Thanks for responding so soon. Yes, my windows and pretty much everything is working. I did check my brake lights and they are not working. I will go and replace them and see what happens. I am female and don't want to disassemble the shifter because I don't know how. I'll follow your instructions and keep you posted.

Thanks,
heaven2010

 

Thanks for responding so...soon. I did check my brake lights and they are not working. My windows and everything else is working. I will do as you suggest to repair the brake light switch and keep you posted. By the way, where do I find the break light switch.

 

The issue is the switch itself, which is under the brake pedal. You can find directions here to change it:
https://mbworld.org/forums/w210-amg/...s-bas-esp.html

The shifter is pretty easy to disassemble. If you take it to a dealer, they are likely to tell you to replace the whole module, which is very expensive. You may be able to salvage it, or find an independent shop that can help.

To check it out, use your fingernails to pry up the black trim ring around the shifter (near where it says P, N, D). Then open the ashtray and pull up on the wood console and the whole thing will pop out. From there you should be able to remove the shifter and disconnect any wires.

 

My 1996 E320 does not have the secret hole and the shifter gets stuck in P, in the picture it appears to be in R because the cover is moved forward.



The shifter is blocked in P position by a hook, which is released by a cable, which in turn pulled by the brake pedal. The situation now is the cable does not release the hook


My temporary fix is removing everything around the shifter housing (the whole middle console including air vents to the rear seats) to access the hook and make it permanently open, meaning the shifter is now moving freely in all positions until the problem is tackled.

Certainly I have to fix the problem but until then my questions:
1. is the brake light switch the cause that the hook releasing cable is not pulled by the brake pedal or is it a mechanical problem?

2. can I drive (relatively) safely with the hook now always open/disabled? Of course I have to make sure when starting the engine that the shifter is in P.

Your inputs are greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

I can't find the brake light switch for my 1996 E320 at autohausaz dot com, does my car have one at all? anyone has the part #?

Still waiting for inputs on my questions in the post #29 above, thanks!

 

Try looking under the dash for one. If there is one, take it out, read the part number.

 

That's a popular situation happening on Mercedes. I do have some repair kit which applied to that case. Plastic and aluminum ones and different sizes cover most of Mercedes Cars. Anyone interested can email me autotechusa@gmail.com.

 

I have a 2003 SL500 and had the broken plastic piece problem. The shift started out just occasionally sticking and got worse until I got stuck in a parking lot. I live in San Jose, CA and can recommend MiD Auto Services in Sunnyvale. AAA towed it for me (slid it up on a truck bed) up to MiD. They fixed it for me pretty quickly at a good price. They removed the error codes and it works like new now. I recommend them.
Don

 

lucky me...indeed was the brake switch.

 

my e300 4matic died yesterday i changed the drive shaft sensor it ran fine for a test drive coming off the highway i downshifted to 4th and heard a clunk pulled into driveway and now its stuck in park changed brake pedal swtch and still stuck in park dont really want to have it sent to dealer no $$$ any ideas anyone

 

Hello i have the same problem on my e320 i dont know that is the problem can some one help?

 

if you have the same problem (unable to shift out of PARK), you need to give
us more details. did you read any of the suggestions in this thread? did you
try anything?

 

No-one answered TxHoldem's question, namely, if he "disables the parking hook," can he drive the car safely? I would think there was no problem doing that (my older MBs didn't have a parking lock), but I don't know. Anyone?
James
P.S. If it would be safe, I'd be tempted to disable the thing permanently ('96 E320) just to avoid getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with a transmission locked in park, and no tools to take the shifter "thingie" apart in order to get home.

 

Anyone know for sure?

 

Does the pen trick work for the 04 c320?

 

There is NO place for inserting a pin into the shifter mechanism on my '96 E320.
Hemersam

 

henry, post or search for an answer in the w211 forum and perhaps there is
enough of a difference that will provide you with a response. r-

 

I have a 2003 mercedes clk 320 and the other month is when it got stuck in park. I was driving it up a small hill when it locked into 3rd and would downshift or anything. I pulled over and it locked into park. Now it's in limp mode when I use the pen trick. It's stuck in gear. Stuck in park. And I've charged the batteries, replaced the brake pedal switch. What else could go wrong. No drinks have been spilled into the gear box that I know of. I looked at it and it seemed fine no stickyness or anything. Also the bake lights were on on the dash but turned off now the only thing thats on is check engine light. What could the problem be?

 

I am having problems with the car I bought my son. 2000 C230 Kompressor. I had the dealer make a new key as we lost ours and now the key turns but won't crank the engine. My friend had me turn the key on for like 10 minutes and now it will start but won't come out of park. I stuck a screw driver into the release and i can get it out of park but now the car will not shift out of 1st gear. I did switch the battery so now I am totally clueless on what to do.
Any help? Please?

 

Raymond : just curious,
I have similar problem (Stuck in P) and suspect it could have been spill on central console.
This is for E320 W210 year 2000.
I am looking at replacing the batteriy that is old, and replacing brake pedal sensor,
but reading your comment, I wnder if you can suggest another better solution ?
Thank you for you help
Michel

 

Car started running rough a couple days ago. Warning light said Auxillary Battery Malfunction - see owner manual.
Next warning when I pulled in driveway was Check Coolant and Check Engine Icon was on. Turned the car off and it has not been moved since. Yesterday after downloading, then studying almost all of the 420 something pages in the Owner's Manual frontwards, backwards and sideways I felt confident enough to go get coolant and motor oil with the guidance of the very knowledgeable guy at the counter of my local auto parts store. Followed instructions completely to add both (both fluids were very low). Did I mention I have not had car very long? Lol. So I was so excited to start it up and have all those warning lights be gone but instead I got nothing except - my battery is dead and I cannot start the engine! I don't know how I drained it but I know from reading in the manual that it is not recommended jump starting from another vehicle. What has me even more stumped is that after shutting car off and locking it I discovered the brake lights were on but only on the driver's side. So I used my key fob to open the door and double checked that everything was off. Closed and locked it and no more brake lights so I went inside. Today my stepson came by and he tried to start it - nothing except the arms on the clock started spinning around and wouldn't stop until he turned off the car. He locked it and we started walking away and noticed the passenger side back window is all the way down. We never touched the window buttons. I'm starting to think my car is possessed. Any thoughts or insights would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone for any help you can give. Kathi

 

Your 2013 car is a decade newer than the w210 forum you've posted in. You may want to repost within the proper forum so that owners with similar models can share their insights