Manual Mercedes C260 & Reverse

I have a manual 2006 Mercedes c260. In this car you push shift lever left and then forward to go in reverse. When I do this, car will not go in reverse and makes a terrible screeching/grinding sound. If I push the handle forward really hard and keep manually holding it, I can start going in reverse without the sound. As I start to release the clutch and car is going in reverse I feel a snap on the shift lever and then car is in gear without issue. What is going on? Any way to fix without replacing whole transmission? Help!

That doesn’t sound normal. Is this a new car for you or have you had it a while and this problem just developed? I ask because some cars you have to do “something” to get it into reverse like pushing the handle down while shifting. In the mean time I would suggest trying to double clutch it before going to reverse.

Thanks for the comment. I will try the double clutch. I have had the car for a while so this is a new development. You do have to push far left and then up on the shift lever and that all along  Lever still goes into place as if in gear, but car won’t move and makes a really ugly sound. I have no idea of the physics of all this but this is what is feels like to me: Rather than going in gear when I push lever left and then up (which it previously did) to get into reverse, I have to physically hold the shift in place. I have to maintain a lot of pressure on the shift lever but car does go in reverse. As I start going in reverse and releasing pressure on the clutch the shift lever “snaps” into gear, and car functions as normal after that.

You might have an out of adjustment shifter… I would make sure some one looks at it soon to prevent real damage (if its not too late already)

Put the transmission into any forward gear first, then without releasing the clutch pedal put the transmission into reverse. If it still grinds going into reverse the clutch is dragging.

I think this is probably something simple to fix. I doubt this is a transmission problem, unless you’ve been noticing unusual noises in other gear transitions too. My guess is that when you press down the clutch pedal, something is wrong and it isn’t properly disengaging the clutch. That makes it hard to get into reverse. I’m not sure if your car has a cable operated clutch or a hydraulic clutch. In any event, a simple adjustment may be all that is needed to fix it. Or you may need some inexpensive new part, like a new clutch cable (if you have a cable operated clutch) or a new clutch master cylinder (if you have a hydraulic clutch) . Or you may just need to top off the clutch master and slave cylinder’s hydraulic fluid.

Be sure your mechanic checks out those things first, before embarking on any major wallet-consuming projects.