R-Class (W251) Produced 2006-2013: R320CDI, R350, R420CDI, R500

Anyone with a 7 speed auto? (other platforms)

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Old 02-17-2012, 01:16 AM
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2016 E63 s63 (sold),1986 Buick Grand National (sold)2014 ML63
Anyone with a 7 speed auto? (other platforms)

Hello all, this issue has serious safety concerns and is something that needs immediate attention and action taken. Please read on.

I have a 2007 GL 450 that has begun the notorious 7 speed (722.9 NAG2 (7G-Tronic) Transmission) etc. electronics failure. It will get stuck in a random forward gear with no apparent driver/user solution but to power cycle the vehicle. (Shut it down, and restart.) If you shift to neutral, it will stay there and not engage any other gear (forward or reverse) until you shutdown and restart. This almost sounds like a bad personal computer operating system. Imagine being in the middle of a normally safe three-point-turn to find the vehicle won’t move unless you shut it off and restart! It happened to me today.

This is a load of nonsense – this problem is not due to abuse, misuse, neglect, or even reasonable wear and tear. I have found others that have been told “the valve body is warped”, etc – so it follows restarting the car un-warped it? Do these people (the dealers) really know how to service these vehicles? This is clearly an electronics failure.

This is an absolute design/manufacturing flaw of the "conductor plate and valve body assembly", and my research carries that the Benz 7 speed transmission is notorious across many models and platforms, and there are many TSB’s on it; recently (Date: April 8, 2011 Order No.: S-B-27.00/120 Group: 27 SUBJECT: All Models Equipped with 722.9 NAG2 (7G-Tronic) Transmission) and it is a well documented problem internally within MBUSA.

Beyond warranty? Not a CPO vehicle? Okay - but - ….

Try this - If my wife (or yours) gets off the freeway, comes to a stop, and then attempts to proceed normally with the vehicle now stuck in 5th (or whatever it chooses) gear, - there is a reasonable user presumption that the car would accelerate normally and be able to safely join traffic....instead it crawls forward at a few miles an hour into potential harms way with no way to accelerate the vehicle normally, thereby leaving the driver and our children in danger. I speak from personal experience.

This is not just a defect, it is a safety issue, and MBUSA needs their feet held to the fire on this one.

It is unreasonable for any manufacturer to tout "The best or nothing" and "Engineered like no other car in the world" and then expect the consumer to pay $2000+ to fix a known electronics design/manufacture flaw. There are even rumblings that VDO (speed sensor/electronics manufacturer) and MB are at odds over who is actually to blame, so clearly they both see costs are going to mount when the inevitable recall occurs. I plan to notify the NHTSA among others if I don't get some favorable answers immediately.

To make it worse, Part # 220 270 27 06 88 is what I am told I need, costing $838.00. (wow!) If I wanted to buy this part outright and have my indy shop or myself install it, I STILL have to go to the dealer for "programming" that I nor most indy shops can carry out.
So regardless of who is at fault, you are railroaded into going to the dealer, dealing with their dismissive “here’s the bill” attitude and paying their inflated rates regardless. You as a consumer are left with no other recourse. I wonder if there is a legal challenge with that in and of itself. To the OP, it sounds like they even robbed you on the part alone.

In summary, they build a defective transmission that will certainly leave you in harm’s way, and then they (MBUSA) say “too bad, pay US to fix it or you have no other option.” I question not only the ethics but legality of this position MBUSA has taken.

I am collecting names, vehicle types, and e mail addresses for any that are interested in signing on to force MBUSA into a recall based on safety (or lack thereof) alone.

I do not seek anything more than an email address, name, and year/make/model affected. Your information will not be used for any other purpose but adding strength to my argument with MBUSA. Feel free to PM me, or email aplguys@aol.com.

Understand absolutely clearly that I am not attempting to defame, discredit, or slander MBUSA in any fashion, but I will not have safety compromised in a premium vehicle and then be billed for it, nor will I be lead to believe it’s “normal wear and tear, abuse, misuse, or neglect”. This is a flaw that compromises safety, period.

I bought my GL450 because I love my Mercedes Benz E55 AMG so much. I bought another Benz because of the quality previously displayed and that one would reasonably expect. Maybe I should have kept my Dodge Durango Limited. What’s right is right.

If we stick together, maybe good will prevail. There is strength in numbers.

I want to hear from all of you affected!
Old 02-17-2012, 03:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris Buffalo
Hello all, this issue has serious safety concerns and is something that needs immediate attention and action taken. Please read on.

I have a 2007 GL 450 that has begun the notorious 7 speed (722.9 NAG2 (7G-Tronic) Transmission) etc. electronics failure. It will get stuck in a random forward gear with no apparent driver/user solution but to power cycle the vehicle. (Shut it down, and restart.) If you shift to neutral, it will stay there and not engage any other gear (forward or reverse) until you shutdown and restart. This almost sounds like a bad personal computer operating system. Imagine being in the middle of a normally safe three-point-turn to find the vehicle won’t move unless you shut it off and restart! It happened to me today.

This is a load of nonsense – this problem is not due to abuse, misuse, neglect, or even reasonable wear and tear. I have found others that have been told “the valve body is warped”, etc – so it follows restarting the car un-warped it? Do these people (the dealers) really know how to service these vehicles? This is clearly an electronics failure.

This is an absolute design/manufacturing flaw of the "conductor plate and valve body assembly", and my research carries that the Benz 7 speed transmission is notorious across many models and platforms, and there are many TSB’s on it; recently (Date: April 8, 2011 Order No.: S-B-27.00/120 Group: 27 SUBJECT: All Models Equipped with 722.9 NAG2 (7G-Tronic) Transmission) and it is a well documented problem internally within MBUSA.

Beyond warranty? Not a CPO vehicle? Okay - but - ….

Try this - If my wife (or yours) gets off the freeway, comes to a stop, and then attempts to proceed normally with the vehicle now stuck in 5th (or whatever it chooses) gear, - there is a reasonable user presumption that the car would accelerate normally and be able to safely join traffic....instead it crawls forward at a few miles an hour into potential harms way with no way to accelerate the vehicle normally, thereby leaving the driver and our children in danger. I speak from personal experience.

This is not just a defect, it is a safety issue, and MBUSA needs their feet held to the fire on this one.

It is unreasonable for any manufacturer to tout "The best or nothing" and "Engineered like no other car in the world" and then expect the consumer to pay $2000+ to fix a known electronics design/manufacture flaw. There are even rumblings that VDO (speed sensor/electronics manufacturer) and MB are at odds over who is actually to blame, so clearly they both see costs are going to mount when the inevitable recall occurs. I plan to notify the NHTSA among others if I don't get some favorable answers immediately.

To make it worse, Part # 220 270 27 06 88 is what I am told I need, costing $838.00. (wow!) If I wanted to buy this part outright and have my indy shop or myself install it, I STILL have to go to the dealer for "programming" that I nor most indy shops can carry out.
So regardless of who is at fault, you are railroaded into going to the dealer, dealing with their dismissive “here’s the bill” attitude and paying their inflated rates regardless. You as a consumer are left with no other recourse. I wonder if there is a legal challenge with that in and of itself. To the OP, it sounds like they even robbed you on the part alone.

In summary, they build a defective transmission that will certainly leave you in harm’s way, and then they (MBUSA) say “too bad, pay US to fix it or you have no other option.” I question not only the ethics but legality of this position MBUSA has taken.

I am collecting names, vehicle types, and e mail addresses for any that are interested in signing on to force MBUSA into a recall based on safety (or lack thereof) alone.

I do not seek anything more than an email address, name, and year/make/model affected. Your information will not be used for any other purpose but adding strength to my argument with MBUSA. Feel free to PM me, or email aplguys@aol.com.

Understand absolutely clearly that I am not attempting to defame, discredit, or slander MBUSA in any fashion, but I will not have safety compromised in a premium vehicle and then be billed for it, nor will I be lead to believe it’s “normal wear and tear, abuse, misuse, or neglect”. This is a flaw that compromises safety, period.

I bought my GL450 because I love my Mercedes Benz E55 AMG so much. I bought another Benz because of the quality previously displayed and that one would reasonably expect. Maybe I should have kept my Dodge Durango Limited. What’s right is right.

If we stick together, maybe good will prevail. There is strength in numbers.

I want to hear from all of you affected!

Totally agree w/ you. But I think you didn't hear about the class action suit against MB being thrown out for the balance shaft problems. This will likely be lumped in w/ that issue.

I will be "dumping" my R class before end of year. Good luck.
Old 02-17-2012, 03:59 PM
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2007 R500
Chris,
Ours is a 2007 R500 with around 85,000. In 5 years time, we've experienced some slow shifting in cold weather, with the dealer saying it is normal. We had the transmission serviced (flushed) a few weeks ago under Service B. The total service B came to just over $1,000. They replaced the steering rack under the extended warranty. My cost for parts and labor on that was zero.

I'm saddened by what you're experiencing. I'd be inclined to leave the car in front of the the dealership with a big sign on it saying "LEMON." Channel 7 in the DC area has a program called "7 On Your Side." They will read a summary of your situation on the air and challenge the company to respond, either by defending its actions or by fixing the problem at no charge.

I wouldn't hesitate to go to the federal safety agency on this - I would report it in all its gory details right away.

Best Wishes!

JR
Old 02-21-2012, 04:22 PM
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R350
that's Conductor plate

do a search, just replaced mine. Same exact thing, it will only get worse. $1,600 and can only be done by the dealer.
Old 02-21-2012, 11:15 PM
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2016 E63 s63 (sold),1986 Buick Grand National (sold)2014 ML63
Thanks guys, researching and building my case as we speak. This IS a safety issue.

E mail me to be added to the list of consumers that have issues.

email, year/make/model and symptoms are all I ask.

aplguys@aol.com
Old 02-22-2012, 07:06 PM
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06 R360, 06 F350 6.0, 04 CayenneS, 96 911TT 500HP, 86 928S, 74 911S, 73 914-4, 70 914-6, 02 Durrango
Can you guys post data on the issue, tsb's... part numbers... reports.... Something that I can present the dealer with and anyone will know exactly what I am talking about, even if they have not heard of this before.
Old 04-20-2013, 09:34 AM
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2007 E350 mercedes benz
vale bodies

Originally Posted by Chris Buffalo
Hello all, this issue has serious safety concerns and is something that needs immediate attention and action taken. Please read on.

I have a 2007 GL 450 that has begun the notorious 7 speed (722.9 NAG2 (7G-Tronic) Transmission) etc. electronics failure. It will get stuck in a random forward gear with no apparent driver/user solution but to power cycle the vehicle. (Shut it down, and restart.) If you shift to neutral, it will stay there and not engage any other gear (forward or reverse) until you shutdown and restart. This almost sounds like a bad personal computer operating system. Imagine being in the middle of a normally safe three-point-turn to find the vehicle won’t move unless you shut it off and restart! It happened to me today.

This is a load of nonsense – this problem is not due to abuse, misuse, neglect, or even reasonable wear and tear. I have found others that have been told “the valve body is warped”, etc – so it follows restarting the car un-warped it? Do these people (the dealers) really know how to service these vehicles? This is clearly an electronics failure.

This is an absolute design/manufacturing flaw of the "conductor plate and valve body assembly", and my research carries that the Benz 7 speed transmission is notorious across many models and platforms, and there are many TSB’s on it; recently (Date: April 8, 2011 Order No.: S-B-27.00/120 Group: 27 SUBJECT: All Models Equipped with 722.9 NAG2 (7G-Tronic) Transmission) and it is a well documented problem internally within MBUSA.

Beyond warranty? Not a CPO vehicle? Okay - but - ….

Try this - If my wife (or yours) gets off the freeway, comes to a stop, and then attempts to proceed normally with the vehicle now stuck in 5th (or whatever it chooses) gear, - there is a reasonable user presumption that the car would accelerate normally and be able to safely join traffic....instead it crawls forward at a few miles an hour into potential harms way with no way to accelerate the vehicle normally, thereby leaving the driver and our children in danger. I speak from personal experience.

This is not just a defect, it is a safety issue, and MBUSA needs their feet held to the fire on this one.

It is unreasonable for any manufacturer to tout "The best or nothing" and "Engineered like no other car in the world" and then expect the consumer to pay $2000+ to fix a known electronics design/manufacture flaw. There are even rumblings that VDO (speed sensor/electronics manufacturer) and MB are at odds over who is actually to blame, so clearly they both see costs are going to mount when the inevitable recall occurs. I plan to notify the NHTSA among others if I don't get some favorable answers immediately.

To make it worse, Part # 220 270 27 06 88 is what I am told I need, costing $838.00. (wow!) If I wanted to buy this part outright and have my indy shop or myself install it, I STILL have to go to the dealer for "programming" that I nor most indy shops can carry out.
So regardless of who is at fault, you are railroaded into going to the dealer, dealing with their dismissive “here’s the bill” attitude and paying their inflated rates regardless. You as a consumer are left with no other recourse. I wonder if there is a legal challenge with that in and of itself. To the OP, it sounds like they even robbed you on the part alone.

In summary, they build a defective transmission that will certainly leave you in harm’s way, and then they (MBUSA) say “too bad, pay US to fix it or you have no other option.” I question not only the ethics but legality of this position MBUSA has taken.

I am collecting names, vehicle types, and e mail addresses for any that are interested in signing on to force MBUSA into a recall based on safety (or lack thereof) alone.

I do not seek anything more than an email address, name, and year/make/model affected. Your information will not be used for any other purpose but adding strength to my argument with MBUSA. Feel free to PM me, or email aplguys@aol.com.

Understand absolutely clearly that I am not attempting to defame, discredit, or slander MBUSA in any fashion, but I will not have safety compromised in a premium vehicle and then be billed for it, nor will I be lead to believe it’s “normal wear and tear, abuse, misuse, or neglect”. This is a flaw that compromises safety, period.

I bought my GL450 because I love my Mercedes Benz E55 AMG so much. I bought another Benz because of the quality previously displayed and that one would reasonably expect. Maybe I should have kept my Dodge Durango Limited. What’s right is right.

If we stick together, maybe good will prevail. There is strength in numbers.

I want to hear from all of you affected!

I recently experience this problem with my certified 2007 E350 63,000 mile. I first experience it prior to my warranty being expired. I called the Mercedes dealer where I purchase the car. The maintenance representative advise me to cut the car off and restart vehicle, it worked. Well my wife experience it multiple time prior to the engine light coming on and the vehicle refusing to change gear. I didn't realize this was a sign of the transmission failing.

The MB dealer replace the valve body and air intake manifold. the diagnostic test was 200.00(I explain to them the problem), valve 1780.00, air intake for 1750.00(what a coincident) which total 3730.00. I made a complaint to the dealer and also MBUSA. The dealer act as it was normal business. The customer service center at MBUSA did not contact me back in 24 hrs. I had to call them and explain the issue again. She said she would talk to the dealer and she did not. I'm still waiting on a call from her.

After researching this for the last few days. I realize that MB don't want to take responsibility for this issue. I think this is a rip off.
Old 04-20-2013, 04:38 PM
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R500 + SLK55 AMG
My 2007 R500 had this failure but it happened before I bought the car in December 2012. The car had less than 36,000 miles when I bought it but if I remember correctly the transmission failed much earlier at around 18,000 miles. I'd have to go look through the service history. I don't have any horror stories as I didn't own the car when the failure occurred and it was fixed by MB under warranty. But I can definitely see how this defect could get you injured or killed. And it does seem to be an almost universal issue with this 7 speed automatic.

Like the OP, I also have an AMG product as well and love it. The damned thing seems impossible to break. And it's actually simpler to work on with its supercharged engine than the R Class. No airmatic, not as many gadgets. Built like a little brick shiithouse.

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