Hi guys, I'm just having the exact same problem. My 2004 SL500 is completely stuck in park. I tried to take the shift knob off but to no avail. I won't attempt to fix the whole thing myself, but at least I would like to take it out of park so I can drive to a mechanics. Please help. Thanks.

 

I literally just picked my car up from the dealer after having this issue repaired. You will have to have your gear shift replaced, my total came to $1,285 dollars. Try taking off the shift knob and tapping on the top of the shaft with a hammer as it may allow you to atleast get it into drive. Honestly you'll most likely have to have it towed.

 

After paying $37 on justanswer, I managed to get it out of park. The trick is to take the shift knob off. I really don't see how this can be done without the shift knob off. I then used a 5 pound dumbbell pound on the stick repeatedly while pulling it back. It's a real caveman operation, but it worked.

I understand that the little plastic piece is broken. I have called a few shops around my area and found out apparently they can't remove it for me for safety reasons. I guess I will have to purchase the replacement piece and have someone replace it for me instead. If anyone here knows anybody around San Francisco area who can do this please point me to the right direction. Thanks!

 

I have a 2003 SL500 and had the problem. It started out just occasionally sticking and got worse until I got stuck in a parking lot. Pounding on the shift lever did not work for me. I live in San Jose, CA and can recommend MiD Auto Services in Sunnyvale. AAA towed it for me (slid it up on a truck bed) to MiD. They fixed it for me pretty quickly at a good price. They removed the error codes and it works like new now. I recommend them.
Don

 

I have 2004 SL500. ESM shifter failed & left me stranded in Park.
Was able to bang the shifter down with closed right fist, while pulling back on shifter with left hand. Took some number of tries, with constant pressure, to get it out of Park.

Took the car to Zoran Miskic @ MiD Auto Service, Sunnyvale, CA. He did the job with a replacement aluminum part. Total $750 (half mercedes price).

Highly recommend MiD ... he turned the car quickly for me, and was very professional !!

The (removed) broken plastic part was $2.00 of cheap plastic ... unbelievably cheap piece of plastic crap ...

 

Tow truck taking my stuck 03 to the stealership tomorrow. Why stealership? To test how solid the Mercury Platinum extended warranty is. Then we're gonna replace that POS plastic with some extruded aluminum.

 

So let me get this straight. This plastic piece is supposed to be able to stand the pressure of us slammin it back & forth for the tiptronic feature? Seriously?! SMMFH...

 

It has nothing to do with the "tiptronic" feature. It is only used to let you get it out of park when you put your foot on the brake.

 

Ok. The followup and aftermath:

Stealership replaced the shifter. Also replaced valve cover gaskets, control arm bushings and motor/trans mounts and the infamous faulty keyless go door handle pushbutton. They wanted to do the struts. Also did an A service and alignment.

Mercury Platinum extended warranty picked up everything but the struts (which I declined, anyway, to investigate more cost effective options) and the maintenance services.

That extended warranty just paid for itself ($4500+). Thank you Lisa at Auto-POM! Not to mention we had a free loaner car for the week which would never have happened if I'd not been so willing to use the dealer.

But it does seem to have a new launch "vibration" that it did not have before. Feels a little like traction control clutching when launching hard, but it never did that before. New motor/trans mounts perhaps?

 

To add to the long list of problems ive already had with my luxury super expensivo quality sports convertible the miserable monster of a motor decided it didnt want to 'shift' out of park. yeah cheers nice one :-|
wheres that box of matched gone luv ??
fortunately a shining knight (engineer friend) decided to help solve my problems and after removing the fascia and the shifter box he identified and removed the offending unit. after opening the shifter unit and removing the 50p plastic part that causes so many headaches (not enough for a recall, nor for the leaky seals) neither of these two are very common. hmmm turkeys.
we called mercedes for a replacement.
'thats not our part number, wheres it from ?' they asked, when we explained we were told we shouldnt tamper with the unit and should take it to an approved merc service center so i can chuck more money and get another **** part and pay them a meserly £120 an hour on my rapidly depreciating never ending headache of a car that some muppet at mercedes decided should be marketed for £68k+ new
long and short we removed the part, he made another one from alloy. we replaced it in the box and then took off the heat shield and plastic cover from the under carriage and fixed it from underneath by removing the gear linkage rod ? and then reattaching everything. Took about 8 hours in total and cost me a mountain bike for my genius of a friend otherwise known as macgyver.
i hope anyone that has this frustrating problem either has it covered on warranty or can find a fix similar to mine.
warranty companies shouldnt be getting their pants pulled down and bums smacked for mercs mistakes.
my gripe is that it shouldnt have happened in the first place and merc should hold their hands up when they make mistakes like this, it really would make me think long and hard before i bought this 'so called' quality brand manufacturers car again.
tempted to send it to mike whittington ceo in a jiffy and ask for an explanation. would love to know if they are still using this part and the period from when-to it was used.
if anyone needs a part you can get them in the u.s from what i can gather but my mate would prob knock a few more up for sensible $ to help solve anyones headaches.

 

Guys,

Just fixed this - not sure if this is related but...parked the car at the office one day and turned the key - car turned off, but key wouldnt come out. Took it to the local MB dealer and they informed me the car wasnt recognizing it to be in park - so the key was stuck in between the 0 and 1 position. After a few diagnostics, the pinpointed the issue to be the automatic control box box the transmission shifter. Some electrical had simply gone out.....long story short, they had to replace this control box, located under the shift console...$$1,200 and the key now comes out. This box could be causing the car to to release out of park as well....

 

Hello, I bought a working shifter assembly for my R230 from ebay. I had them replace it locally and it won't work. The authorized dealer says you cannot simply replace it and it requires computer configuration and original part. The part is an original second hand part. Would appreciate anyone's advise. Thank you.

 

My SL500 03model gear lever got stuck in a gas station. While ignition was on, i hit hard on the knob and pulled it out of park.
When i got home i parked but following morning i couldnt pull it out of park, i hit harder but it couldnt come out of park. it blocked my other two cars so am stranded.

Pls i need video clip on how to remove the Gear lever Knob and the surrounding panels so i can hit THE LEVER harder with a Hammer or mallet TO SEE IF IT CAN COME OUT OF PARK POSITION..

email me with instructions, the url of video clip or pics on how to remove lever knob;
cjenugu@yahoo.com
Tnx

 

My SL500 03model gear lever got stuck in a gas station. While ignition was on, i hit hard on the knob and pulled it out of park.
When i got home i parked but following morning i couldnt pull it out of park, i hit harder but it couldnt come out of park. it blocked my other two cars so am stranded.

Pls i need video clip on how to remove the Gear lever Knob and the surrounding panels so i can hit THE LEVER harder with a Hammer or mallet TO SEE IF IT CAN COME OUT OF PARK POSITION..

email me with instructions, the url of video clip or pics on how to remove lever knob;
cjenugu@yahoo.com
Tnx

 

If your car is the standard shifter (not keyless GO):
Remove the boot from the console, around the bottom of the boot
Grab the shift knob
Rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise (it takes some force)
Pull the knob up

 

I believe the new part is made of aluminum which is much stronger and not prone to crack at the stress points.

 

The way that I got my SL500 out of Park, was to pry-up the plastic trim around the bottom of the shift boot and roll the boot upwards over the shift knob. Once in the high position you can see a black plastic ring around the bottom of the shift knob---turn it counter clockwise until the knob easily pulls-off the shift lever. Once off, take a medium hammer and force the shift lever to the right and strike it sharply on the end and it should pop-out of Park on the 1st or 2nd hit. Once out of Park, do not put it back in Park until the mechanism is fixed with a new aluminum part, available on E-Bay for around $30 US. My mechanic charged me $250 US to remove the mechanism and install the new part and spring. Now it should last the life of the car. Mercedes wanted over $1300 US to do the same repair, with the same old PLASTIC part that failed in the 1st place.

 

It seems this issue happen on the 03-04 model year, is 05 and beyond has the same issue or it has been redesigned to fair better.

 

The shift mechanism is from 2003-2007 and utilized the same defective part. The part is made of cheap plastic and cracks and separates with wear. The aluminum replacement part should last the life of the car. Very smooth shift from park to reverse and vice-versa.

 

I just talked to MB Dealer and they want $1590 to fix the “stuck in park” issue with OEM plastic part. Help!
I don’t have tools or knowledge to fix it myself using the aftermarket aluminum part??
Why is MB still using a cheap plastic part??

 

If your dealer is in the US, that is probably the going rate. Personally, when mine was stuck in PARK, I ordered the replacement part kit from EBay and took it to my local European car repair and they replaced the defective part in about 2 hours for $200 in labor. The part itself was about $45 US on EBay. Came with a new spring and retention pin. The shifter works like new. To get the car out of Park, lift-up the shift lever boot from the console, Pull it up and firmly grab the shift knob and turn it 90 degrees to the left, and then pull it off the lever. You can now start the engine, apply the brakes firmly, pull the lever to the right and back as far as it will go, then strike the top of the lever rod with a hammer sharply and the lever will pop-out of Park. If you stop the car and put it back in Park, you may have a difficult time getting it out a second time, so leave the car in NEUTRAL until the fix is accomplished. Good Luck!

 

I just can’t believe MB insists on using OEM part that’s proven to be defective