My Friend's "Limp Home Mode"

[bmwm750]

Hi,

My friend has a '97 E320 with 14X,XXX Km and last night his transmission started acting up.

The Owner's manual describes it as "Limp Home Mode" based on the symptoms the car was displaying:

'Check Engine Light' on and transmission only staying in 2nd gear while driving the car.

He is a nervous wreck because he just got the car and doesn’t have any idea what could be wrong with it. The manual says take it to a MB Dealer. My friend has an extended warranty for the car that covers the transmission but I want to know what might be the problem before we take it to the stealer, I mean dealer so we are in the loop.

Any idea of what is wrong and how much to fix??

Thanks

[E-Klasse]

It could be a number of things. They won't know until the take a look at it. Good thing he has an extended warranty for the car that covers the transmission. For a 97 that is rare. If the transmission fluid has leaked in to the Control Unit for the transmission like has happen before on the 5 speed electronic transmission, the control unit will have to be replaced. The dealerships are aware of this problem and your friend can make them aware that he knows too. If they investigate and find out this is the case, they shouldn't mess with him.