Shifter stuck in park? Handy with tools? Here's how I fixed mine.

kerno · Jul 7, 2009

The information I am offering pertains specifically to the 2003 S55 I own, but is probably similar to other body styles. I "fixed" the shifter by removing the offending pieces, but in doing so, I have defeated the brake/shifter interlock. That means that the car can be taken out of park at any time without having to turn the key on and/or depressing the brake pedal to do so. If you plan to leave unattended children in the car, the fix may not be right for you. I use the parking brake and have no small children. I'll let the steering lock deter potential thieves

I read several threads on the subject and they all gave some description of the process, but not in enough detail. I'm going to try and fill in some of the blanks. Let's start with describing the problem. There is a Federal Safety Standard that now requires you to press on the brake to shift the car out of park. It is probably left over from the Audi "unintended acceleration" days, but it is here and Benz built it into the cars. Adding to the complication is the fact that the shifter is supposed to remain locked in Park unless the proper key is in the ignition. So, we have two systems that are intended to keep the car in park. I am not a Mercedes tech. I am only passing on what I think I know and what I learned in tackling the shifter in my own car. The job requires that you have a reasonable array of tools and a willingness to dig into the interior of your car. It also requires a ramp, lift or jack stands so that you can disconnect the shift cable at the transmission. My car does not have Keyless go, which has an additional harness and a switch in the shift knob. As you read through this, you may wonder if you can do the job. Here's a fairly easy test. Start the task by disconnecting the shift cable at the transmission. That requires long, bent nose pliers (see the tool list in my 3rd post). If you can do that, you can probably do the rest. The car was designed to be put together easily, so don't be surprised at the number of things that snap together, rather than using fasteners. As you are putting it back together, nothing but the forward storage cubby floor should require any amount of force to put back together.

The shifter is very well attached to the car and is under the console. The console looks tough to remove, but is probably the easiest part of the job. You'll start by removing the shift knob. It has a chrome collar at the bottom which your rotate a quarter turn and the knob lifts right off!

Once you have the knob removed, you need to remove the two wood faced trim pieces on the top of the console. Both of them snap in place, so the upper one (with the PRNDL lettering) simply pries off with a plastic putty knife. The lower one is removed by lifting straight up at the rear of the opening. Here are shots of both pieces, showing the attaching clips. Again, there are no screws, they simply snap on and off. They both have small wiring harnesses that attach to them. One is for illumination and the yellow ended one is for airbag defeat. The harness plugs are each retained by a tiny tabs that latch into the socket. The tab is tiny and sticks into a small square hole in the wall of the socket. You'll see the tab because the yellow of the plug shows well against the black socket. You can depress the tab or lift the socket wall to pull them apart needs to be depressed to unplug the harness.

Next, slide the lid of the little compartment at the front of the console forward. You have to remove the floor and aft wall of the little storage compartment to remove the console. The aft wall has small tabs that snap into the main console frame, so you remove it by reaching into the area of the console you opened up by removing the wood trim pieces and pushing the aft wall of the stowage compartment toward the front of the car. The tabs are toward the top. Here's a picture of the floor and back wall removed and sitting upside down, so you can see the tabs.

Once that is done, remove the two screw which attach the console to the shifter.

Then, move the seat forward and you'll find a plug that covers a screw low on the console toward the rear. Remove the plug and remove the screws. There's one on each side of the console and the decorative plastic cap just snaps on the head of the bolt.

Next, you need to remove the rear A/C vent in the console. It is another snap in piece which comes out by moving the top edge toward the rear of the car. Some prying may help, but mine came right out by applying finger pressure toward the back of the car. Again, I have tried to show the small tabs that hold it in place.

Once it is out, remove the piece that is right below it. It lifts up and out and may have a couple wiring harnesses taped to it, depending on your cell phone installation. There's also a two wire harness for a light inside the console. The cell phone wiring may go up into the console lid, but it all can be disconnected near the rear lower panel. Depending on your cell phone options, the wiring may be diffrent. It might be good to write yourself a note with how many wires there are and where they go. Once the wiring is disconnected, you should be able to lift the rear of the console and the whole thing will come right out. So much for the easy part.

At this point, the shifter is sitting there looking like only three screws need to be removed and it is out. Not quite. Up to this point, it does not matter if the ignition has been turned on. But from what I've read, if the ignition is turned on while the wiring harness to the shifter is disconnected, it will set a trouble code. So, there is an easy fix. If you can get it out of park, set the parking brake and move it into neutral. Turn the key off as far as you can. You won't be able to remove the key, but the ignition is off. There are one or two harnesses that plug into the shifter, depending on if you have Keyless go. They have the same tiny tab that needs to be depressed, so press on the tab and disconnect them. All of the harnesses are different sizes and shapes, so you can't mix them up. The shifter is held in with three socket head caps screws. The rear two are hidden by the black "Y" shaped A/C duct that runs under a very large plate, making it impossible to remove. Why? Who knows? I simply pried the ductwork to the side and removed the screws. And then there is the front screw. You'll notice that it is nicely accessible except for a 1/4 inch diameter pin and clip sticking out of the front of the shifter. I can only guess it is there to slow down car thieves, as if any one who is that deeply into the car will be slowed down by it. If your car is stuck in park, it is going to take a ball ended Allen wrench to remove it, since if the shifter is in park, you can't get it out of the way. Some people have had luck with a torx driver bit stuck in at an angle. Getting that screw out can be a challenge! Anyway, to the right of the screw is the ignition interlock cable. It is clipped into the A/C duct and disappears into the front of the shifter. But simply rotate it a quarter turn toward the passenger seat and it comes right out. That leaves only the pin and the clip. The clip will pry off easily and the pin then slide far enough into the shifter housing that you can get the bolt out. It won't go anywhere or get lost, so remove the clip and get it out of your way. Remove the forward screw and the shifter should then be loose

Because of image limitations by the website, the process continues in the next thread

kerno · Jul 7, 2009

Shifter stuck? Part 2

At this point, the only thing keeping the shifter in the car is the shift cable. The cable goes down through the tunnel and attaches to a lever on the transmission. Some people say they were able to remove the cable from the shifter without disconnecting it at the transmission, but I did not seem to have enough room to do so. So, you now need to go under the car and disconnect the one clip that attaches the shift cable to the lever on the left side of the trans. It is a simple clip with a single lock tab, but there is very little room to work. A very long pair of needle nose pliers will help both with the removal and installation. Once the cable is loose, move the lever toward the rear of the car and you'll have room to get it free of the lever.

Right about now, you are wondering why you thought you could do this. But, you can!

Now, back into the interior. The only task left is to disconnect the cable at the shifter. The cable is held on by a single tab on a clip. The clip and the tab simply need to be move far enough toward the rear of the car to disengage the tab from a groove in the cable pin and the cable will come right out. The good news is that it snaps right back together when you are finished fixing the shifter. The photo shows the cable just removed, with the retaining clip in position on the blue bushing in the cable

Now, you should have the shifter out of the car. It is stupidly over designed in many areas, yet has a very flimsy plastic part that fails. The plastic part is buried within the shifter. Here's what I figured goes on in the shifter: At the rear of the shifter is a round solenoid, shown in the first photo below. You can also see most of the black lastic lever in the picture. You just can't get to it - yet.

When you step on the brake and the ignition is on, the solenoid is energized and pushes up on the junk plastic part. When it does, the plastic part pushes a metal lever backwards, allowing the shifter to move. If the plastic part fails, the metal lever does not move and neither do you. Again, my fix involved defeating the brake/shift interlock. I removed both the black plastic lever, the retaining ring that hold it in place, the metal lever that it actuates and the spring that helps move the metal lever.

Turn the shifter over and you'll find three screws that hold it into the housing. Remove those three screws and the shifter will come apart.

Next, remove the two screws holding the detent roller in place, They are marked with arrows. It does not have to be removed, but it will make things easier!

At this point, you can look in the side and see part of the black plastic lever and the e-ring holding it in place. In the picture, the e-ring is down in the rectangular slot in the very center of the picture.

Now we get to the interesting part. You'll notice that the top of the shifter is completely covered with a curved stainless sheet metal cover. We need to get under that cover. It is held in place with one screw at the front and two rivets. Remove the screw, ignore the rivet on the near side and turn the shifter over. There is a rivet just forward of the round solenoid that has to be removed. Take a 1/8" drill and drill it out until the head is gone. Once you get rid of that rivet, the only thing left holding the cover on is the rivet into the plastic side panel. That rivet stays. We're going to remove the side panel. The panel slides onto three tabs in the base. Insert a screwdriver and evenly pry the panel off the three tabs.

The panel also supports the main pivot shaft in the shifter, so pry it off the shaft as well. When you've done that, the assembly should look like this:

Now, remove the cover and side panel and set them aside. You can now remove the black plastic lever. When you do, the metal lever just beyond it is spring loaded and will move up and lock the shifter, since it is the black plastic lever's job to push it down to unlock the shifter. Here's a shot of the metal lever and the e-ring that holds it in place:

Remove the e-ring, the lever and the fine wire spring that activates the metal lever. I assume you've already removed the black plastic lever and thrown it as far as you can. One poster said his shifter worked fine with the metal lever left in, but I'd be afraid that that since it is the actual "lock it in park" lever, I'd rather remove it than take a chance on it latching and leaving me stuck in park all over again

Now put everything back together. Start by putting the detent roller back in with its two screws. Next, replace the side panel and cover assembly. I did not replace the rivet I drilled out. Reassemble the shifter and head back to the car. Make sure that all three or four wiring harnesses at the front of the shifter and any cell phone harnesses are visible at the rear of the console before you bolt the shifter back in. It is very easy to trap one under the shifter. Ask me how I know! All of the parts that snap together do so with out much effort. If something does not want to go together, find out why, don't force it. For example, the uppermost wood trim piece has a rubber tail on it than can be out of position and block the clips. It won't go on if the tail is in the way. Also, the carpeting at the front of the console slides into two grooves in the console. It is easier to make sure it is in the grooves as you are installing the console than shoving it in after the console is bolted down.

Riffyb · Dec 30, 2012

kerno said:
At this point, the only thing keeping the shifter in the car is the shift cable. The cable goes down through the tunnel and attaches to a lever on the transmission. Some people say they were able to remove the cable from the shifter without disconnecting it at the transmission, but I did not seem to have enough room to do so. So, you now need to go under the car and disconnect the one clip that attaches the shift cable to the lever on the left side of the trans. It is a simple clip with a single lock tab, but there is very little room to work. A very long pair of needle nose pliers will help both with the removal and installation. Once the cable is loose, move the lever toward the rear of the car and you'll have room to get it free of the lever.

Right about now, you are wondering why you thought you could do this. But, you can!

Now, back into the interior. The only task left is to disconnect the cable at the shifter. The cable is held on by a single tab on a clip. The clip and the tab simply need to be move far enough toward the rear of the car to disengage the tab from a groove in the cable pin and the cable will come right out. The good news is that it snaps right back together when you are finished fixing the shifter. The photo shows the cable just removed, with the retaining clip in position on the blue bushing in the cable

Now, you should have the shifter out of the car. It is stupidly over designed in many areas, yet has a very flimsy plastic part that fails. The plastic part is buried within the shifter. Here's what I figured goes on in the shifter: At the rear of the shifter is a round solenoid, shown in the first photo below. You can also see most of the black lastic lever in the picture. You just can't get to it - yet.

When you step on the brake and the ignition is on, the solenoid is energized and pushes up on the junk plastic part. When it does, the plastic part pushes a metal lever backwards, allowing the shifter to move. If the plastic part fails, the metal lever does not move and neither do you. Again, my fix involved defeating the brake/shift interlock. I removed both the black plastic lever, the retaining ring that hold it in place, the metal lever that it actuates and the spring that helps move the metal lever.

Turn the shifter over and you'll find three screws that hold it into the housing. Remove those three screws and the shifter will come apart.

Next, remove the two screws holding the detent roller in place, They are marked with arrows. It does not have to be removed, but it will make things easier!

At this point, you can look in the side and see part of the black plastic lever and the e-ring holding it in place. In the picture, the e-ring is down in the rectangular slot in the very center of the picture.

Now we get to the interesting part. You'll notice that the top of the shifter is completely covered with a curved stainless sheet metal cover. We need to get under that cover. It is held in place with one screw at the front and two rivets. Remove the screw, ignore the rivet on the near side and turn the shifter over. There is a rivet just forward of the round solenoid that has to be removed. Take a 1/8" drill and drill it out until the head is gone. Once you get rid of that rivet, the only thing left holding the cover on is the rivet into the plastic side panel. That rivet stays. We're going to remove the side panel. The panel slides onto three tabs in the base. Insert a screwdriver and evenly pry the panel off the three tabs.

The panel also supports the main pivot shaft in the shifter, so pry it off the shaft as well. When you've done that, the assembly should look like this:

Now, remove the cover and side panel and set them aside. You can now remove the black plastic lever. When you do, the metal lever just beyond it is spring loaded and will move up and lock the shifter, since it is the black plastic lever's job to push it down to unlock the shifter. Here's a shot of the metal lever and the e-ring that holds it in place:

Remove the e-ring, the lever and the fine wire spring that activates the metal lever. I assume you've already removed the black plastic lever and thrown it as far as you can. One poster said his shifter worked fine with the metal lever left in, but I'd be afraid that that since it is the actual "lock it in park" lever, I'd rather remove it than take a chance on it latching and leaving me stuck in park all over again

Now put everything back together. Start by putting the detent roller back in with its two screws. Next, replace the side panel and cover assembly. I did not replace the rivet I drilled out. Reassemble the shifter and head back to the car. Make sure that all three or four wiring harnesses at the front of the shifter and any cell phone harnesses are visible at the rear of the console before you bolt the shifter back in. It is very easy to trap one under the shifter. Ask me how I know! All of the parts that snap together do so with out much effort. If something does not want to go together, find out why, don't force it. For example, the uppermost wood trim piece has a rubber tail on it than can be out of position and block the clips. It won't go on if the tail is in the way. Also, the carpeting at the front of the console slides into two grooves in the console. It is easier to make sure it is in the grooves as you are installing the console than shoving it in after the console is bolted down.

Thank you so much for this post!

I recently took this on, however, the part or arm that goes back to the transmission that shifts the gears ( piece of metal) where the clip holds in the shifter has broken in two. What is the name of the piece? and how can I fix it? to be more descriptive, if I push the arm, i feel the gears changing. Also I feel this arm is hanging on a cable. Someone please help me!

VMAX7 · Jul 8, 2009

Sticky this! Thanks for the write-up man!

Skylaw · Jul 8, 2009

+1 on the sticky. Thanks for taking the time, and for the photos, to solve a problem that drives folk nuts.

kerno · Jul 8, 2009

Here are the tools I used to do the job:

They consist of a #2 Phillips screw driver, a small flat blade screwdriver, a T-20 and T-27 Torx driver, two prying tools, one of which is a bent putty knife style, a flashlight, a 5mm Allen wrench and a 5 mm ball type Allen wrench on a 3/8 ratchet with a 6 inch extension and a pair of parallel pliers (which are not really needed)

If your shifter is stuck in park, you'll absolutely need the 5 mm ball driver to get the front screw out. Otherwise a conventional Allen wrench will work. The bent nose pliers work well for the clip on the transmission lever itself.

Tlittle · Dec 14, 2009

Shifter stuck in park

Wife drove the car (03-S-430) Friday night, Saturday morning it was stuck in park. This had happened before, but a little bump, and it worked A-OK. Followed your Excellent instructions, and fixed the problem Saturday morning. Thank you so much for your post. I got mad cool points from wifey for fixing this. Oh and I saved at least $ 1400 according to others who paid to have it fixed. If you have this problem,or better yet if you have the potential problem, my advice to you is to FIX IT NOW!!! It seems like it is hard, but it really is pretty simple to do. He has laid it out so plain and simple. YOU CAN DO IT!!! One note though, concerning the ball Alllen Wrench. I couldnt find it so I ventured forth without it, and had no problem. Just take that screw out last(and yes my car was stuck in park) And when your done DO NOT put the pin back in.:bowdown:

DHDBenz · Jul 9, 2009

Nice... Wish I had this when I did mine.

Corkscrew · Jul 11, 2009

Just looking at the photos exhausts me. Hell, I can't even replace a cig lighter.

awg · Jul 12, 2009

I will have the updated alum (not plastic) shifter/park lock piece made next week for all 220/215 veh's.The part will cost $160 U.S .I have about 9 shop's here in So-Cal that have there order's in

television · Jul 15, 2009

Thats a good write up, very good and just what I need for someone.

This then is the same problem as on the SL's 230s

1love4play · Dec 3, 2009

I had this same problem on my W220 2002 S500. MB Dealer charged me $1500 to fix this. So when it happened on my W2200 2000 S430, I followed the detailed instructions here: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...ols-heres.html on how to free my car out of park.

I removed the broken black piece inside the shift box as well as the metal E-ring piece of metal arm behind it. I can now shift from park to reverse, neutral, and drive but while I'm driving the car won't automatically shift into higher gears. It's as if I'm driving in 1st gear no matter how fast I go. Shift Tronic also doesn't work now. When I got on the freeway today, it would stay at 4000 RPM's and never up or downshift with speed changes. Anyone has some good ideas what could be wrong?

Kylec305 · Jan 26, 2011

I have exactly the same problem. MB Dealer replaced whole shifter 1400 but shifter sometimes works or goes into limp mode restricting power. Dealer wants another 1500 to drop transmission pan and check plate, solenoid, and see if any metal filings. I found a shop that specialize in ferrari and lamborginni and mercedes that will do same job for 900. I hope there isn't any filings, a tranny rebuild is 3k-7k. I'm waiting for a call. Maybe i will call them, it's been 7 hrs.

BBALLER · Jan 13, 2010

This was a great write up just saved my self atleast $1000, BY REMOVING THAT NOTORIOUS PLASTIC PIECE.

klassedetail · Jan 27, 2010

great write up thanks!!!
I started having the problem (it is getting worst everyday) I almost got the shifter out but cannot disconnect the shifter cable. I have an SL55 and cannot get to it from inside. It also look like under the car the cable is hiding behind the silver heat shield...What a pain I am about to give up.

Anyone has an advice on how to get to that cable?

thanks

cameraman123 · Jan 28, 2010

Im curious, if you remove the plastic piece and metal piece will the shifter never lock in park? IE: can be slid out of park without depressing the brake?

slonar21 · Jan 28, 2010

Yes that's the problem with this fix, you can purchase the plastic piece from here
Home | Monoglobal

Here is an other forum that talk about this which is very helpful
Anyone Have This Stuck In Park Problem? - Page 3 - MBWorld.org Forums

Tlittle · Feb 11, 2010

Thank you for this post. My car was stuck in the garage, and would not shift out of park. I had no idea what was going on. I joined this excellent forum, and voila! there was your post. I did it over a weekend, and had no trouble at all. If you have one of these cars it is going to happen to you. I was fortunate enough to have it happen in my garage. What if i was at the gas station , or worse yet my wife was driving at night somewhere. Be proactive and fix it now. It was pretty simple, he has done all the hard work and research for us. you can do it, I am not really that mechanically inclined, but I can read and follow instructons. Agagin thank you for this post. On a side note the money i saved by doing it myself, was used to take wifey to Hawaii on vacation

Jud Chapin · Feb 13, 2010

Thanks for the great write up. I just did my '02 CL500 and saved about $1k. The shifter is a hair different by I got 'er done.

bhatt · Feb 18, 2010

OK here's something I have always wondered.....

I am considering doing this repair as 'preventive maintenance' to make sure I don't get stuck in park one day.

But I am hesitant to disassemble shifter and completely remove the plastic piece, as someone could bump the shifter out of park and the car could roll away. My wife and dog sit in the car sometimes with it running, and if the dog jumps across the console, he could knock it out of park.

So here is a solution.. for those of you that have done the repair, can you tell me if this will work or won't work?

I would like to grind down the plastic piece a bit and put it back in the shifter. That way, you couldn't put the car in gear (as the plastic piece is still there), but it would now be small enough that it can't break off. I mean grinding it short enough that it just stops the shifter from moving with light pressure. Pulling the shifter out of park with some force would still make the shifter move.

Would this work?

davemisto · Feb 18, 2010

you guys are hacks

Skylaw · Feb 19, 2010

If you have anything constructive to say, say it. I have only read 2 of your posts, and will skip reading any more. All you have done in them is try to run others down without offering anything valuable or increasing anyone's knowledge base.

We can do well without that; and if it's all you have to offer, we can do quite well without you.

MillsapsPE · Feb 20, 2010

Can anyone confirm these instructions are applicable to a '00 S500? My car is parked in the garage and doesn't seem to want to come out.

Is Monoglobal the only place to get the part? Nothing against Aussie's, but I think it would be faster to get from US?

Jud Chapin · Feb 20, 2010

While I'm not that familiar with S models, this forum covers S models from 2000 to 2006 so I would assume these instructions would apply. I have a 2002 CL500 and MB has a shop manual in DVD for this model CL which together with this thread helped me do the job. Call MB at 1-800-for-merc and see if they have one for your car. It's called STAR Service Manual Library which is a much more user friendly version of the MB WIS system used by MB stealers. It is excellent. It will not, however, show you how to dissemble the shifter for the broken part removal. Actually, as I'm reading from the DVD now, it does cover model 220 (S class) along with the 215 (CL class). MB part # is P-2700-220/215-07. It runs under $100 or you can do what I did and purchase a copy of it on Ebay for less.

As for the part, I don't know where else to get it. I just reinstalled my shifter w/o it. But if you have kids, this is probably not a good idea. You could also purchase the shifter itself for under $500 from one of the MB discount part suppliers and the job would go much quicker. I don't think MB sells the broken part as I was told by my stealer that they just replace the shifter to repair this "stuck in park" condition.

BTW, this is not a difficult job. If you decide to do it, just take your time, take pics of anything you're not sure how to put back together, and don't force anything, especially plastic parts. Also, be sure to label all wires as you remove them.

MillsapsPE · Feb 22, 2010

I took my shifter out and apart today following these directions. It is pretty much identical until you get to taking the shifter apart. Fortunately, my unit didn't have any rivets as described above. I did need a 2.5 and 3 mm allen wrenches and a T10 torx screwdriver. My broken lever arm is held in place with a pushed in pin (I forget the more technical term). I had to use a punch and hammer to tap it out. It didn't take a lot of force to get it to move.

As mentioned above, I would also highly advise you start with removing the shaft from the transmission. Though it isn't really hard once you know how to release the clip to get the shaft out, it is the first time you do it. I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out which way to push on it (correctly). For me, it took both hands. I had a long skinny screwdriver in one hand pushing vertically upward on the clip and had another long tool (screwdriver, pliers, etc.) in the other hand I used to push (using leverage) on the shaft while applying vertically upward pressure on the clip.

I put everything back together for now. I'm going to use the shifter w/out the lever arm until I can decide where I'm going to buy the replacement. It is a little discomforting as to how easy it shifts into gear while running or not. If this was my car, I might leave it as is, but with wife and kids, I don't think it is the safest thing to do (for very long).

saadracing · Jun 25, 2010

Hello everyone,

We are a high performance shop in Scottsdale, Arizona. We have the same problem that all of you have on a 2004 S600.
I have a fix for this problem in the form of a replacement part. That means you would throw away the plastic part and install this new part (which we would guarantee for life!) and it would work just like factory. No worries about the shifter going into gear without your foot on the pedal.
This part would fit on any "S" model from 2000 to 2006
We are just trying to gauge how many people would be interested in this part. We don't have a definite cost yet, but can have one in short order.

Thanks!

darkeyedangelz · Aug 17, 2010

My 2004 S500 4matic is also stuck in park. I changed the brake light switch and still stuck, so im assuming its that black piece. It was getting stuck in park but after a few nudges it would move, but i guess its really broken now. Im just nervous about drilling the rivets. I do a lot of fixes myself but im nervous the drill will slip or something. I wish there was another way!

saadracing · Aug 21, 2010

Don't worry about the drill slipping. Just use a drill bit that is slightly larger than the small hole on top of the rivet (usually it's an 1/8" drill bit). That hole will guide the drill bit and not allow it to slip. Just take your time.

Here are some directions for removal of the shifter. It wont let me copy the picture with the numbers, but if you give me your email address, I can send it that way. Hope it helps.

2003 Mercedes Benz S 600 (220.176) V12-5.5L Turbo (275.950)
Vehicle Level Transmission and Drivetrain Automatic Transmission/Transaxle Shifter A/T Service and Repair AR27.60-P-0901R Remove/Install Electronic Selector Lever Module (ESM)

AR27.60-P-0901R Remove/Install Electronic Selector Lever Module (ESM)

Removing and installing electronic selector lever module (ESM)
- with transmission 722.6

Remove/install

Danger:

Lethal injuries are possible if vehicle slips off of lifting platform
Align vehicle between the columns of the lifting platform and position the four support plates at the lifting platform support points specified by the vehicle manufacturer.
NOTE:

The vehicle must be horizontal
Park vehicle on two-/four-column lift platform or over inspection pit.
CAUTION: Installation: Replace self-locking nuts and bolts.

1 Move selector lever into position "R"
2 Turn key in electronic ignition lock EIS into position "O".

NOTE: Key cannot be withdrawn.

3.1 Remove shift rod

Model 230
3.2 Detach shift rod at intermediate lever
4.1 Remove cover at selector lever

Model 230
4.2 Remove center console

Model 215
Model 220
5 Remove air duct for center rear compartment air nozzle

Models 215, 220
NOTE: Not if rear air conditioning (code 582) fitted.

6 Unscrew bolts (41)

Model 230
7 Unscrew hexagon socket bolts (40)

NOTE: Model 230: Use hexagon socket wrench with ball head.

8 Disconnect electric couplings at electronic selector lever module (N15/5)
9 Release ignition lock cable (1) at connection fitting of ignition lock cable (2)

Raise locking catch (1b) and push connector (1c) against force of spring into electronic selector lever module (N15/5), turn 90 degrees to the left or right and pull off ignition lock cable (1).
10 Take out electronic selector lever module (N15/5)

NOTE: Model 230: Raise center console at rear.

CAUTION: Installation: Do not jam any electric cables in between.

11 Install in the reverse order

NOTE: After installing, erase fault codes with STAR DIAGNOSIS.

12 Perform function check

If result is negative: Set shift rod.

darkeyedangelz · Aug 17, 2010

If anyone knows of a mechanic around the Long Island NY area who could remove the black piece from the shifter for around 75-100 bucks please message me or email at dalangi at aol dot com

Thanks

Angela

dajneseri1 · Aug 19, 2010

I got stuck in park today. Temporary solution is :
1. Start the car
2. Press the brake pedal
3. Pull the shifter with left hand
4. In the same time HIT HARD top of the shifter with right hand
Shifter will slide from park.
If you can hit hard enough use big rubber hammer (4.99 in ACE Hardware) and cover top of shifter with some cloth. Don't be scared. Hit Hard.
Working 100 %. Now you can move your MB. Use neutral and parking brake until you fix the problem.
My mechanic estimate $ 1600.00 for new shifter and labor.( S600 2002).
I'l tray do it on my own.
THANKS for great Posting

Jud Chapin · Aug 19, 2010

Your mechanic is too high. My dealer quoted less than $1100 including a new shifter module, which BTW, you don't need. If a shifter is installed, it has to be programmed and to make matters worse, it will lock in park again sometime in the future.

dajneseri1 · Aug 23, 2010

I just did it today.
Thanks for great posting from kerno i fix my shifter in less then one hr.
My S600 2002 got little-bit different configurations. No needs to remove any rivets and no need to remove transmission connector. All job done in side the car.
I'm so happy today.

reesy · Aug 30, 2010

Kerno,
What a fantastic write up. Did mine today and it was a superb instructive peice. A thousand thanks for your effort.
Reesy

Shifter stuck in park? Handy with tools? Here's how I fixed mine.

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