Maurice33

I got my 1996 SL320 in Oct 2016 and we love it. Put new brakes, shocks, tires and water pump, runs nice and smooth even with a small oil leak at the head gasket. Intend to keep it forever. The transmission hand shift is blocked from downshifting below D, into lower gears. Does anyone know why? Tranny shifts smooth, new synthetic oil etc, no leaks. Would like to be able to down shift to save on brake pads. Maurice

MJ50

moved to R129 forum...

bobterry99

I would be inclined to get under the car and undo the linkage from the shifter to the transmission, Maurice. If the shifter still can not move to "3", then I would look to disassemble it and find out why. Perhaps some object has fallen inside. If the shifter can move once disconnected, then the problem likely is internal to the transmission and beyond my understanding.

Brake pads are cheap. Transmissions are expensive. I personally would not downshift a transmission for the purpose of sparing wear on brake pads.