RALSL

While obviously I have no reason to disbelieve the poster who has had trouble with his 6 speed, ours 6 speed has been totally fine. I am surprised frankly, that his dealer cannot get its act together and fix this person's car.

My wife's last car, a Honda Prelude, was also known to have manual transmission problems, so she got the automatic. And Hondas are, rightfully so, known as good reliable cars. So sometimes you never know.

It sounds like this person has had some bad luck, combined with an incompetent service center, with the end result of him or her getting screwed. I would not hesitate to recommend a 6 speed, just drive it first because it is your typical German manual transmission -- heavy clutch, deliberate shifting, etc. My old BMW was the same way. But you get to really like it.

MarkL

Good advice. But, I find the clutch in my C240, and the other ones I test drove, to be on the light side rather than heavy...maybe it's a personal judgment on my part...

czachari

My BMW MCoupe tranny was a lot better though but it was noisier.

CZ

chrissy

that was one of my biggest concerns when getting this car because I saw a lot of people posting about the difficulties they were having with the 6 speed. Went ahead and got it anyway and I must say, I love it. Haven't had any problems at all.

Vince

the only problem i have with my 6 speed is trouble putting it in first gear. My service rep told me that there is no synchro for first gear, so that's why its a PITA to get into 1st sometimes. Can anyone verify this?

BenzC240

i would not recommend manual to any benz owner for one reason. benz is famous for their automatics and thats what they are good at. In my opinion they have not masterd manuals yet. If u really want a manual go for BMW they have mastered it.

lars

He really said that? Did he look as if he was hired straight out of fashion school? Not true.

lars

Others have said the MB manual box is made by Getrag, who have been making gearboxes for decades and have possibly the most famous name in the business.

BenzC240

no one is disputing the quality of the manual box, what im saying is the combination of a manual with a benz has not been perfected.

Vince

so i should not have any trouble shifting into first? does anyone else have this problem?

lars

This topic has been discussed several times; try searching other threads on the forum. It's difficult to shift into first gear at any appreciable speed, but first is so low why would you need to. If the car is stopped and it resists going into first, put the lever into second or third and then into first; that should work easily.

alevy

Im not quite sure you know this or not.. but all benz' with the exception of the S class are available in a stick in europe and have been for YEARS.. ive been traveling to europe for many years and you would be hard pressed to find an automatic anywhere on the streets.

-Alex

neptunespeed

You're right. I have 2 sisters in Paris, France. They tell me it costs a lot more for an automatic over there. I think there's extra tax on autos.

-Thach

MarkL

Well, it costs about $1350 more here in the US -- I'd say that's a good bit :p Seriously, do you mean there's an annual penalty? That's bizarre...

Outland

I wish we had that.

Automatics...yuck.

Mike T.

In my experience the gearbox is pretty good. Not the best and certainly not the worst I've ever used. The shifts are positive and firm, unlike the wimpy feel of some other cars' shifters (hello Honda). It takes a little adaptation though, after driving my newer Peugeot (which is pushing 190,000 miles on the original clutch), as the clutch takeup points and 405 drivetrain (FWD) are quite different. I've had no particular problems with it and I'd rate it as good.

BrabusCClass

Mine is fine. Takes all the abuse from my motor and still going good.

TXTiger

I find the manual in my C240 to be pretty good. It's not the best manual I've ever shifted, but it's not bad at all. I drove my Dad's manual 330ci and it was sweet - just a flick of the wrist to shift compared to the longer, notchier throws in the C240. I'm not sure why you would want to downshift into 1st gear while in motion. I've never had difficulty putting the car into 1st gear while stopped. The manual definitely has synchros on 1st gear or it would be very "hit and miss" as to being able to get it into gear. The part I have difficulty with is downshifting to 2nd gear around 15 mph.....I can do 3rd fine, but it doesn't have enough punch (say coming around a corner), but 2nd is very jerky and the revs don't seem to want to match up the same. Any suggestions?

mdp c230k

What!!! Where do you hear that lie from? MB has had manuals from day 1 in Europe and they are great. Here in America it has just become popular to drive a stick so MB started to bring them over to fill the niche.

MarkL

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only who seems to have a problem downshifting to 2nd. I've had other manuals w/o any problem, but there's something about this car that makes it difficult, IMO. Usually, I get a "clunky" engagement when I throttle up after the shift. I try to rev it more and do a more gradual clutch engagement (more like starting in 1st), but after 20 months, I still "think" about it whenever I need to go to 2nd. This doesn't happen so much around corners, because I generally shift to 2nd and let the clutch out to slow prior to the turn. It happens most when I just need to slow behind traffic and then accelerate again.

hphan

Can you install the short shifter from the C230K's C7 package on your car?

I traded cars with my friend the other day (2002 330 sedan, 5-speed). Damn, that's a fine engine. But we both like the way my car shifts better. His car shifts smoothly, but it has really long throws. My car was a bit notchy at first, but that has worn down with age and is pretty smooth now.

jo17jC230

I dont have a problem with mine... but it was pretty notchy at first too... but it also has gotten really smooth now after 10,000 miles...

BrabusCClass

Yes you can.

TXTiger

How difficult is it to retrofit a C7 shifter into a C sedan? What are the part numbers? What is the cost?

wingspan

Sounds like a great option for 2004 model