Gear Shift Bushing on W202
 

The shift bushings on my 95 C280 are going bad. They lasted a decent amount of time... 127k miles, and quite a bit of shift use!
Now, D can easily slip into 3.

Just a quick question... what is the cost of replacement for this? Time and part $?

Thanks!

Hey David - I had mine replaced for about $30. It took them about 1/2 hour. piece of cake.

Great, thanks Mark!

So it takes about 1/2 hr to replace. Did you have the dealerhip do it?

So the parts are $30. (?)

Thanks again.

David - yes - I did. The part was like a couple bucks, but the labor was about 1/2 hour. It's been a while. But I remember how cheap it was to fix. I got a whole new shifter out of it! It has been explained on here how to DIY somewhere. Too complicated for a simpleton like me :)

This has been discussed many a time in the tech forum - search the archives for more discussion than you'll want to read. The part itself is ~$1.25, though that's dealer pricing - you can save almost half mail order!

Installation is more frustrating than difficult. The bushing just pushes into place - but the pushing is a real bear. The archives contain some description of homemade tools used to do the job.

I've done this a couple of times on a couple of different cars. It never requires more than a few simple tools, never takes too long, and always makes a nice difference. In fact, my '98 E-class needs this done right now - I've been driving around with the bushing in the ashtray for a few weeks now. Maybe I'll head home early and take care of it.

Ok... i'll probably buy the bushings and then have my independent mechanic install them. He does not specialize in Mercedes... will he be familiar with the process!?

Thanks.

Eh, let's put it this way. Even though he doesn't specialize in Mercedes, if he can't figure this one out - you probably need a new mechanic. I fixed the one on my 210 today - it took 40 minutes, including jacking the car up and cleaning up the tools afterwards.