MB C240 won't shift out of first gear.

Transmission oil seal in the box.

Check your wiring harness at the trans and ECM for corrosion/loose connections.

Seems to be a common problem with that car.

Your car is in "limp mode". You need to have it scanned and preferably while it still is in limp mode. If you disconnect the battery for about 5 minutes, positive side, reconnect it,this should work momentarily or continuously depending on what the problem is. When you jump a car of that type or connect it to a battery charger with the leads still connected, sometimes the computer (describing here for simplicity sake) will "through a soft code". Disconnecting the battery will reset most soft codes. If it happens again, you will need it to be scanned from the dealer or qualified technician, or you could choose to do it now. Limp mode usually means the transmission starts out in second gear and never changes. Some first gear some second. Doesn't sound like a biggie to me.

Some Mercedes built over the last 10 years, have a special way of "Resetting" the gearbox. There is a special peg that needs to be inserted, then an electronic reset is made to the gearbox in some way.

I have never done it myself, but have known several owners who needed this and described the method. That's as much as I know.....sorry.

Talk to Mercedes....

I feel your pain, I have an 03 c240 with this issue. The TCM on my car keeps giving out. Apparently, from what my mechanic is telling me, the issue is coming from a solenoid. I also understand that these models have an issue with trans fluid leaking into the TCM unit. It cost about 900 to replace the the TCM or about 400 for a rebuilt one directly from Mercedes. The solenoid shouldn't be much if you are having the same issue as me. Good luck!

How about a dead battery??? I replaced the 7 year old battery that sat through the freezing winter with a new one and all is better!!! Go figure...

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Mark C.

Thank you for posting an answer to your problem. It helped me tremendously as I was having the same problem and could not figure out what could be wrong with my car. I have a 2002 C240 that I've driven for almost 8 years now. One morning I went into the garage and started the car. When it turned on I heard a loud roaring noise under the hood that went away about 1 minute after driving. Noticed also that my check engine light had come on one day after this began as well. Another day the key would not turn at all in the ignition so I used my spare key and that key did start the car. However, I noticed later that day, that the car at times would not shift beyond 1st or 2nd gear with the spare key. When I had the strange shifting problem, I noticed that it usually accompanied the S or W gear indicator not appearing in the dash and at various times I would still have the strange shifting problem even when I saw the gear indicator in the dash at which point I would have to turn the car off and back on again and then the gear indicator would not show once again. I thought this may still be key recognition related so I ordered a new key from the dealer. The new key worked without issue for a couple hours, then same issue. Left me scratching my head until I read this forum and decided to have the battery tested. Low and behold, the battery was in deed bad and was not supplying enough charge to the electrical system. Switched it out and have had no problem since. Car runs and behaves like new, all errors have cleared from my dash and check engine light has gone off too. Thanks initial poster for your response on what fixed your issue as it helped me fix mine as well.