Manual kickdown switch on 2012




I swear mine used to, but it does not now. I had that stupid BMW for 2 weeks and got all out of whack so I couldn't remember if it was supposed to or not.
I had a loaner 2013 2 weeks ago while my camera wiring harness was being replaced, and it clicked on kickdown. I have been wondering if mine is broken since then. Earlier tonight I went to pass some jackass, and when I put my foot down it did not want to downshift at first but finally did after a few seconds - much longer than normal, so I think it is broken.
Does your 2012 click when kicked down?
Last edited by MDMercedesGuy; Apr 2, 2013 at 12:44 AM.








Sounds like another trip to the dealer... argh!
I recall that at about 80% pedal travel, there is no click, but rather more mechanical pedal resistance to motion ... like engaging another spring in the gas pedal. I recall that at a quick change to 80% pedal, when cruising at 45 mph, plenty of downshifts occured.
Do you know of any MB documents that describe this?

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Others have had the issue with various models, however - http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w202...wn-switch.html for instance.
Mine's linear in effort all of the way to the floor - no physical click or catch any more.
Back in the day the kickdown was triggered by vacuum or a physical lever on a transmission... nowadays it's either based off of potentiometer readings from the "throttle" pedal or a physical switch that signals the TCU to downshift.
The 2013 I drove was damn near instantaneous when stood on after the pedal change was felt, whereas mine still has to make a decision to shift (even after performing a throttle reset).
Last edited by MDMercedesGuy; Apr 2, 2013 at 02:43 PM.
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Others have had the issue with various models, however - http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w202...wn-switch.html for instance.
Mine's linear in effort all of the way to the floor - no physical click or catch any more.
... nowadays it's either based off of potentiometer readings from the "throttle" pedal or a physical switch that signals the TCU to downshift.
The 2013 I drove was damn near instantaneous when stood on after the pedal change was felt, whereas mine still has to make a decision to shift (even after performing a throttle reset).
I politely have to disagree about kickdown based just on readings from the pedal position. The MB normal kickdown should be based on "load vs rpm" maps for each gear. I think Glyn posted them at one time, and I have seen them for other cars. Load could be based on fuel flow vs rpm.
The link provided for the W202 seems to be for a much simpler transmission, not shure about that.
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Kickdown is different from the transmission dropping gears based on load and throttle position or RPM. Kickdown is when the throttle is depressed fully and you are looking for maximum acceleration out of the vehicle.
Further digging on Benzworld has turned up a few posts from W204 owners mentioning feeling the physical kickdown switch - so that kind of seals it for me that I have an issue with my vehicle.

Even my w203 kompressor had it, and very nice when in sport mode too..




For the tl;dr crowd - the original jist of the thread:
Anyone with a 2012. Does your pedal click when you shove it all of the way to the floor?
Answer: My car does not. My car is broken
Kickdown is different from the transmission dropping gears based on load and throttle position or RPM. Kickdown is when the throttle is depressed fully and you are looking for maximum acceleration out of the vehicle.
Further digging on Benzworld has turned up a few posts from W204 owners mentioning feeling the physical kickdown switch - so that kind of seals it for me that I have an issue with my vehicle.
I still question if there is a true special kickdown that is different from the upshift/downshift map that shows what happens at 100% throttle. It is possible it's function is a gate that prevents the 100% kick down, so if you want max downshift, you have to go through the hard pedal. Note that 90% open @ the TB is about the same as 100% open, based on butterfly valve flow maps.
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The solid lines are for upshifts, and the dotted line to it's left are the downshifts for the gear. What is not shown is zones where the TC is enabled, but that is about all the time with the W204.
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Last edited by kevink2; Apr 2, 2013 at 07:55 PM.




It would be interesting to see what happens in a manual downshift. If you do a hold downshift vs. tap on either the paddle or shift knob the car will drop to whatever gear is needed for maximum power delivery.
The rare M-B manual transmission seem pale in comparison to Miata, Honda Accord 6M, my VW JSW TDI 6M - just to name a few.
I reckon I'm missing out by ignoring my paddle shifters...........................
ez
Last edited by ezshift5; Jul 26, 2016 at 10:46 AM.
After seeing how it all works I could see it's possible to add just the paddles if you were good with a Dremel or drill. But I would be nervous about messing up a wheel that way. The only thing the wheel lacks is the hole/cutout on the outside but they are the same on the inside.
I swear mine used to, but it does not now. I had that stupid BMW for 2 weeks and got all out of whack so I couldn't remember if it was supposed to or not.
I had a loaner 2013 2 weeks ago while my camera wiring harness was being replaced, and it clicked on kickdown. I have been wondering if mine is broken since then. Earlier tonight I went to pass some jackass, and when I put my foot down it did not want to downshift at first but finally did after a few seconds - much longer than normal, so I think it is broken.
Does your 2012 click when kicked down?







