blizzard12

It definitely would be! I've already traded in an MB and bought a new one because the transmission wasn't shifting properly. Now I'm considering it again.

decorily

Yes mine is European 300d diesel 9G.

Elvisfan0108

Most people could care less which gear the car starts in. Whereas the engineers need to meet a MPG goal. They satisfied the majority of drivers.

W205C43PFL

Honestly, despite how much I love MB I got to admit that MB's transmission is always lacking compared to ZF. Only saying this is because you complained about the transmission on your previous MB not shifting properly.
Since your main concern here is what gear it starts in and the fact you are not looking at fast shifting but just smooth and comfortable shifting but start in gear 1, moving away from the brand just for this reason doesn't make sense. Can someone tell me if a G20 330i starts at 1st gear (just curious?) haven't test driven a BMW or cars with ZF transmission for a long time.

superswiss

The engineers effectively did this by giving you the Sport and Sport+ modes. Ultimately as mentioned there are fuel economy requirements and emissions concerns to be met, and most buyers in this segment value a smooth driving car over whether it starts in 1st or 2nd gear. Most people indeed don't care what gear it starts in, and engineers design for the majority of potential customers and not the few that have special desires. Every feature comes with a cost attached to it as it has to be tested and supported. That's why there are the AMG models for those who like to be more involved and and have more control over the car. The C43 being the model that offers a mix between a regular MB and an AMG, and the C63 being the full blown AMG. There's a car for everybody. You might wanna consider an Audi A4, which has a dual-clutch transmission and starts in 1st gear.

blizzard12

I agree that every feature comes with a cost and that they have satisfied most drivers. But then there is the rest of us and the indy shops. We are willing to pay for customizations and indy shops are making loads of money on them except they can't fix this 2nd gear start issue.

superswiss

I don't know for specific models such as the G20, but it's very common for torque converter automatics to start in 2nd gear at least in their normal modes. Many of these cars also don't even show the current gear in automatic mode, so you don't know. Perhaps, Mercedes is just giving too much information here by showing the current gear in the normal models. I'm aware of the complaints surrounding the transmission in the C43, but in general I'm actually not a big fan of the ZF8, especially not in more performance oriented models. I'm specifically not a fan of torque converters. I think the C43 is just very aggressive with the torque converter lookup clutch to give an experience closer to the C63 which is using a wet startup clutch instead of a torque converter.

W205C43PFL

Yup, it all makes sense, perhaps OP should really just put a sticker on the gear number like the other post said and call it a day if it is inducing so much stress for him.

W205C43PFL

but... I am not only talking about the C43 transmission superswiss. As I heard complaints from my MB friends of the W205 C300, W213 E400, E450, W222 S500, S560, W223 (on the forum for the W223 as I don't have any friends with a W223 yet) MB and AMG both having jerky shifting, hesitation or straight up slip.

Edit: I didn't mention the AMG models some of my friends experienced "problems" with the transmission because I guess that is what you want in a performance vehicle (to feel every shift and feel everything on the road)... but I guess you shouldn't have to deal with that on a W222 S63 which my friend ended up selling.

blizzard12

Don't get me started on the 2017 G7 transmission in the W205 C300. I've never driven a bigger load of crap! That was the reason why I traded in my previous C300.

superswiss

Maybe so. My experience with the regular 9G is limited to loaners, and they all drove super smooth. Some of them I drove for several weeks. So not sure how much these complaints are of general nature or are actually specific issues with some of the cars, or an unfortunate adaptation due to an inconsistent driving style. I have noted this before. One of the main reasons I often drive in manual mode is that I don't want my transmission to be confused between my moderate casual driving style and my spirited driving style, so whenever I drive spirited I put it in M and shift myself, so my transmission has pretty much exclusively adapted to my casual driving style. To that extent for example when I first got my C63, it aggressively downshifted all the way to 1st gear when coming to a stop, which was jerky, but after a while it stopped doing that and now it only downshifts all the way to 2nd, and then only goes into first once I've come to a complete stop for a second or so. If I don't come to a complete stop, it remains in 2nd, so I often continue in 2nd gear after just a brief stop like a 'California stop'. Basically as long as there is still some momentum in the drivetrain it doesn't go into 1st anymore.

W205C43PFL

I see and yes I remember you mentioning that (putting your car in manual to avoid the TCU learning behaviour) in your previous posts on a different thread.

W205C43PFL

I heard about that, which is sad because the 7G-TRONIC is way more "developed" and was on the market for a way longer time (so they had enough time to iron out bugs) than the newish 9G-tronic

Elvisfan0108

With all due respect, I can’t believe this thread has 64 posts because OP has a problem with starting in 2nd gear.

superswiss

Slow-news-day

W205C43PFL

Ah 64, a magically number. That explains why MB has 64 ambient light colours. I guess the W223 has more though.
OP's thread reminds me of a thread (although OP's question at least makes more sense) while the following question doesn't make sense because they are trying to disable something that under normal circumstances it wouldn't enable. Yet, they want to stop such programmed behaviour to activate when all the criterias are met. (apologize for the wording of this sentence)
https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...ispreloading=1

Elvisfan0108

You’re right. That was crazier.

Ron P Baker

I like to start in 7th gear, any way I can make 7th my default starting gear? 🐢

blizzard12

It might be illegal, but that's exactly what the transmission does. MB calls it Glide Mode. I just learnt and tried that last night:


Here's the video:

After trying this I can confirm that mine does the same except it's not as much fun with the 4 pot as it would be with a C63.

superswiss

Correct, Glide Mode does that, however, the difference is that it can instantly re-engage if you step on the throttle to get out of an emergency. Very different if the driver deliberately does it, and then has to scramble to get the transmission back in gear in a potential emergency. It goes back to my point, that putting the transmission in N does not damage it, but you shouldn't do it.

blizzard12

Both your statements are true. I must have read about the potential damage in my previous W205s manual that had the 7G transmission. I couldn't find that same statement in my current car's manual. That along with the Glide Mode make me believe that coasting is safe for the transmission and that fixes my 1st gear issue in most part. I can just shift to N while approaching a red light and shift to D after coming to a stop.

superswiss

Seems a bit cumbersome, but as long as it works for you. Effectively, that's what one does with a manual car by stepping on the clutch and rolling to a stop. In some cars with a dual clutch transmissions like Ferraris, Porsche PDK and others, you can pull both paddles at the same time to put the transmission in neutral and then pull the upshift paddle to put it back in gear.

blizzard12

That is what I used to do when I drove manual cars except I shifted into neutral, too not just depressed the clutch.

Have you tried that with MB? Maybe it's a feature that is already built in and we don't know about.

superswiss

I have tried it. AMG reserves it for different functions. In the past, this is how you engaged launch control, and in the new AWD AMGs it's how you decouple the front wheels and engage drift mode.