Transmission wont Shift out of 1st Gear!
 

I have an 2004 E500 non 4matic. 100,000 miles 2nd owner

So the worst thing about owning a w211 for the last 5 years has been the god dang air suspension. I took it into the dealer once the car was too low and it wouldn't raise and drove it till the pump died. They said replace both rear air bags and pump so I said ok. $1700 later the rear passenger side started dipping again. Eventually the pump died again. So now I'm looking into replacing the suspension with an after market arnott inc https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-W219-W210-W211-E320-CLS550-02-09-Air-Spring-Conversion-Kit-Arnott-Inc/112408527881?epid=193302329&hash=item1a2c120409:g: uv4AAOSwEppUPnvp:rk:1:pf:0

The dealer just runs circles around the problem costing you an arm and a leg which I know I'm preaching to the choir here. I paid the car off 3 years ago and I don't want to buy another. I want to run this one into the ground and the suspension conversion is what I want. This car will never be sold and the only value it has now is the value that it takes me to work. I couldn't get $2000 for this car.

Anyways while the pump was dead and the car was sitting super low I went over a speed bump at 2 mph and I heard a loud scrap under the car. My check engine light went on and the car wont shift out of 1st gear. When I put it into gear it violently goes into gear. Can only safely go below 40mph on the road. Does anyone know what could have happened when the bottom of the car hit that speed bump that would cause the transmission to get stuck in 1st gear. Trying to manually shift the transmission stick wont allow for any gear changes.

The car is now parked and I am wondering if its worth doing the conversion on the suspension and fix whatever the transmission issue is as well. Any help is appreciated from fellow w211 owners. No need for holier than thou commentators just straight shooters here please.

Jack up the car, pull the panels, and see what you bent. It's probably very visible.

I had this issue with my 350. Had to replace a the transmission conductor plate and a faulty solenoid. (Transmission) If your car is like mine you DO NOT need to replace the entire valve body. do you due diligence and before you spend any money. One Merc Stealer insisted I needed the entire tranny valve body. $1000+. Wasn't the case. You can buy the conductor plate from Benz and a good mechanic will be able to check each solenoid and see which one is bad. Hopefully it's one of the cheaper ones.

Good luck

You're the man bro. Got a kit for 189$ instead of the quoted price of $1300 at the stealership. Cars purring like a kitten

Speak with some of the people that have the Arnot coil spring conversion kit installed, they're not all happy. The main issue is that Arnott adapted a coil spring into the air spring rear lower control arm. MB used a completely different rear lower control arms on airmatic and coil spring cars. The Arnott conversion leaves you with a very short and stiff rear coil spring while MB used much longer springs. My suggestion is to find used rear coil springs and control arms from a base spec E320 or E350.

Factory rear coil spring
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...f834dd4c37.jpg

Arnott coil spring conversion. Count the number of coils on both.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...17fe8e719d.jpg
Airbag rear control arms. The arnott kit does not replace these as they should.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...6275b31249.jpg

Factory coil spring control arms.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...c95fefa6c4.jpg
The Arnott kit also lacks any rubber bushings at either end of the spring while MB always uses a rubber bushing or rubber spacer on its coil springs to reduce noise and vibration.

its easy to do self. the pan comes right off. its very documted on U tube