When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My 2008 S550 4MATIC flashed this, transmission began to thumb and not shift up in gear. Repair shop paid $5K to fix, drove it about 200 miles and it flashed same "Service Required Do Not Shift Gears" message again, began to thumb then would not go into park. I had replaced the sensor that controlled the temperature gauge prior to the first message. two days later wrecker came to pick it up, no problem backing up and drove right onto wrecker bed. Message appeared less than 200 miles from leaving transmission repair shop
Now dealership says that it will not code to give same message so they can diagnose it. H E L P
Mercedes have designed all their cars since 1990s to die to time - they went first and over did it till the business was in jeopardy with junk like the 220 and the 6 year suspension struts. The rest of germany went second, ford third and now even the japanese must keep pace or have no business
for many areas they developed reverse alchemy - turning perfectly good metal in to disintegrating rubbish - or suspension bushes that self disintegrate in 5 years (yet many 50 year old cars are just fine) where they needed a more consistent / higher value result they invented a safety concern and could thus just turn things off in software
ABS sensors dying to time is another metallurgy fake failure - if it was work hardening wear and tear due to appalling routing of the wires it would fail like a BMW on distance, but the 221 sensors fail to time like clockwork
the SBC module in the 2004 to 2008 e class is a good example - they invented a waste of time feature to replace a brake servo and then set a number of brake presses before turning off - but they misjudged how much people needlessly tamper with the brake pedal (interesting aside - in the UK if you ride a motorbike you have a heightened sense of awareness of what idiots in cars are doing or u just die - and here you notice on average a car driver must needlessly tap the brake pedal for reassurance that its still there every 6 seconds) this pointless over use of the brake pedal meant the software trigger was hit well inside the std 3 years warranty - so a software update extended the count and in USA warranty was pushed to 25 years a punishment by your courts
on the 221 we get the park brake with a fake software cut out and not proven but I believe the gear selector module (ISM) on the outside of the gearbox is also a number of operations then throw a fake software switch - due to fake ideas to reduce vehicle theft this part can't be bought by an owner, Merc only sell to their dealerships so its a dealer fit and secure coding feature to lock the new part to that specific vehicle
its also why germany push this awful air suspension - an ongoing nightmare of stress and bad ride quality so they maintain on ongoing income stream - where more consistent performance and better ride and handling balance comes with steel springs and dampers, that last 30 years at no cost after purchase
Mercedes have designed all their cars since 1990s to die to time - they went first and over did it till the business was in jeopardy with junk like the 220 and the 6 year suspension struts. The rest of germany went second, ford third and now even the japanese must keep pace or have no business
for many areas they developed reverse alchemy - turning perfectly good metal in to disintegrating rubbish - or suspension bushes that self disintegrate in 5 years (yet many 50 year old cars are just fine) where they needed a more consistent / higher value result they invented a safety concern and could thus just turn things off in software
ABS sensors dying to time is another metallurgy fake failure - if it was work hardening wear and tear due to appalling routing of the wires it would fail like a BMW on distance, but the 221 sensors fail to time like clockwork
the SBC module in the 2004 to 2008 e class is a good example - they invented a waste of time feature to replace a brake servo and then set a number of brake presses before turning off - but they misjudged how much people needlessly tamper with the brake pedal (interesting aside - in the UK if you ride a motorbike you have a heightened sense of awareness of what idiots in cars are doing or u just die - and here you notice on average a car driver must needlessly tap the brake pedal for reassurance that its still there every 6 seconds) this pointless over use of the brake pedal meant the software trigger was hit well inside the std 3 years warranty - so a software update extended the count and in USA warranty was pushed to 25 years a punishment by your courts
on the 221 we get the park brake with a fake software cut out and not proven but I believe the gear selector module (ISM) on the outside of the gearbox is also a number of operations then throw a fake software switch - due to fake ideas to reduce vehicle theft this part can't be bought by an owner, Merc only sell to their dealerships so its a dealer fit and secure coding feature to lock the new part to that specific vehicle
its also why germany push this awful air suspension - an ongoing nightmare of stress and bad ride quality so they maintain on ongoing income stream - where more consistent performance and better ride and handling balance comes with steel springs and dampers, that last 30 years at no cost after purchase
Or it could be that the little electric motor that does the shifting has reached its end of life. Having software that predicts this is actually a smart move so you’re not stranded in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think we should jump to conclusions until we see the ISM disassembled and tested.
Same goes for the suspension. ABC for example is a marvel that makes a 5000lb car handle like it weighs half that much. Yes, it’s far more complex and requires maintenance. That’s not a surprise for anyone. Maybe high tech cars are not for you. Why not drive something basic without all the features. You’ll be happier?
On the other hand, the fact that I had to disassemble the entire rear interior of the car, and drop the exhaust to swap a rear ABC strut feels like somebody was trying to rack up labor costs in the design phase for sure 🤣
Or it could be that the little electric motor that does the shifting has reached its end of life. Having software that predicts this is actually a smart move so you’re not stranded in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think we should jump to conclusions until we see the ISM disassembled and tested.
.
if it was helping it wouldn't magically react mid drive and indeed leave many a driver with a massive bill - it ought to inform the driver as they come out of park and advise you not to make the journey
did you read my post where the car suddenly stopped holding on my relatively steep drive for two weeks in a row - I flashed the later software at it and it magically just works again and has been normal for 3 months since - when I put my autel kit on it is quickly lets me find the info about its operation and its hardly been used... with a very low count that makes me think it could be I'm the only one that uses the park brake in its life time, which throws the question what was going on and why did a software update appear to fix it ?
Also, I'm familiar with the SBC issues with the W211...and you see that MB ditched that system ASAP.
Not soon enough to keep me from getting bit with having to buy one of the GD things after the warranty was done but long before the warranty extension happened. Count me among those fond of a brake master cylinder VS the request to Oz for braking!