E320 2000 w 177,000+. I spilled coffee in the shifter area. About 5 min later the display area went crazy and I was unable to shift out of low gear. Followed by the engine shutting off. I eventually was able to start the car but not able to shift out of park. Limp Mode right? Any ideas/estimate on cost to fix or what may need to be replaced? I had it towed to a garage and want to be prepared for the 'bad news'

 

you need a new shifter assembly, ive heard of people cleaning them out....not sure if it always works. ball park 700-1100 bucks parts and labor

 

Is it possible that the trigger/lever which requires you to press the brake before shifting out of park is broken? This was a response I received via email earlier today.

I have repaired several shifter units, mostly on the S class W220 and the ML (same part), also happen on the E W211, but at least there's an emergency release device on the W211. My friend used have a Mercedes repair shop, after seeing him replace these thing at least couple times a month, I asked and offered help. Turned out that once the shifter taken out, it's a 15 min job to repair. This save his customers lot of money in replacement part & reprograming of the shifter (require StarDiagnostic to reprogram the shifter once replaced w/ new one)

It's the 5 cents plastic trigger piece that breaks, and cause the shifter to stuck. The purpose of this trigger is to force driver to press the brake before you can shift out of P. That's all. With heat in time, this piece eventually break, the bottom half fall in and block the shifter from moving.

The easiest repair is to remove this piece all together (the broken piece and the piece still stuck in). If I'm in the mood, then it's JB Weld and piece of metal to glue the thing together. I prefer the earlier option, since it's guarantee that it will never go wrong again . Last I checked, nobody every shift car out of Park w/o pressing the brake. Mercedes introduce this safety device, only cause lot of trouble & expensive repair ($1000-1200).

 

right below the D on the shifter ...theres a little door you can use a pencil or screwdriver to press ...then youll be able to shift out of gear...but your transmission will probably be stuck in 2nd gear and wont shift and will bang hard into D or R.

 

I need to replace the transmission shifter module and transmission connector. Will my mechanic be able to order these parts or need special mercedes software to program them?