VancouverC32

I have been finding that my car has been shifting more and more like a pontiac grand-am rather than a high priced German sports sedan that is supposed to have a crisp quick shift. I took my car in complaining about this and the dealer said that everything looks normal. I occasionally get a surge/slow sluggish shift as well, that the dealer has not been able to recreate when they had the car. Is this normal?????? Can I get the computer reprogrammed for the 2002 shift pattern which I understand was much crisper?

Thanks in advance.

4sfed4

My 2002 C320 wagon does the same thing. I too have tried in vain to get the dealer to recognize the problem.

It will occasionally shift very sluggishly and other times it will slam the gear so hard its rediculous. There is definitely something wrong, but the dealer says they cannot find a problem (no codes) and we will have to wait until the problem appears all the time.

Good thing this car will be under warranty until the end of the lease And, its a good thing that the dealerhsip has loaner cars. As much as we like the car, the quality and reliability appears to be substandard for this class of vehicle and has resulted in an abnormal number of service visits.

m444

It does have adaptive shifting strategy, unfortunately. I would rather have manual control over how aggressive it shifts (more than S & W controls).

If you don't drive it hard for awhile, the shifts get sloppy. Drive it hard for a awhile and gets tighter.

I don't like this either, I would rather have it aggressive all the time. I can always switch it to W (wife mode), if I want it to be mellow.

I hope someone comes up with a way to turn off the adapative mode and force it into the aggressive mode.

Harris

Yeah, sounds like its the adaptive driving. This is one of the "feature" of the C32! You have to get used to it. What you should do is to slam it hard every morning when you roll out of the garage. Tell the computer that you are an aggressive driver and you mean business. Or every once in a while, take your car to Hwy99 for a drive. You can ask the dealer to reset the ECU, but the problem will come back after a while. From what I've heard, they've upgraded something in the '03 transmission module, it is supposed to be better than the '02.

430

Do you really recommend running the car hard before it is properly warmed up? Not something I would do to my personal car, at least if I was planning on keeping it for very long.

VancouverC32

My car is an 03 and my major problem is I am in traffic 70% of the time and when I ask it to downshift it laughs at me. I have tried punching it every so often, but then I look like a complete idiot moving a 1/4 block to the next pile of cars before everyone else. It would be nice if someone came up with an upgraded ecu for the transmission, as I would definitely buy that type of product. I would definitely not recommend this type of car for city driving.

s4iscool

Use the speedshift, control your downshifts and what gear you remain in.

s4iscool

That would make sense if our S was really a sport mode, but its not, its just Standard, while W is Winter mode.

MgnFicnT

mine did that when i first got it, but after a few days with me it has totally changed

s4iscool

i pulled the battery and let the codes clear out..havent had ay tranny issues since. check c32life.com for more info on this

rrf

Battery reset should help.
Using Speedshift to force a few upstifts will help too.

VancouverC32

I used to own a tiptronic Porsche. The Porsche used to go to the gear I selected instantaneously with a very crisp sharp shift (up or down). The C32 does not downshift very crisply, and the upshifts are like a sack of potatoes when it decides that it wants to shift. I find it easier to just let it shift most of the time unless I want to hold a gear, and I usually use 3 in the city. Is this normal? If I disconnect the battery to have it lose its memory, do I lose my 93 octane setting?

Harris

Who is your service advisor? And how long ago did you complain about the transmission? Did you buy the car brand new or used?

m444

Yeah it does shift like a sack of potatoes.

I had a Mustang, where I drilled the trans valve body plate, had the ECU reprogrammed and even with a 2500rpm stall converter, that thing snapped hard into gear. The harder you got into the trottle the harder it shifted. It was great, except the computer was too slow to keep up with the revs, after a downshift..

Most of the auto ECUs are just too slow to keep up, with a fast reving engine.

Had an S4, it shifted better than the Mercedes, but the throttle delay drove me nuts.

I bought the mercedes, because I wanted a performance automatic from the factory, that could keep up with the engine.

This adaptive shifting is for the birds, when one wants to do quick sprints, once in awhile on the street, most of the time the transmission is just plain lazy.

Don

s4iscool

Mine makes very snappy shifts when I get on it. When im cruising, it makes quick but seamless shifts...this is perfect adaptive auto tranny in my eyes. Get it checked out at another dealer, sounds like you got some issues.

VancouverC32

Got it new, serviced at Broadway location and only have 9000kms on it. It is a 2003.

TammamB

I had a similar problem with my '02 c240 when I first bought it. Although the tranny is 'adaptive' it would sometimes decide not downshift past 3rd even at a stop, and it stalled once (i'm surprised it even moved in 3rd gear from 0 mph most of the time).

Anyhow I told the dealer (who found no codes and ignored me until I stalled) and one of the mechanics said he had seen something like this so he fixed it. Something to do with the amount of torque (sensitivity? - mine was very manly and insensitive ) the tranny feels before deciding to shift.

Good Luck, like most things you have to follow up and put the smack down sometimes.

Enjoy,
TB

Harris

Shoot me an e-mail please, I'll give you some directions....

430

Harris, got anything good to share with the rest of us? I don't even bother to use the speedshift, as there is nothing speedy about it.

Harris

Oh....I was only going to give him a couple of names and ask him to beat the hell of out the service guys! No secrets!

If you really want the computer to adapt to a more aggressive "mode", like I said before, floor it in the morning, use 2nd and 3rd gear for most of the time in the first 20 blocks.

My take is: everything is under warranty, dont be afraid to abuse the transmission. It wont break down so easily. We have to believe in our AMGs! :p

PewterC32AMG

I have an '04 that I purchased last October. I have had nothing but praise for the transmission. It has crisp shifting - and totally leaves me satisfied as if I were driving a 6-speed again (former car was a Supra TwinTurbo). When I punch it, it immediately downshifts, but when I'm driving like an old lady, it's as docile as I expect it to be.

It sounds like there is a definite problem with your tranny.

MgnFicnT

i beat the **** out of my car on a daily basis