Ep1dem1c

I would like to know if anyone can give me some insight on stiffening up the shifter feel in the C230 Coupe. Its almost like the shifter is rubber and bendable. It just feels really sloppy. Anything i can do to stiffen this up? (ie.. short shifter, bushings..)

thanks

kevblah

halfway through that post, i almost forgot what u were talking about

C230 Sport Coup

If your car did not come with the C7 (Evolution in Eur) sport package, there is a
short shift kit available from Mercedes.

C7 package came with it.

If you have rubber nubs on your pedals from Mercedes you have C7.
I think people were paying 300-400 for the parts. + install.

You'll need to search to find the pn's.

Saprissa

what year Coupé do you have ?
where are you located ?

you should update your profile on the left there, so we know where you're at and what you're driving.

Sounds to me like you can just get one of the 2005+ MB shifters with the logo on top, or go with a Brabus or other tuner aftermarket shifter.
A good one should run between $150-$250.

If it is the shift mechanism itself that you are talking about, then you are in for deep spending.

Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com

Ep1dem1c

C7 Package came with Leather also didnt it? I dont have leather I have that crap cloth. Looking to switch to black leather in the future though..

Anyways... the shifter is just real loose feeling. I'm used to Honda's i guess that you have to jam into gears possibly. I was just asking to see if anyone knew of something I could buy that would stiffen up the shifter a little bit.

Buellwinkle

Back in 2002 and 2003 there was a big leather shortage due to mad cows on the lose. So many 2002 and early 2003 didn't get leather. There are places on the net that sell leather kits for that car and reasonable prices. I really liked the cloth interior when I had a 2002. Having cloth has no bearing on if it's has the C7 option or not, metal pedals with rubber nubs, color matched door outside door handles (vs. flat black texturized plastic) and 7 spoke 17" wheels would lead one to believe you have the C7 option. The shifter from the C7 is shorter and gives a slightly improved shifting experience.

Back to the first question, yes, the manual tranny on the 2002 and 2003 did leave something to be desired. They did improve it considerably in 2004 and I really like the way my 2004 shifts vs. my 2002. Again they improved it in 2005 but the improvement wasn't as dramatic. The biggest problem I had on the 2002 shifting besides constantly missing shifts is the clutch gets heavy feeling after driving a longer distance where you don't use it and then losens up once you start using it.

C230 Sport Coup

Changing the tranny oil to sythetic may also improve the feel.
Call tech support at Redline and or Royal Purple to ask which is the right one for your car.
People were having good luck with Royal Purple.
But I have an auto so I don't know exactly which product is the correct one.

That might be the ticket for you.
An easy DIY.

tommy

As Carlos said, an aftermarket knob that hangs lower than the stock one is about the only kind of reasonable change that you can make. It does make the shifting feel better, but unfortunately, nothing will make your car feel like you're shifting a Honda. I wish it were that smooth!

SeanSBA

On the topic of aftermarket shifter, I have a question: I have the shifter that is all one piece with the shift boot (01 c240). How would I go about changing this to a shorter shifter because it is all one piece?