Another question for you manny tranny people. All the mags, Motorweek, everyone says the manual is notchy and not prone to quick performance shifting.

Have you guys have that problem. Is it annoying and does the tranny loosen up and smooth out over time. And how much time would that be. Lots of mis shifts, missed gates problems etc.??

The shifting improves greatly over the first 500 miles. It will never be the best, but it is good enough. I occasionaly still make a 2nd to 5th mis-shift, and very rarely a 1st to 4th. No problems with downshifts.

no notch here....i still make the tires bark shifting into 4th gear!

Yes, mine is very notchy. After 2k miles it still is very notchy. You get used to it but it requires very precise shift control.

I was less than thrilled with the manual on the non-C7 stick that I drove. I had problems missing and it just didn't feel solid at all. Much to my amazement, my car (C7, manual) was truly a different animal. The throws ARE shorter and it has a much better, sportier feel overall, but I wouldn't say not notchy, but definitely not rubbery, you know when you're in or out which I like. I've read on the boards that they get better with age, but I've got only 400 miles on my coupe and am very pleased with the box and my car thus far.
minor annoyances:
1. foot e-brake- this will take a long time to adjust to
2. rear/side visibility should be better but I knew that
3. engine sounds sickly at idle esp. on startup but I know its not!

Aside from that my first 96 hours have been very pleasurable, this car is great fun to toss around hairpins! No sideways manuevers yet, but 1000 miles is right around the bend.

No problems with the feel of the stick or clutch. I can drive it easy or hard and doesn't miss a shift, the clutch engages exactly where I expect it to. I would say it's just right for a type of car it is. It's not as precise as some sports cars and better than most sedans I've driven. Maybe it's that the build consistancy is not up to par. Maybe some people like me luck out and get a good one and some don't. I would definitely encourage you to drive the car you are buying to make sure you didn't get one of the bad ones, if there are any.

I agree with Zimmer.

No problems here.

Well, I've had mine only for two weeks, and I'm still practicing - it's a different animal from the Cherokee's 5-speed with it's looong stick (you ever seen the stick on an Xterra?! Through the roof...).
But I can tell already it's a sweet shifter, where the C7 package must be added sugar. Second to third is almost automatic. First to second gives me problems if I'm not relaxed, but it just seems to feel notchy when I try to yank it, rather than guide it.
I drove my buddy's Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon, and its stick is no more clic-clac than the Benz's. Best I've ever had on any of my OWN cars, anyway.
I don't commute, so I'm happy with the manny. Enhances my driving experience for sure. What else to do with your right hand while motoring? Particularly with all the automatic gadgetry - rain sensor, auto-dimming mirrors, auto-headlights, auto-volume adjust plus +/- keys on the wheel.

Having traded in a 1996 Integra GSR (5 spd) on the C230 and test driving a 2002 RSX-S (6 spd) the MB does not shift as easy as the Acura's. Having said that, the six speed (C7) of the C230 is very good. I've had the vehicle for 4 months and have 5,000 miles on the vehicle. I have never missed a shift.
I too have read those articles and to be honest, I'm not sure what "notchy" means. I've driven manual transmission cars (exclusively) since 1980 and the MB has a very good precise feel to the shift mechanism and transmission. It is not as smooth as the RSX-S, but the Acura doesn't weigh 3400 lbs. either!
I think that the transmission and engine take a long time to break in in this vehicle. Tolerances seem to be very tight and even with 5k miles on the vehicle, I don't think it's totally broken in yet.
Bottom line, the MB has a fine feel and mechanism.
2002 C230 C2 C7 Bose six spd.
Paprika

I've had a couple of rough moves from 2nd to 3rd, but otherwise the stick feels great. Not too tight, not too loose. Still getting used to the clutch though. It's been almost three weeks and 1,500 miles, but I'm still pretty rough with it. I'm looking forward to getting more acquainted with my clutch

Larry

For the first few days I had the car, I was always making the mistake of shifting from 1st to 4th.
Even during the test drive, I made that mistake. I'm getting use to it now, but have to admit shifting from 1st to 2nd is not very smooth. But then again, I've only had the car for 5 days now.

No problems with the shifter at all. Sure shifting up and down. My last manual car was a BMW, had been driving autos since it was sold in 1994. The Coupe's shifter doesn't feel any inferior. (BTW, as I recall, the Bimmer had a rather annoying hard shift problem N => 1 and 1 => 2 when cold.)

Instead, I had to adjust to the clutch action, especially when the car was brand new and squeaky tight. Now, after 2 months and 1500+ miles on the clock it feels a lot better.

I love my car but I have been driving sticks for 30 yrs (my age shows through) and I have the most trouble with the stick in this car of any I have driven. My previous car was a 95 Jetta 5 spd and I never missed a shift in that car. I have the standard 6 spd in this car and I embarrassingly miss shifts all too frequently. I find it very notchy and rpm sensitive. Less trouble at <3000 rpm but then why drive a manual if you are going to shift this low. It is one of two things I hope to eventually change in my car. It's a great car but in hindsight I wish I had the C7 package.

Steve H., if you are planning on keeping the car for the long term, you might consider having the dealer install the short throw shifter. I don't know how much it would cost, but it doesn't cost anything to ask.

During my one month, I am also very happy with the C7 6-speed manual on C230. Shifts nicely. I also test-drove the regular 6-speed manual on C240 and it was pretty poor experience indeed.

So if I were you, C7 6-speed is the way to go.

1st to 2nd is a little rough when the car is cold, otherwise it feels great to me.

Have had a miata and that gearbox for all the raving the press did over it took a long time to break and was a little crunchy until I replaced the oil with Redline. Any one tried Redline in the C230K?

btw I frequently drive the girlfriends 2001 BMW 325 coupe - prefer my C230. 325 gearbox also requires a deft touch on the 1st to 2nd shift and the steering is way to boosted making the car a little flighty - understand that BMW is tightening the steering up again on the 2002 model

Lynn, in a few years (kids out of college). Replacing the shifter and adding some ponies are high on the list of to do's. It's not a major problem. This is my commuter car. It serves that purpose extremely well. If I were to do a lot of racing, I would change it tomorrow.

What gears are you guys missing? I've got the C240 6-spd, and at first, the gates seemed somewhat "closer" than my previous '99 Passat, but now I find it very easy to shift. Someone mentioned an accidental 1-4 or 2-5 shift. I'm not sure how you'd do that. I mean a 2-5 shift requires pushing the lever over, where a 1-4 might happen if you let the spring pull it over. In either case, how is the M-B shifter more prone to these errors?

What were the major issues you had? I thought I had read earlier that there was a question that the C7 package provided a different shifter. Is this a definite fact? I test drove a C230 about a month after I got my C240 just to check it out, and the shifter seemed similar to mine except for perhaps a little more "click" when engaging gears, and it seemed the throw was a little longer. Can't remember if it had C7.

Like Mark, understand the possible 1-4 move (my girlfriend has pulled that one a few times) but definitely not the 2-5, to me that's a spas manuever. The 1-2 is balky before its warm, usually just surrender to 1-3 which doesn't bother me much. I do a lot of 4-6 switches as well, 5th seems unnecessary to me in many cases. Mark, haven't seen anything resembling published fact about the C7's shifter being different which I found very odd and was very skeptical of people saying that my car would have shorter throws and a better action. I drove the non-C7 manny 3 times, once for about 20 minutes. Despite the 3 month hiatus I can say without a doubt that my C7 shifter is different and that is a very good thing. My guess is that the coupe you drove didn't have C7 as it is a vast improvement over the regular IMO. Very happy with the coupe thus far- just a little more zip and I'll be all set.

C230/6speed/orion/C7/changer - halfway through break in!

I do alot of 4 to 6 also. The shifter is def not Honda Smooth but it has gotten better with age.

During acceleration, I miss 3 to 4, slipping instead into 6th. Part of the problem is I hit the gas pretty hard in 3rd so the tranny has a natural tendency to go to 6th at that speed. On a down shift after a turn (I use the brakes coming into a turn; see previous threads on subject of downshifting) I sometimes miss 6 or 5th into 3rd and have to feel around for the right gear. I haven't had that problem in 4 other cars with manuals.

I have a feeling that some kind of speed sensitive system in built into the linkage. If I shift at low rpm I have less trouble than at high rpm (>4500).

Steve, I don't think there's anything that helps "push" the lever toward the 3rd gate (5-6). As for 5-to-6 or 6-to-5, I had a couple of problems initially. Now, I (semi-)conciously position my hand slightly on the left side of the lever to help keep it over in the gate, and I'm not having the problem anymore.

Had a few 5-6 problems, but I think its just because I'm not used to holding the lever to right while making the transition. Like Mark, as long as I'm somewhat conscious of that, there are no problems.

From the replies it doesn't seem like anyone else is having this problem, but twice in as many weeks my car has popped out of first gear taking off. I've been driving manuals for 7 years and have never had a problem before. Don't know if its something I'm doing or some sort of gearbox problem. Anyone else experience something like this or have any thoughts on why its occuring? The lever is totally engaged but for some reason it pops out as I'm accelerating away from a stop.