nathandimond

Does MB make their own tranmissions or do they install a third party product, like BMW uses ZF and GM trannies?

e1000

MB makes thier own. Some of the best transmissions in the industry IMO. Much better than Honda's V6 4-speed and 5-speed transmission haha sorry for the cheap shot.

mleskovar

+1

splinter

+2

Some Asian transmissions are nearly worthless. No cheap shot there.

LILBENZ230

There is nothing wrong with a Toyota transmission from the 90s. Or an early 90s Honda transmission, for example.

Nathan - Given the car you own right now, I can understand being a bit gun-shy about this. You've asked several times about MB transmissions. If it really bothers you that much, get a W203 that's available in 6MT. However, again, Benz does not have widespread transmission issues. The transmission in your TL suffers a couple of inherent design flaws that Honda never truly fixed. The oil jet kit they installed on those cars only took care of the lack of lubrication and overheating of third gear, it did nothing to help with the shoddy materials used in the clutch-packs - that's why the transmissions were still failing left and right after that "fix". Honestly the 99-03 TL and CL and 98-02 Accord V6s are fine cars, but their future is grim. All are past the warranty period that Honda offered as part of the recall and, though nice cars they are, they're no longer worth the risk of ownership. It's a sad end to what I felt (design/materials wise) was some of Honda's best efforts.

You don't have to worry about MB transmissions. If there were major problems you can bet it would be all over the board.

e1000

Any J series engine mated to an automatic transmission 98-03ish is a transmission disaster waiting to happen. I too understand your apprehension as I went through the EXACT same nervousness after having one of those Honda automatics. The Benz 5G and 7G are a completely different animal. You have to remember, the exact same 5G and 7G transmissions used in the C-class go into pretty much the whole line of MB cars. Considering this, the application in a C-class is definitely over-engineered.

PS - I've seen people BEAT on the 5G transmission and will attest that you will snap an axle before you break the transmission. 7G is no slouch either, check out this link.

TemjinX2

Mercedes makes one of the best auto transmissions. They can take a lot of power and the shifting seems pretty quick between gears in my opinion.

I would say honda's have nice manuals, but their auto v6 transmissions were junk.

nathandimond

Hey guys,

I hate to get all sentimental on your a$$es but I want to thank you for chasing away my fears one by one. I REALLY do want a Benz to be my next car but I guess I'm so worried about something terrible happing to it once I buy one that I'm trying to find flaws to convince me to buy something else. I hope I'm not frustrating all of you with my questions.

e1000

Absoutely not! Good that you're doing your homework. In all seriousness, if you get a 2005+ car, you can expect very few problems. A vast majority of any kind of issues with the facelifed w203's can be fixed rather easily too. IMO, maintenance is reasonable and absolutely in line with class competitors. There are bad apples in every bunch, so definitely get any prospective car checked out, look for well kept records. Other than that, they're pretty good cars to have.

lol, another PS - my car may be for sale within the next couple of months.

nathandimond

Why are you selling it?

e1000

need................ more...............power!

I'm really trying to save enough to get a new toy AND keep it though.

Norwichdelta06

too bad honest guys I never have really heard of a tranmission failure lately among any of my friends or coworkers or etc etc esp in cars made in 2000 and after which is 100 percent stock i might add. Transmissions has been around for ages and most of the time a tranmssion will fail due to improper maintance (not changing the fluid). I bet my 7G tranny will fail if i don't change the fluid in a timely mannor according to the manual

Glyn M Ruck

Concur with posters above. MB auto transmissions are excellent. The trouble with Honda is they design a transmission without taking the fluid into account & then came along to the oil industry & said to us - design us a fluid that will make this thing work & last. I was involved in long winded shift shock & endurance testing for them. The whole thing ends up being a compromise because the minute you design a fluid that adequately protects a Honda transmission you start suffering high torque clutch pack slip.

The secret to Benz transmissions is simplicity with electronic control. Especially the 7G which had complexity reduction as a design goal. They can absorb vastly more power than any C Class has on offer. Benz also design with the oil companies on board from day one.

The mileage that Benz taxis do in Europe - trouble free is testiment to how tough these transmissions are if serviced every 60,000 Km.

alpinweiss

I have never had an automatic transmission fail.

(Of course, I have never owned a car with an automatic transmission.)

Seriously, if anyone has doubts about the the automatic, MB makes a really nice 6-speed manual. No maintenance required, other than changing the transmission oil every 30000 miles or so (easy and relatively cheap).

Both my wife and I have a strong preference for a manual transmission, so we have always avoided the complexity of an automatic.

LILBENZ230

You are going to get flamed by Mr. Glyn Ruck for this one.

But I agree with you. A manual is the only proper transmission - with an automatic (any automatic) you are not driving, you are merely steering.

Glyn M Ruck

Nah - I just don't like MB's cluncky manual transmission & clutch action. It spoils the refinement of the cars. Every motoring scribe I know would agree with me. I too like manual transmission & grew up with the beautiful old Alfa front mounted 5 speed over 7 cars. Then they blew it all with the Alfetta rear mounted clunker.

It takes an accomplished driver to match the MB auto acceleration times with a MT. And do it too often with the Benz MT and you are in for new synchro on second gear as some of our W204 members have learned to their cost. The MT does not like to be hurried & baulks on you if you get too carried away.

TemjinX2

Just to make it clear. It was the late model 90's and early 2000 v6 auto trannies on honda's that were junk. The 4 cylinder's were fine. I abused the crap out of my auto civic for 70k and the tranny was still fine.

Glyn M Ruck

Even the 4 cyl transmissions up until recently gave trouble if you tried to tow with the vehicles.

tommy

Of course, if Mercedes either made or outsourced a good manny, it would be the best of both worlds.

Didn't know about Honda's slushbox problems. Though a Honda with a slushbox is a bad idea to start off with. 175k on my '90 crx, two engines, three clutches, and one transmission. Priceless.

johnand

Agree with the others on MB transmission durability. Just keep up on the fluid and filter changes and you should have many years of trouble free operation.

LILBENZ230

The Civic was never implicated. I suspect it might have used a different transmission. The V6 and I4 Accords from 1998-2003 and TL/CL from 1999-2003 (and even some early 2004 TLs) had inherent design flaws in the transmissions. The I4 engines in the Accord with this transmission were probably more durable due to having to handle less power. It was a move for Honda not to fix those immediately with the redesign of the Accord in 2003 and TL in 2004. The Odyssey and Pilot and MDX were also affected.

jeancarlo

I now that mercedes benz use her own parts, and not from anywhere, but if you want more information you can visit this page http://www.mercedesdismantlers.com/

lkfoster

Things apparently haven't changed much over time. I had a couple 4 spd 101-series Guiliettas and and as I recall they were awfully picky about what oil you ran too. Anything other than a special Shell oil and you'd lose the 2nd gear sycnchro. They did shift awfully well if you didn't mind the shifter angle.

Glyn M Ruck

Yes - If you ran oil with too much sulphur phosphorus additive in it, it chewed up the phoshor bronze synchro cones.

I started life with a heavily modded (dropped a 1750 mill with stage 3 cams & 45 DCOE Weber sidedrafts into it) Guilia Super & then progressed through many Berlina's & GTV's. That 5 speed was a real manual tranny all those years ago. I guess that became my benchmark. The Fitchel & Sachs clutch was also great. I had a Benz 280E twincam manual compact for a while. That had the slowest MT I've ever driven. But then in those days you did not want a Benz auto. The shift shock would almost break your neck on the old 3 planetary set auto.