I just got an 88 740 GLE. It won't shift out of first gear for about 1-1.5 miles after it's cold. I have tried warming it up for 10 minutes in park, I have tried 10 Mins in neutral, same result. It also doesn't want to go into 4th gear at highway speeds somtimes. This problem is very hit and miss though.

The person before went through the tranny and couldn't find any problems. My first thought is the Seleniod, but I'm not sure. Getting a service manual for it soon. I think I'm going to pull the hose off the radiator area and flush the fluid this weekend. Any thoughts?

This is the non turbo with the ZF 4HP 22 tranny

Sounds like two different problems. The occasional overdrive problem is most likely the overdrive relay. Usually just resoldering the board in those will take care of it. At least it is the logical and easie$t place to start.

The shifting from first problem might be a kickdown problem but since it goes away after warming up and you don't mention problems shifting from second I doubt the kickdown cable is to blame. It would not hurt to check it. I would get it to normal working temperature and do the flush as you had planned and see if that helps. If something is sticking it may take a while even after the flush to "clean up" If all else fails I would try one of the transmission flush products before I spent big bucks or loads of time chasing it.

Randy