Transmission issues

yes it normal. its a safety that the car has so that you dont tear the transmission up before its warmed up.

NO,it is not normal,it should shift right hot or cold,you should have it checked out.

its a fail safe to keep you from destroying the transmission while its cold. when it warms up it will work just fine. you can over ride this by shifting it yourself. from a complete stop put it in first. take it to just over 2000rpms then shift and so on. you should let the car warm up before yo drive it anyways. if you want to hear this from a professional i can give you the name and number of a mechanic who has worked on MB for 30+ years or just call your local MB dealership and talk to them.

Thanks Mike, I found when I move the switch out of W it worked better. I also read someplace where that is normal.

First I would not drive my car in (W) winter,(IE snow, ice) (by the way this is an electronically controlled transmission) this changes the whole gear ratio, even reverse, (s) actually stands for standard, with normal gear ratios. The first gear change is delayed slightly, IE engine will wind up slightly more before changing, but should change, this usually happens 1 time on a dead cold engine. The reason for this is to more quickly heat up the converter and o2 sensor so it will go into closed loop as soon as possible. The EPA wants this so the car pollutes as little as possible. (46 years MB experience)

I almost forgot something, if anything has been spilled into the shifter, (the part that Say's p.r.n.d.2,1) is actually a sensor, it also simulates the feel in the 2 and 1 position. This sensor can be replaced separately, unlike the cars with bump shift, where the whole shifter module has to be replaced. it can make the transmission do all sorts of crazy things, especially cold. Some times it will not go into gear, and then it can slam. You really need a scanner that you can see actual values to see what is really happening when the shifter is moved. Remember, being an electronic transmission, if the TCM doesn't get a good signal, it is not sure what to do. I have had to replace several of these.

So, if there's is liquid spilled on the electronic gear shift it can stall the transmission? Please repley Back or give me a call at 1-502-298-9383(cell) 1-502-266-9078(home) I just purchase a 1997 e 320 and was thinking there was something wrong with my lowwer gear's when they shifted,But when I let the car warm up it switch just fine. But still I would like some kind of insite on the problem, can you help?

I might can help, but it is very hard without actually having the car to be able to connect proper scan tool and get an insight into what is actually going on. The issue with liquid being spilled, it seems that sugar is the main problem, ie sweet tea, coke, coffe with sugar, etc. I have seen spills with just water or black coffe be ok one dried out.