Hi All, not sure if anyone had this problem with C43 but I'd like to share the problem associated with the transmission on my car. Hope you don't mind.

I purchased C43 a couple months ago fresh from the factory. Although there are 2 camps on the breaking in, I drove like a grandma for the first 1500km. Since the first few days that I received the car, I notice an intermittent jerkiness with a loud bang form the transmission when driving to a stop at low speed. The gear might be adjusting itself, I thought. At 3000km, the symptom occurred 4 times in total. The noise around the driver-side door started to develop as if an internal wire was dangling and hitting the internal of the door. I decided to bring the car in to the dealer and what happened next was a bit of a heartbreaking for me.

First they solved the door noise by putting more insulation which seems simple enough and no big deal for me. Then they moved on to check the transmission. The dealer performed some test drive and was able to replicate the symthom. They found it happened at low speed when the gear shift from 3 to 2 but there is no fault code. Red flag was sent to Mercedes Benz Thailand (MBTH). The dealer received instruction from MBTH "NOT TO DRIVE THE CAR" and told them to inspect the gear fluid if there is any metal residue. The fluid turns out clear and no metal residue was found. The dealer informed me that everything should be ok but they had to wait for MBTH to let them release the car. To my surprise, MBTH further instructed the dealer to collect engine parameters via their computer system (not quite sure what it is called) and send the data collected to MBTH for further analysis. A week past (and my C43 was sitting idly at the dealer), MBTH further instruct the deal to replace the "Valve Body". The part will have to be air-freight which would take another 2-3 weeks. I was informed that once they replace the part, they will test drive it and get MBTH to approve to release the car which could take, perhaps, a week. All work are done under warranty but it's quite nerve wrecking considering it's only 2 months old.

So to date, my new C43 has been parking at the dealer for 2 weeks now and will be so for at least another month. Hopefully they would be able to fix it once and for all. Has anyone had any problem with their C43 transmission? Does this sound like a complicated fix? I tried the search but found no similar issue relating to the valve body. Thanks.

 

Considering MBTH are taking good care of you, I'd wait this out and see whether the problem is fixed. If everything works fine, you're good to go. I do hope you got something nice to drive in the meantime...

 

Definitely unfortunate, but it seems they're doing the right thing. I'd rather have the car sit for a month and get fixed than drive around with a transmission grenade sitting next to me. Keep us posted on how it turns out.

 

Just a quick update. The new valve body now arrived at the dealer and they are replacing it as we speak. The programming and test drive will be performed later this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, the dealer got me a E350 hybrid as replacement car. Nice place to be in as a cruiser.

Will keep you all posted. Really do hope I get my Coupe back sometime this week.

 

Got a call yesterday from the dealer that the car is ready to go. So far the valve body has been replaced and they fixed the noise coming from the driver door. Base on my short drive back home last night and coming to work this morning, the jerkiness of the downshift is gone (hopefully for good). The noise at the door was also gone! Couldn't be happier. All done under warranty of course.

Not quite sure what went wrong with the original valve body though. The dealer said they had to hook the car up with their computer and send 'data' to MBTH for proper analysis which MBTH then concluded that replacement of the valve body was necessary. They have also update the 'software' to be of the latest version. Apart from the disappearance of the intermittent jerkiness, I do not notice any difference.

Happy driving everybody.

 

Let's hope your problems are fixed for good and you can now enjoy the car. Enjoy...

 

We are having the same problem with our AMG 43, 2019 same exact.

 

*wrong thread

 

Hi there, MilinJ

Happy holidays!

I really need your advice, I notice you have a 2017 C43 and you are living in Thailand but I have this exact same model year and I live in Canada. It makes this loud bang clunk sound every time I slowly come to a stop. I talked with my shop foreman and they said that I need to stomp on the breaks to come to a stop to avoid this behaviour and they indicated it was driver error on the work order and NFF (No-fault detected) putting all the blame on me. It is obvious I am being bullied. I know we don't live in the same country but any advice you can provide me will help a lot.

Thanks for your help!

Also, anyone that lives in Canada that understand how Mercedes-Canada and the dealerships works or have any advice please reply.
Finally, last but not least anyone that doesn't live in Canada but have advice on what I could do moving forward, please reply. Thanks everyone!

I wish you all happy holidays!

 

Why don't you try a different dealership? and what do you mean by "I am being bullied"?

 

Well to be fair bullied might not be the right word.
But what I intended to express is just that they think I don't know anything and find excuses not help me and put the blame on me

 

Which dealership?

 

@stockbmw

Good question!

It is a dealership that is not part of the Toronto Retail Group of MB Canada corporate so they are privately owned that is why they try to avoid costly repairs as possible.

That being said, they shouldn't have to pay for any repairs as Mercedes Canada should pay for the warranty items. So, I don't know why they did what they did.

I won't mention the name of the dealership as I still hope they will work with me to solve the issues, even though it doesn't seem too well so far but who knows how things will turn out better give it a try first.

I will mention them if they aren't willing to work with me at the end, so no one falls victim of it. I just don't want to affect their reputation unless they truly deserve the bad reputation.

I will let you know if that's the case.

The lesson so far for me is, stick with dealerships that is owned by Mercedes Canada.

I appreciate your recommendations on the other thread and will for sure drive that extra 200 KMs if my current dealership is unwilling to work with me.

Thanks again stockbmw

 

Hi there - Did you ever get this issue fixed?

I think my C43 coupe (Also in Toronto, Canada) has the same issue. I have honestly been less than impressed with the transmission of this car. I love absolutely everything else about it, but if it could just have a buttery smooth gearbox like the C300 or even A3, it would be a dream.

 

Good day Muskokamarc, thanks for your question.

Nope but I opened a TIPS case but to no avail. I kind of accepted the car the way it is right now, I do too hate the characteristic of the transmission but it is a reliable transmission just that the coding MB written in the TCU is rather "interesting", it can never be a C300 transmission though because it is tuned differently and with the tuning of the C300 transmission, it will never fit the overall characteristic of a C43.

Not sure when did you last bring the vehicle in for updates but the latest updates performed by the dealership should be able to help a little. forum member GWSHARK recommended me to go to MB Markham and look for a service advisor named Cornell, he should be able to help you out. Cornell was recently promoted to service manager from service advisior. While forum member stockbmw recommended me to go to MB Maple. Try going to both dealerships, both are recommended. I got a couple of things (although not all) fixed by going to both of these dealerships and I can't be thankful enough to both forum members in recommending them to me as I have the worse experience ever I had with any car dealership with MB Newmarket.

 

I am facing the same problem with my 2017 c43. What would you advice?

 

Could you elaborate what issues you are having with your 2017's transmission?

 

Initially had a very aggressive Sport+ jerk/rocking, went into MB Manhattan to get this addressed. August 2021, they did a bunch of tests (Ultrasonic, leak test, flush etc) they also opened a PTSS case with mbusa, vehicle was in the shop for a good 4 weeks. Miles on the car was 27k. What they tried to "Fix" broke something I think- now I see a new 3-2 jerk in comfort mode which never existed. (Speed sensor was broken apparently- this was fixed/replaced) the 3-2 jerk still exists but no codes are on the xentry system. Foreman took a testdrive and confirmed that it was jerking. They did some adaptation reset and powertrain update. Got back the car- drove for around 800 miles as told by them so that the transmission learns and adapts to my driving. Problem still exists.
Went back again addressing this- Foreman testdrove with me and tried to blame it on my "Driving style". I asked them that they need to fix this since they broke something that was absolutely fine. They said a case will be opened with mbusa, 2 weeks in, the manager calls me and says that they heard back from mbusa, they wanted to start by replacing the valve body, see if its fixed, then they might have to go into the torque converter and maybe replace the entire tranny itself, said that these aren't covered under warranty. (3k -12k) When I asked the case number where they interacted with mbusa, the manager said that they had no case/reference number. Mine is a 2017 c43, this is a Canadian car I bought locally in NYC in June2021. Warranty expired a month ago- per MB records the Extended Limited warranty from CA was still visible on their system at that time, at which point they took the car in the first time to fix the sport+ issue. Really frustrated, car is still in shop. They have given me a loaner. Someone (Manager- most likely) has changed the stories on the invoices from then and the new ones (Softcopies they sent to me on request) are a bit different from the old ones. Any way that an audit log can be obtained upon escalating this to the Regional Manager? I am awaiting mbusa's call- trying to address this issue on this front as well.

 

Did you consider hiring an attorney, especially that you stated they broke something that is working fine and is unwilling to restore it back to factory spec under warranty?

 

Tried responding to your private message, sorry I think there is a bug. Thank you for your response. Yes, I have already sent over the invoices to a lawyer who is reviewing the case. The speed sensor might have been damaged in a pothole (I have the 19 inch wheels and they are rough). This shouldn't have to affect the tranny. Also, any pointers on the changed invoice story by the manager? This I am sure of coz the new ones are missing a ton of info from the original one and that is just unprofessional and illegal I am assuming.

 

Hmmm I see, no worries on the PM side of things.

Hmmm is that what the dealership said, the speed sensor is damaged from the pothole?

I don't have any legal advice neither I am qualified to be giving any on the changed invoice, I am sure your attorney will be able to answer that question though. From common sense and from a customer's point of view in the way you described it, the dealership is definitely wrong if they tried to hide things by changing things.

 

Not legal advice, just curious as to how I can tackle this situation given all the details. I should be enjoying my car and not running back and forth the shop. Your thoughts around the whole situation and the annoyingly bothering 3-2 jerk shift in comfort mode?

 

When the transmission jerking happens, do you hear any sound at all, is the feeling dramatic like does it feel like the vehicle brakes while it does the jerk?

Since you have already opened a PTSS case then I don't have much left to recommend you to be honest. However, you could consider asking people on the official private lounge, the moderator there can also follow up with you, you could contact MB Germany directly, you could also try a different dealership but since you have a legal representative, I think they are at their best position to help you at this point.

Since I am in Canada so we have different laws, for example your country has lemon laws and MBUSA can do a buyback, we don't and MB Canada has no reason to do any buy backs. MB Manhattan as far as I remembered is a corporately owned dealership by MBUSA so I was surprised that you are not getting much support from them as there is no need of an approval on work from MBUSA (or at least the process is more straightforward unlike privately owned dealerships).

Not really trying to defend them or anything, driving style does affect the vehicle's transmission behaviour but I don't think in your particular case the driving style is the main cause. Modern MB transmissions does adapt to a driver's driving style to a certain degree, it adapts to it differently in all three driving modes, comfort, sport and sport+ so it is always advisable to have a leisurely drive in comfort so you are not confusing the transmission and only drive in a sporty manner in the appropriate mode unless you actually want the vehicle to behave in a sporty manner while you are in comfort mode all the time, and therefore it will learn to adapt to that. For that same reason, you don't want to put the vehicle in sport+ while you are in stop and go traffic for example.

Does the 3-2 downshift jerk happens all the time or occasionally? Did it happen when the transmission skipped gears when downshifting (for example 9-8 and then 7 to 5, this is normal behaviour btw especially if you are trying to come to a stop quickly) or from 7-6-5-4-3-2?

You could try this, use temporary manual mode by upshifting or downshifting yourself using the paddle shifters and see if it does the jerk or jolt you are experiencing. Reason why I suggested this is because when you shift manually, the computer doesn't have to predict what you want to do afterwards (like if you might be slowing down or accelerating, what downshifting manually means just that, you want the transmission to downshift and purely downshift so there is no confusion, the vehicle doesn't need to think for a while, maybe the driver wants to suddenly accelerate so should I hold the gear for a little longer, and until the last minute then downshift resulting this jerking feeling?). The jerking could also happen in a situation of which If you are coming to a stop and the traffic suddenly moves on (you immediately let go of the brake while it is downshifting and then press the gas pedal, the transmission does hesitate and therefore will jerk a little as it processes the information and start upshifting again.)

Another thing you could try is resetting the transmission adaptation via Xentry. For Xentry, you could find an independent shop that has Xentry to perform it for you but since you already escalated to your lawyer, I say wait for their response. Edit: Reading back to your original post, you stated you have already performed the reset, nevermind on that. By the way, when was the last ATF flush?

 

Transmission software updates do change the transmission behvaiour, these updates could be because of recalls or even regulations, other times are because of complains like transmission jerking. I am not sure which update you have but this update I have on my 2017 resulted in more frequent downshifts to 1st gear even in comfort mode than before when there is a slight incline, the bunny hop I call it that you first described ("Initially had a very aggressive Sport+ jerk/rocking") (and was probably the reason why you brought the vehicle in for the first place) is less frequent but honestly that personally didn't bother me knowing the 1st gear is short compared to gear 2 which makes the throttle super sensitive.

 

They did the ATF flush in the first visit in August, not sure which update they did on the transmission, it doesn't go to gear 1 in comfort. The bunny hop you mentioned, happens sometimes and not all the time. Also, steady 30-40 mph on a gradual steep and upon approaching a steeper incline (Upon slowing down a bit and pushing the gas), the vehicle jerks when it goes from 3-2 and no other gears has this issue.