Mercedes-Benz E 320 1994 Owner's Manual page 74

Selector lever positions
The automatic gear shifting pro­
cess can be adapted to specific
operating conditions using the
selector lever.
P Parking lock.
The parking lock is an ad­
ditional safeguard to the park­
ing brake when parking the
vehicle. Engage only with the
car stopped.
Note:
The key can be removed from
the steering lock only with the
selector lever in position " P" .
The selector lever is locked in
72
position " P" with the key
removed.
R Reverse gear.
Shift to reverse gear only with
the car stopped.
N Neutral.
No power is transmitted from
the engine to the rear axle.
When the brakes are released,
the vehicle can be moved freely
(pushed or towed). Do not en­
gage " N " while driving except
to coast when the vehicle is in
danger of skidding (e.g. on icy
roads, see Winter Driving
Instructions in Index).
Important!
Coasting the vehicle, or driving
for any other reason with se­
lector lever in " N " , can result in
transmission damage that is not
covered by the Mercedes-Benz
Limited Warranty.
D The transmission automatically
upshifts to 4th gear. Position
" D" provides optimum driving
characteristics under all normal
operating conditions.
3 Upshift to 3rd gear only.
Suitable for medium range up-
or downgrades.
2 Upshift to 2nd gear only.
For driving in mountainous
regions. Since transmission will
not shift up further, this gear
selection will make use of the
engine's braking power.
Important!
With selector lever in position " D"
or " 3 " , upshifting from 1st to 2nd
to 3rd gear is delayed depending
on vehicle speed and engine
temperature. This allows the
catalytic converter to heat up more
quickly to operating temperatures.
During the brief warm-up period
this delayed upshift and increased
engine noise might be perceived
as malfunction. However, neither
the engine nor transmission are
negatively affected by this mode of
operation.
The delayed upshift is effective
with vehicle speeds below
31 mph (50 km/h) at partial throttle
and engine temperatures below
95°F (35°C).