toddk

Does anyone else feel that their transmission has the slowest , lazyest shift points. I've talked to the dealer and had them reset the memory. They say that it is normal. I've been in an intersection turning left, hit the accelerator and the car just sits there for about a second before it decides to go. It makes performance driving a guess at best. Suggestions please.

KOMPRESSORnSC

The harder you drive it, the more aggressive the shifts will be. I just got mine back form 'B' Service and they had reset everything and there was a huge difference-very lazy and smooth. It took a few hundred miles of aggressive driving to get it back to where I like it-where it will put you back in your seat on every shift.

toddk

thats what the dealer says also. I just got mine back from b service a couple thousand miles ago. i drive it hard all the time, no change.

dmatre

The auto box is the one place the MB really screwed up (IMO).

I don't want a tranny that 'thinks' it knows what I want to do, I want a tranny that does what I want.

I would rather have a Sport/Comfort button, so that if I want to rip down a twisty road after 300miles of cruising, I can do it without waiting for the slushbox to figure out that I'm trying to haul a$$.

Before flaming me, I know there's a tranny switch, but it only goes from 'stupid & slow' to 'stupid & slow & starts in 2nd gear'.

If only we could get the AMG programming (35% faster shifts, holds in gear in hard driving, etc), I think it would become bearable.

I'm certain that the software is already there, it's just a matter of selecting this option. Anybody know?

tberry

Well I dont think the mb auto tranny is so bad in terms of perf (look at how close the perf #s are btwn auto and manny). There is very little drivetrain loss and the tranny i think only weighs 80+lbs over manny. I used to have an Audi A4 with tiptronic (derived from Porsche by the way) and it sucked. It weighs 200lbs over manny and perf to 0-60 is about 1.5sec slower than manny (check porsche boxter specs...same thing). In regards to AMG programming i dont think its already there BUT i dont see why someone couldnt re-flash our ECU for the shift program stuff (maybe AMG has patent on it?)

*Regarding adaptive learning BMW has the same crap. I think it IS stupid b/c you could be leisurely driving and some punk wanna piece of you then what? the tranny gonna suddenly know that I want it to shift as fast as a slushbox possibly could? or would it retain characteristics of my past 2 hrs of leisure driving??

Kain

That's because Mercedes-Benz's manual transmissions are absolute crap.

tberry

heheh i was thinking about that. Either MB makes really good auto tranny or really crappy manny tranny....I really think its a lil bit of both :p . Well i gotta ask you guys who do you think make REALLY good auto trannies? That means its gotta have a torque converter....non of that sequential manny stuff....thats not slushbox (although some seq manny perf. would make u think its a slushbox from my understanding).

dmatre

Gotta say that I work with a guy who has a 330i with Sport and Auto. The transmission in the BMW is rather firm (positive gear changes), rather quick between gears (as opposed to the loooooong 'slipping the clutch' feeling of the MB), and always seems to pick the right gear coming out of a corner.

The MB tranny seems to take a long time to figure out where it's going, takes a long time to go between gears (when at partial throttle), and always seems to exit a corner one gear too high. The above observations are made when driving at a 'somewhat brisk' pace. Yes, when hammering the car, the tranny shifts nicely - but I don't think that it should be necessary to hammer it in order to shift properly.

One other gripe: downshifting the auto from 3 to 2 results in a huge lurch forward - completely upsetting the balance of the car. My wife's Passat with 1.8T and Tiptronic just seems to slide right into gear, without the lurch. Much easier to drive that car smoothly at 8/10ths.

Anyone at MB listening???? Please????

R4ND0M_AX3

I drove an SMG equiped M3. It was nice. During a downshift it would blip the throttle to rev match. This kept the 3-2 shifting silky smooth.

I'm not sure it's as simple as reflashing our ECU to get the AMG tranny programming. The ECU's appear to be completely different.
Then there is the issue of the AMG tranny using a locking torque converter in ALL forward gears. Nothing I've seen says that the coupe gets that in any gear other than top. So there might be some hardware differences.