Mr. J

Sensible advice if you live in a region that actually has harsh winters. However.....pacific NW winter is driving rain and temps in the 40s for 90% of it and a little bit of ice and snow for the rest. Not cold or harsh enough for real winter tires and too cold for Summer tires.

I plan to swap the Michelin Pilot AS3+ and the Summer Contis the same way you guys in the colder climates swap your winter and summer tires. Same concept just slightly different execution. I can guarantee that the AS3+ grip much better while cornering in a torrential downpour than Blizzacks or P-zeros do

Mr. J

My manual stated to keep the RPM under 4500, vary the driving speed, and to avoid using cruise control during the first 1500km. It also advised to stay in comfort mode. I believe the reason to break it in under comfort is to avoid excessive rpm. Sport+ definitely will bounce off of redline if you goose it a bit

I made it about 400 miles before I mashed the gas on a twisty hilly road

sean1.8t

I wanted to do just a little one for a few hundred miles just for peace of mind. I didn't even make it 300 miles. The car just wants to GO!!!

asc

The idea that we'd buy a car like this and NOT use sport+ for hundreds of miles is, frankly, insulting. Spending this much money to lease/buy (not to mention insure) a vehicle like this, and we can't drive sport+, even somewhat conservatively? I don't buy it. I agree to vary RPM and driving style, and not to drive it insanely. But to stay away from sport+, which is, let's face it, the reason most of us got this car, is ridiculous. Also, I read somewhere that all non-AMG engines (including our AMG-tuned engines) are factory broken in. Can't remember where I read that, but I keep telling myself that for peace of mind...

MASSC450

I had no problem adhering to the Mercedes 1,000 mile break-in period...easy actually when your daily commute to work involves "bumper to bumper" traffic on rt. 93.

asc

What "Mercedes 1,000 mile break-in period"? I'd love to read something official about this. Someone have a link?

MDSkiBum

The C43 sedan manual says "Ideally, for the first 1,000 miles (1,500 km), drive in program C". I don't believe that precludes some occasional time in sport or sport+ as long as you are keeping the RPMs under 4,500.

I've seen some posts on here where SA's are telling people that only hand-built AMG engines need a break-in. However, the C43 sedan manual couldn't be more clear that ALL C-class vehicles require break-in.

If you trust the manufacturer recommendations, then you have to suffer for 1k miles before you can have fun with the car. But in theory that will lead to a longer, more problem-free experience over the rest of the car's lifetime. It's definitely a controversial topic, and many people disagree with the manufacturer recommendations. Personally, it was worth it to me to follow them since I intend to keep the car for a good 10 years or so. Maybe it was totally unnecessary, but it was worth it to me for the peace of mind.

https://www.mbusa.com/vcm/MB/Digital...tor_Manual.pdf
Have a look at page 135

MASSC450

Page 145 in your owners manual (C450 at least)...under "Driving Tips"...

asc

Thanks guys. Dealer never mentioned that (and why would they, their biggest profit center is the service department!). I'm leasing and don't plan to buy it off lease, but still, I hear you. I guess I should consider my first day with the car (and the 40 miles on it when I picked it up, 6 of which were from my test drive), as an aberration that hopefully won't affect anything during the next 3 years.

Bueller178

Your car will be just fine. While I don't believe you should go from the dealership to the race track, people seem to think the odd squirt of the loud pedal when the car is new will somehow make their car disintegrate.


Enjoy your ride.

autopal

My sentiments exactly. Just drive your car normally, which means sports mode when u are in the mood, the car will be fine. What do you think happen when potential customers take these brand new car on test drive? I test drove one with roughly 80 miles at the time before I ordered mine, and I certainly flogged it hard during the test drive. Heck, the sales guys thrashed it in sports mode at wide open throttle before he gave me the wheel. I think we are too paranoid about break in period.

tmoneyC450amg

Very true. Drive it how you like it. Just dont track the car before 1000miles lol. I tried staying below 5k rpm during my break-in. That doesnt mean I didnt go above 100mph either

FastE

As a driver of a C43 - it is mainly badging and branding, and a new transmission that is SUPER fast to shift and has taller gears to get you off the line and spool the turbos faster. That is why the 0-60 time improves. The "feel" of the drive is that much more responsive as well as a result.

Both cars are great!!

Also a real highway gear for fuel economy (who cares?!)

There are a few console / drive mode changes as well I believe.

powerrrrr

I think the MB Marketing department really hit the jackpot on the C43, because it's the exact opposite for me on that first point, I actually really didn't care for the badging and branding, I just wanted a faster C-Class but didn't want to commit to a C63, while for a lot of people, it's an easy entry into the AMG club.

It helps that it's absolutely fantastic to drive and has probably one of the best sounding V6s on the market today, almost as good as a standard F-type.

sean1.8t

So I have a question about the c43. Do you get launch control? I'm guessing no since it's still not a double clutch.

And I wanna see some videos of the 9spd shifting. I can't imagine it's faster than the 7spd. This thing shifts so fast when WOT that you'd think it's a double clutch.

powerrrrr

It's pretty fast shifting, I'm sure if you instrument test it it'll be slower than the AMG gearbox in the C63, but from my test drives it's not noticeably*slower than the other standard double clutch 7 gear systems on regular Mercedes. This is still a car that'll do 0-60 in around 4.7 seconds after all and from what I gather the 9 gears auto on the C43's is slightly faster than the 7 gear dcg in the c450.

No launch control of course, that's for full AMG only.

sliqdaddy91

Is there some kind of ECUFlash update for us C450 guys? That is, since the C43 came out there have been changes to the ECU and I am wondering if we are due a flash.

The reason being, I am going to the dealership today. I am curious if I should ask about an updated flash.

Thanks

asc

Not sure, but can't hurt to ask either way?

cenzo86

An auto works so much differently than a dual clutch transmission. You can really tell the difference on a slower car like my VW GLi was. When you tapped the upshift, the revs just dropped. Watching the tach needle move was impressive.
Once things get faster however, the difference is less noticeable, but more important to total performance. I drove the new GTC/4 Lusso a couple months back. Obviously, it has 3x the cylinders, 3.5x the power. V12 = SMOOTH. V12+DCT=SEEMLESS (**** algebra). Higher output GT cars benefit from the DCT because at full throttle applications, the gearshift doesnt upset the balance of the car. With that said, they are not as smooth in every other situation. Around town DCTs still suck. With the exception of the GT, I firmly believe the MB brand should stick to torque converters.

powerrrrr

Keep in mind that the new E63 uses this 9 speed auto.

sean1.8t

I dunno man, the current zf8spd in the BMW and Audis are buttery smooth in every aspect of driving. These 7/9 speed gearboxes shift comparable to them at WOT but you can still feel that tiny bit of tq transfer, especially apparent at lower load.

I haven't experienced the DCT's in MB's like the C63 and four cylinder 45's but I've heard that they aren't near as good as the other german ones I mentioned above so I guess I get where you're coming from if that's the case. MB just needs to stop trying to compete with ZF in this department and partner up with them instead of producing their own sub-par in house units.

sean1.8t

Really, the same exact one as the c43? They must at least tune it differently, right?

powerrrrr

It's definitely tuned differently, I know mercedes spent a lot of money on this new transmission and it's already going into most of their cars.

This is my understanding of it from having read a couple of articles about the new E63 so I might be wrong!

Bueller178

I'm very much enjoying the 9 spd trans in my C43. Aggressive quick shifts, and the downshifting in Sport+ is awesome.

Vipershade

The "43" transmission is an AMG tuned version of the 9G-TRONIC (referred to as AMG-enhanced 9G-TRONIC transmission), the E63 uses the new AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT (Multi Clutch Technology) nine-speed sport transmission.