of Cnd$4000-5000. And a week to 10 days to complete.

I then went to a shop which I have used for other repairs which specializes in MB, Porsche and BMW. They quoted me around Cnd$3000 depending on what they found when they opened it up, but from my previous experience with this shop (they have never come in on quote) I would expect to be closer to $4000. They required a week.

Still not convinced I went looking on the web and found a small independent transmission shop "Toronto Transmission" that claimed to specialize in European cars. I dropped into to see them, there was a BMW540 on one hoist and a E420 on another. I was quoted Cnd$1800.00! I asked are there going to be any extras, torgue converter, seals etc.? No everything was included. Bottom line the job was completed in 2 days the bill was $1800.00+tax. The warranty is 1 year 20,000km parts and labour same as MB dealer. The car runs great. Am I lucky or is my tranny going to blow-up in 13 months?

What do you mean by "reverse was shot"? What were the symptoms?

Reverse was taking longer and longer to engage and would slip. Eventually I could hardly move in reverse the engine would rev but I would stay still, unless that is I was on a backward slope and could gradually move back. Got kind of awkward in the city.