c4dgb97

I have a 2014 C207 with about 10,000 miles. I drive it in S mode most of the time but also a fair amount of time in M mode.

In M mode, the up shift and down shifts are not very crisp, at least not as crisp as an M3 or C4. Do I need to get the TCU remapped or tuned to get quicker shifting?

PaulE550

Hi c4dgb97,

Good to hear you're enjoying your coupe. MB coupes, in any version, are pretty rare to see on most roads. While you could certainly try a TCU remap to improve shifting responsiveness , getting to the same feel of a M3, which is designed to be more of a true sports car, might be a challenge. Still it might be worth a try.

crazy00c230k

Hello,

I just got a 2012 550C and am loving it too. Our cars are fitted with standard automatic transmissions, meaning a torque converter, and will therefore never really feel as crisp as a dual clutch unit like the m3's (or even the mct units found in the amg cars). A tcu tune might make for a little faster shifting and will maybe hold revs for longer, but software can only do so much. Unfortunately this is a case of hardware limitation.

PaulE550

All absolutely correct. If someone wants true sports car responsiveness, like an M3 from the crisp shifting perspective, then you have to buy a vehicle that's mechanically built to deliver that level of response to start with. Software can only tell the available hardware how to act within the constraints of what that hardware is actually designed to do. MB AMG's, with their mct transmissions, can deliver the true sports car feel c4dgb97 is looking to emulate.

That's not to say that what we drive are dogs. Far from it. What we drive are incredibly responsive and powerful luxury sports vehicles, that can hold their own against quite a number of cars on the road very easily. That's one of the things I like about the E550. It is a true sleeper car that can leave people wondering what just flew by them.

ikkyu2

Have the dealer reflash the TCU to original factory spec. Then go to a remote straight road and punch it hard for 35-40 cycles shifts in both "C" and "S" modes (they have separate memories). The adaptive transmission will reset itself to that kind of hard driving.

My '09 C350 sport (purchased used) was apparently driven by a grandma and used to shift into 3rd gear at 20 mph. Drove me nuts! I read the forums and went back to the dealer and executed the above process. Took me about a half hour. Worked great and the car sung sweetly ever after.