The car is a pre facelift 04 W203 C200 cdi estate 5-speed auto.

When both the car and the weather are cold, as in winter morning cold, for the first mile or so the gearbox exhibits a strange problem. It 'hunts' when on a positive throttle when in top gear. The tacho needle rises and falls by about a needle's width in about half a second, and this repeats at two second intervals. It only seems to happen in top gear, which it seems to change into quite early when very cold. It's as if the box is slipping and gripping, slipping and gripping until it warms up, or it's being indecisive as to which gear it should be in. After a mile or so it's fine.

Another 'feature' which may or may not be related as it occurs under the same conditions and at the same time is a slight vibration or judder from the engine as the revs drop down passing 1000 rpm down to 800 rpm. This too goes as it warms up.

The ATF and filter werre changed (by Ollie) at the last service.

Did we put it on the Star?

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www.prestigecarservice.co.uk

I can't be certain but I don't think so.

Just to emphasise the point, it only happens when the car and weather is very cold and once it has driven a mile or so everything is fine.

Reset all adaptations to the engine unit and transmission controller and see if it improves. You may want to check the fluid levels. It seems to be low.

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www.benzmodz.com .... putting the Me into Mercedes.

I agree with the above.

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www.prestigecarservice.co.uk

Thanks Gurus, I'll check the level.