noahwolf88

Mercedes V Klasse Transmission Problem

My 2021 Mercedes V Klasse with a gasoline engine is playing up big time. It's got 157841 km on the clock. Basically, the automatic transmission seems to think 'P' is optional. The engine won't start sometimes, the check engine light is mocking me, and the gearbox feels like it's stirring soup instead of shifting gears properly. The mechanic says it's throwing up some error code and that the affected control unit is defective. He's quoting around 1000€. Anyone else had transmission issues like this with their Mercedes, especially related to the gear shifter or shift lock?

4 comment(s)

Sounds frustrating! I had a similar problem with my old Audi A6 – different brand I know, but the symptoms were almost identical. Engine wouldn't start randomly, transmission failure warnings all over the dash. Did they mention anything about the control unit affecting the transmission?

Yeah, they're pretty sure it's the control unit. They said it's causing the transmission to not properly engage the parking lock. So, the car doesn't think it's safe to start. What was the eventual cause of your issue?

It was indeed a defective control unit. It’s apparently quite a common transmission repair issue in some models, though not specifically Audi. I eventually had to get the whole unit replaced and reprogrammed. If they are certain, I'd say get it done, 1000€ is a fair price. At that mileage I'd avoid cheaping out.

Thanks so much for the insight! It's good to know I'm not completely alone in this misery. Dropped it off at the workshop and they have replaced the control unit. Works fine now, so thanks for confirming my thoughts!

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