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So I am pretty much retired. A lifelong mechanic and jack-of-all-trades, so to speak. So, I generally repair all my own cars and my kids cars too. I have a 2000 E320 and now a 2006 E350 i bought at Christmas. I've changed several old-school transmissions and motors, but these are now hi-tech headache beasts.
Unfortunately, the E350 came with a transmission problem and I risked buying it cheap. It has 122K miles. It was shifting hard, from second to first gear, as the car slowed to a stop, occurring about 10 mph. The faster the stop, the harder the shift. The used car dealer said the transmission had just had solenoids and new valve body replaced and "was still under warranty that should be repaired free". That wasn't the case.
I took to the local Mercedes dealer for free diagnosis (please see attached image) and a cost for repair of $6300. Took to a local tranny shop and they wanted only a bit less.
I know that the valve body must be programmed per vehicle it's installed on. I've found several low-milage used transmissions for about $1200.
My questions is this:
If the valve body is good and no faults were found in the ECM, can I take the valve body with ECM off my bad transmission and put onto used transmission i buy, and install on car and be good to go? Since ECM it's already programmed to my car, do I still need to get it reprogrammed?
local Mercedes Health Check report
Any advice greatly appreciated! thank you much!
Paul
Did you read about the bad balance shafts that affected all 2006 E-350's? I'd check the status of your balance shaft before replacing the transmission. There's youtube videos and other resources to see how it's holding up. They've gone anywhere from 60-160k.
As for the transmission, a new wiring connector and conductor plate usually fixes the problem but it sounds like you're not having any luck. Lots of threads on here about the conductor plate.
so after looking through threads, the balance shaft must be good or else it would have been noted by Mercedes dealer during health check. Does anyone one know an answer to my original question about swapping the valve body from my transmission to used transmission, if that will work without it having to be reprogrammed by dealer?
I wouldn't count on them finding it during a health check. They do a quick check, if you read the threads on checking the shaft, there's a couple ways to do it. Unless you asked them specifically about it, I doubt if they did it. They only spend around 10 minutes checking things and they only do the basics. If you did a PPI and paid for an hour of diagnostic, then maybe they did it. You either check the oil pan for metal shavings or poke around inside with a camera or check some bolts to see if they're off center. Not too many people swap transmissions so can't really say, but when people have replaced conductor plates it's about an hour at the dealer to code it.
Assuming your car has the 722.9 7-speed transmission, there was a recent thread about sending the conductor plate with integrated TCM to an aftermarket shop that can repair/replace/transfer the TCM or data. Since I have a 722.6 I just put the info aside for future use. (Be advised I may be mixing up valve body/conductor plate terminology on the 722.9.)
FWIW, if a 4Matic car, it should be the 722.6 which is easier to work on as the conductor plate does not have to be programmed by the dealer or aftermarket specialist.
Go to "Advance Search", enter "722.9 conductor plate", highlight the "W211" entry, press enter, and you'll find several threads. This one: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...0-project.html
discusses shipping the valve body/TCM off for repair.
If you do have the 722.9, PM me your email address and I can send you some workshop tips on it. May not help much without the proper diagnostic equipment but it will give you a better understanding.
Last edited by bbirdwell; Apr 7, 2018 at 12:30 PM.
2025 AMG E 53; 2018 GLC300 4Matic; 2003 360 Modena
The conductor plate requires programming, not the valve body. If you don’t have any stored codes and the trans has never gone into limp home mode. I would guess a mechanical fault such as what the dealer provided is probably correct. You could try a fluid flush with filter and take down the valve body with conductor plate and thoroughly clean the solenoid valves, valve body (disassemble is straightforward) and then have an adaptation reset and relearn of the torque values. That’s all with the trans in the car.
As for the balance shaft - if you don’t have the check engine light with specific codes related to the balance shaft - don’t worry about it.
As for the balance shaft - if you don’t have the check engine light with specific codes related to the balance shaft - don’t worry about it.
The 2006 model was a horrible year. Many threads on here about balance shaft problems and they still pop up all the time. It's a 5-7k repair at the dealer although the parts are only a few hundred, but it's the labor involved in pulling the engine that makes it expensive. Once it pops up, you can probably only drive it for 1-2k before it won't even start. It was also the last year for SBC and even on a DIY, a reman pump is slightly under 1k.
The ZF made 5G (722.6) transmission is not unique to Mercedes and is used in other vehicles and brands in the US. Therefore it should not cost anymore to rebuild than any other widely used automatic transmission that would run about $1300-$2600 US depending on what rebuild shop you use.
Form WIKI:..
The Mercedes-Benz 5G-Tronic (also called 722.6) is an electronically shifted 5-speed overdrive transmission with TC lockup (typically in gears 3,4,5) and 2-speed for reverse. It replaced the older 722.3 / 722.4 4-speed 4G transmission and its 722.5 5-speed derivative. Itself, it was replaced by the Mercedes Benz 7G 722.9 transmission introduced in 2003. This turned out to be a very lengthy process stretching out over nearly a decade. Due to its high torque capacity (up to 1000 Nm) and lower cost, it was still retained for turbocharged V12 engines, four-cylinder applications and commercial vehicles for many years. It (722.6) is still being built for niche applications (Sprinter with gasoline/CNG M111 engine, Jeep Wrangler etc.) In Chrysler applications this transmission is identified as the New Automatic Gearbox Generation One, or NAG1. WA580 or W5A580.
2025 AMG E 53; 2018 GLC300 4Matic; 2003 360 Modena
These transmissions are not ZF. The OP has not offered up whether it is a 4Matic - 722.6 5 speed or non-4Matic 722.9 7 speed.
Again - as for the balance shaft: no codes or CEL. No problem. At the high end you’re probably talking 10-15% failure rate. That’s a helluva lot more engines without the problem than with. At the high mileage on the OP E350 - it’s either been done, or it’s ok.
His help needed is on the trans - why introduce the balance shaft?
thank you all for the information! It's greatly appreciated. I'm still learning to hopefully find a good solution to repair my car.
It is a 2006 E350 W211 RWD with transmission # 722.90600190877 and currently has 122K miles.
The check engine light is not on and Merc dealer found no codes in TCU.
In one of the threads I read yesterday, it recommended calling the dealer and providing VIN to see if it was even an issue for the balance shaft for my car, so I did this morning. Tech said there was a "2012 camshaft solenoid campaign by Merc-Benz" and this car was actually serviced there and repaired for this condition on 9/12/12. When I asked him further about the programming for the valve body (i.e. conductor plate) he passed me to the Service Manager and I described him my condition and he was very forthcoming and helpful. He said, like I expected, it prolly was not worth repairing the tranny with 122K miles to replace B1 Brake and K1 Clutch. He did say it would be possible to use my current valve body on the used tranny I'd buy, as long as the transmission number range was close, but it might possibly "take a while" to adjust to the used transmission, and I assume he meant through the RELEARN mode after reset.
I stopped by my close friend's bodyshop today, and he said to bring it back Monday, and he'd have his tech who specializes in Mercedes transmissions take a look at it. I will update when I see what he has to say.
thank you all so much, and I will continue to investigate the threads mentioned here!
Paul
Again - as for the balance shaft: no codes or CEL. No problem. At the high end you’re probably talking 10-15% failure rate. That’s a helluva lot more engines without the problem than with. At the high mileage on the OP E350 - it’s either been done, or it’s ok.
His help needed is on the trans - why introduce the balance shaft?
Never really got official numbers from MB so that 10-15% is a guesstimate. There are many on here where that problem happens when the car had 160k and it's still happening. Once they find out the cost, a lot of people end up ditching the car. I'd hate to have him drop that much only to have that problem pop up and then he ends up ditching the car. There's no mileage at which it's ok. Once the codes pop up, it's too late. There's some inspections that can be done to check for it.
Thanks cetialpha5, I did see the upper video yesterday, and a simple check, just haven't had a chance to do it yet. But after talking to Merc dealer today, he said this fix was already performed on the car in 2012 and balance shaft shouldn't be an issue now.
I don't remember what the symptoms are, but there is a spring that breaks in the valve body sometimes. Read about it in the 211 amg forum a few years ago.(Sorry, that's not much to go on) If it was worn clutch packs, the xentry star diagnostics will tell you by extended lockup times. You should buy the star system if you plan on staying with these cars. It will pay for itself quickly. I paid 900 for mine with an old Dell laptop, but you can do it cheaper on ebay. A conductor plate is plug and play on my car, I don't understand why a whole transmission wouldn't be. Just reset the adaptations with the sneaky reset. Dealers are often full of it, but then, I don't know everything either.
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DIY Transmission Replace? Advice please! :)
I'm still learning to hopefully find a good solution to repair my car.
