cntlaw

Have read a lot about gear shifts here, still a couple of questions if someone can point me to the right answers. Just done 1500km on the C55, hope it is now time to be able to stress the lower gears to high revs and try out the real AMG power No doubt I am still behacing as a supercar newbie.

The problem is being with the Speedshift in M mode.

1. Does it keep a gear from upshifting no matter how high the revs is ?

2. As experienced, I can not manually upshift at lowe speed. ie. I could not manually up shift the gear from 3rd to 4th under 50-60 kmh. I cannot manually upshift the gear from 4th to 5th if less than 70kmh. Is this really true?

3. About downshifting, even in M mode, the gear will automatically downshift to lower gears when the car is slowing down. Until the car almost stops , it is shifted to the 1st gear. Does this happen because of the car is at low speed, or is it because the car is cornering?

4. I have heard many say the breakin period is 5000km , 1500km is only a minimum. What harm will be made if I start to stress the gearbox right after its first 1500km? ( I am still a bit conservative to stress the revs at this time )

5. As the user manual says, the max.speed at 3rd gear is 160kmh, has anybody tired this speed at 3rd gear ? I also presume at M mode, the 3rd gear will never uphift to 4th even the car reaches 160kmh, is this true ?

6. When test out the 0-160km timing, does it mean we never need to upshift to 4th gear in order to achieve the max. performance ?

Excuse me these are not easy questions for me to ask as I am no technical with cars

7. Why at M Mode , when the car is slowing down, the auto shifting from 3rd to 2nd is not as smooth as when in C/S mode ? Anyone expereinced this?

8. Is the C32 / E55 Speedshift same design as C55 ?

cnt

DbleNckel

this is what I experienced so far....not to say that I've familiarize myself w/ the program that well...

1. it holds that gear even when you're in the red until you click (+) to upshift...

2. it will not allow you to upshift if you're in too low of a mph range for that specific gear (e.g. 10mph and attempting to shift to 5th) same goes w/ downshift (90mph and attempting to shift to 2nd) I think it's a safe guard, my buddy's M3 w/ SMG does the same thing

3. if you don't downshift and start slowing down(braking/let off gas) it will automatically downshift for you to the next gear and continue to decease in gears everytime rpms hit 1250rpm (e.g. going 40mph in 4th gear, let off the gas or brake, as speed/rpm decreases and rpm needle hits 1250rpm, automatically dwnshifts to 3rd, speed/rpm continues to decrease, rpm needle hits 1250rpm again, shifts to 2nd and so on). any time you come to a complete stop no matter what gear you're in, in "M" mode, the computer sets you to 1st (same in M3 w/ SMG)......does not downshift to 1st during cornering only to the appropriate gear at that mph

4. not sure, per my sticker on upper right corner on windshield it says 1000 miles break-in...doesn't specify if its for engine or for the tranny

5. I've come close to 100mph redlining in 3rd ...and NO it will not upshift even if you're in the RED ZONE!!!

6. see #5

7. same experience here, only in the downshift in "M" mode from 3rd to 2nd is it not as smooth (jerky) as the rest of the gears.. not sure why compared to C or S mode....

8. My friend's 03' C32 speedshift is not the same, it doesn't let her hold it in the RED, it upshifts right before you reach it and it's not as quick in response when you change gears...not sure of the E55....I think ours is the first rollout of the new "M" mode in the Speedshift where it will NEVER upshift even if you're pass the redline until you do...if you look at the Owner's Manual it even warns you that it doesn't and it is not reccommended to keep the RpMS in the red!!! perhaps they will start using this same Speedshift programs for AMG models moving forward....

CNTLAW hope this helps you!! happy driving....

cntlaw

DbleNckel

Appreciated your time and patience to enlighten me this speedshift puzzle.
Look like I did expereince some of the cases you pointed out. It will take a while to digest .....since I only did try out its speed up to 160kmh fror a few seconds


I am away from home on business, so I would not see my new baby for a while. I shall let me wife to go through the break-in further.

Cheers
cnt

speedybenz

Some of this is interesting to me even though I have a 1999, C43. My tranny if shifted manually will not change up a gear, even if you hard into the rev limiter.

Jeff

cntlaw

This happened truly to me that the jerky only felt strong when the tranny automatically downshift fromn 3 to 2 in M mode . I did not feel this strong jerky when I was in C or S mode - that I am sure the auto downshift still happens under C and S modes.
I suspect under M mode , such 'auto downshifting' from 3 to 2 happens earlier i.e. at a higher speed than the C or S mode.
That's why most of the times, I felt the jerky in M mode.
I know I have yet to test out more to prove that...

cnt

cntlaw

may be.....the differences of shifting timings are really when the cars are at lower speeds.

cnt