WEBSRFR

I had a really strange issue with my car last Saturday. When I slowed down twice it seemed like the car war rear-ended and it lurched forward and after the second time, the car went into a protective mode where it would not switch from Comfort to Sport mode. The car also kept revs around 3-4K RPM and it seemed like it was only using one or two gears. Though the transmission was acting up I did not see any messages on the instrument cluster.

I made an appointment with the dealer and just got the car back the same day and apparently they found internal codes and fixed the issue under warranty.

Can someone please take a look at the enclosed service record and let me know what they did? It was covered under warranty and I'm curious to see how much of a repair bill this would have been if not for the warranty.

Thanks so much!

apl175

Looks like dealer replaced the transmission electrical valve plate. It looks like this: http://www.ecstuning.com/ES2604367/

Along with supporting gaskets and seals. Also the filter was replaced and fluid renewed. Given your symptoms, this seems to be the correct repair path to follow.

OnlyGerman

This may of been a 2-3k repair, that is what I was quoted anyways.

WEBSRFR

I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks so much!

So together with the engine balance sprocket issue last year that would have been a $4-5K repair and a bunch of other things that have gone wrong and fixed under warranty, if not for the warranty my E550 would have cost about $8,000+ to maintain during the last 2.5 years. Yikes

So glad I bought the extended warranty when I bought my car as a CPO or I would have been completely screwed. My warranty runs out in November but hopefully by then anything that can go wrong has gone wrong.

06E5004ME

$2-5k to replace the electrical plate that costs $150 online? You should file a police report because I think that's called robbery.

06E5004ME

You should ask them to check your transmission connector, part costs like $10 but if it leaks, 99.99% of the time it will cause the electrical plate to fail.

WEBSRFR

Can this repair really cost $2-3K as @Kushp14 was charged?!

06E5004ME

I don't know if it could. I have never taken the car to the stealer for anything for the exception of parts. My guess is that they COULD quote that much as a lot of people don't know much about cars and the stealer could classify this service as a "major transmission repair." If you buy the plate and take it to a respectable shop, I don't see this job being more than $1,000. It could easily be a weekend DIY.

apl175

For W211 owners with the 5-speed transmission - which includes many of the 4Matic models, it is certainly possible to do it at an independent.
It's alot harder for those of us with 7-speeds, as a brand new transmission conductor plate for these models is (or was if things have changed) under embargo by Miss Daimler due to the supply shortage. Under this embargo, the plate could only be obtained and installed at an official dealership for what must be extremely high amounts of money. Grey-market and refurbished parts are obviously not embargoed, so many owners took that route with their indy.

06E5004ME

Indeed. If I recall correctly the plate even needs to be VIN coded... Ridiculous. So, yeah, I guess the 7-speed owners are really SOL in that case.

OnlyGerman

I was told its theft related part so its only a dealer job

Philip317

Be careful. MB have had serious problems with their transmissions for many years. See my experiences at the hands of MB under SL 350 R230.mm car was a brand new SL and I had some scary experiences which nearly cost me my life on one occasion. The problem can be of an intermittent nature and you will never know when it will repeat itself. Mine was a loss of power and sticking in gear. MB have known of this problem since approx 1996 and have been denying it. I sued and won in my case and was able to prove along with 3 other car owners that the problem exists. The extent to which they know and concealed this issue is incredible. MB had Meeting of its dealers in the UK I believe around 2004 to address the problem but what they were really up to was how could they keep the lid on what is clearly a crisis. They have colour coded the bushing in the transmission to monitor the number of bushings being replaced in these cars. In other words, for example, if your car goes in for a servicing and if the problem with the transmission was beginning to show they would replace the bushing with a certain coloured bushing. The next time your car would go in for a servicing they would know by the colour of the bushing when it had been replaced and then replace it again with a different coloured bushing. Of course the customer would not be told!
I sued and won my case and in the course of my case they attempted to interfere with one of my witnesses but failed. You can't be up to their dirty tricks. Have a look at my thread under SL 350 R230. Just be careful - these transmissions can put you in a dangerous place as it did with me.

Barry45RPM

Is it the same problem on the the 7 spd trans as well as the 5 speed trans?

Philip317

Hi Barry, not sure but MB have transmission problem over many of their models. I know for certain that this problem is not unique to the SL 350 because the 722.6 transmission was discovered ( Court process of making Documents available to thr Court) by MB as not being solely an SL problem - I believe it was known to one of the E models also. What model transmission has your car got ie is it a 722.6 - if it has bear in mind that one in every three of these transmissions is giving problems. Best of luck - hope this is of help to you
Philip

06E5004ME

I am not sure what this court and supposed legal battles all about but I haven't heard of such great problems with 5-speeds. Here is a list of 722.6 applications:

• 1996–1999 Mercedes-Benz W140
• 2000-2005 Mercedes-Benz W220
• 2006–Present Mercedes-Benz W221 (V12 Models only)
• 1997-2002 Mercedes-Benz W210
• 2002-2004 Mercedes-Benz W211
• 1997-2000 Mercedes-Benz W202
• 2000-2004 Mercedes-Benz W203
• 1998-2005 Mercedes-Benz W163
• 1997-2004 Mercedes-Benz W168
• 2004–Present Mercedes-Benz W169
• 2005–Present Mercedes-Benz B-Class
• 1998-2005 Mercedes-Benz R170
• 1990-2001 Mercedes-Benz R129
• 2001–Present Mercedes-Benz R230 (V12 Model and Earlier, up to 2005)
• 1998-2002 Mercedes-Benz W208
• 2003-2005 Mercedes-Benz W209
• 2000-2006 Mercedes-Benz C215 (V12 Models only)
• 2007–Present Mercedes-Benz C216 (V12 Models only)
• 1996–Present Mercedes-Benz W463 (AMG Models only)
• 2005-2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR
• 2002–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maybach_57_and_62
• 1998-2002 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_X308 (Supercharged models only)
• 1998-2002 Jaguar XK (X100) (Supercharged models only)
• 2004–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssangyong_Rexton
• 2006–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssangyong_Kyron
• 2005–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssangyong_Rodius
• 2005-2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Magnum- All HEMI applications, all AWD applications and some 3.5L RWD V6 applications, year dependent
• 2005–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_300- All HEMI applications, all AWD applications and some 3.5L RWD V6 applications, year dependent All pentastar V6 applications
• 2006–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Charger- All HEMI applications, all AWD applications and some 3.5L RWD V6 applications, year dependent,All pentastar V6 applications
• 2008–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Challenger- All HEMI applications, All pentastar V6 applications
• 2007-2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Nitro- 4.0L V6 Applications
• 2006-2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Commander- 3.7L V6 Applications, 3.0L CRD V6 applications
• 2005–2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Grand_Cherokee- 3.7L V6 Applications, 3.0L Diesel Applications, SRT8 Applications, all pentastar V6 applications
• 2011–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Durango, 3.6L V6
• 2011–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Wrangler- 2.8L Diesel
• 2012–Present http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Wrangler 3.6L V6

If "every third" transmission failed like you say they do, then there would be a lot more unhappy owners. The failure you described (loss of power) seems to be electrical and not mechanical. 5-speeds are fairly simple in design and mechanically are pretty solid.

06E5004ME

What exactly did you sue Mercedes over? What you said here is extremely vague and I don't see how you could have won a case with that description of your problem.

Barry45RPM

2002-2003 W211s were 5 speeds. 2004 introduced the 7 speed. The 5 speed was retained on the AWD cars when they were made available, while the RWDs got the 7 speed.

Barry45RPM

Data Card just shows: 427 Automatic Transmission 7 Speed ... but I HAVE had 2 open case transmission repairs at 65,000K

Personally, I think the 7 speed is crap in many respects, and that they still haven't gotten it right.

WEBSRFR

I have the 5 speed because of 4MATIC. So with the repair above should I be concerned with anything else? My warranty runs out in 2 months for my 2007 E550 and then I'm on my own!

I plan to keep this car for another 2 years and I really hope that with the $4K engine rebuild and this transmission issue now fixed there will be no more major surprises other than possibly Airmatic (which I'm ready for).

In 2 years I'm likely going to get a S550 or if Tesla offers AWD by then a Model S. If it had AWD Model S would be the only car I'd be interested in. I look forward to one day going all electric and never having to deal with all these engine and transmission issues again.

The maintenance cost of my E550 has left me quite sour with the Mercedes brand. I've been following the Model S forums for over a year and it is amazing how stable that platform is for such new technology.

06E5004ME

I am leaning towards no, you should not have any more problems if your electrical plate gives out.. However, faulty electrical plate is the the result of leaking plug connector, so it is counterintuitive to keep replacing your plate if your connector is leaking. Just make sure to check this part every time you change your engine oil and your plate will be fine.

WEBSRFR

Thanks for the advice!