TModelle

Mine’s a 2019 Estate. This car has one of the jerkiest stock auto transmissions I’ve ever driven, both on up shifts and downshifts. Perhaps it might be strengthened at factory for the higher power. In the tuning industry we often strengthen auto transmissions and they are generally jerky as a result.

RichardCranium3

Unless they've re-tuned for '19 MY (which I doubt), the lowest gear the transmission should drop to without driver intervention is 2nd gear when in Comfort and Slippery modes. Not sure about S because I've never used it, but S+ is the only setting that should automatically allow a downshift in to 1st.

Allllllex

I had same issue in Comfort. I went to the closest MB service for repair. They also asked me that if it's only in S+. It is ok so far. Mine is around 5600miles. I bought on April.

HotPotJ

It's gotten better and you don't notice the jerking in Comfort now? I only have 700+ miles on mine as of yesterday. Did you adjust anything along the way?

AMGiggity

Transmission shifting should be very smooth in Comfort. I am not familiar with the breaking process of a brand new car; can you ask your (or any) dealer to test drive a brand new C43 similar to yours to see if they are also jerky?

HotPotJ

That’s what I’m going to do tomorrow. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they are not. But I’ll definitely ask why my 43 can’t behave the same.

HotPotJ

See the clip attached. It’s in Comfort mode and I also tested it in Slippery mode. Not sure if this is something new in 19 MY or just mine...

TModelle

Maybe do a reset?

Did you select P when coming to a stop in that video?

zibby43

Did you select Park in the video clip you shared?

3.Pointed.Czar

If you wanted a similar ride, then you should have gone for the C300. Ive felt a difference coming from my 3 series where you can drive it mindless and it will never jerk; to my 2019 C43 coupe, but I just adjusted the way I interact with the throttle and no jerking since.
Like someone above said, you have to smooth into the throttle at low speeds and be decisive at fast speeds. It makes you actually pay attention and respect it as a performance car as opposed to a cruiser C300.

HotPotJ

I didn’t select Parking or anything at the stop. My car is definitely behaving a little differently. I just test drove another new C43 coupe today and it was smooth as hell. Really have no clue why it’s like this now...

AMGiggity

My transmission is very smooth in eco and comfort. Even in S I barely feel the shift. In S+ it gets a little nutty but that's expected. Definitely something wrong with your car. may be an easy fix like firmware flash or something.

evoi19

You should try an e46 m3 with an SMG or even better was the e60 m5 with SMG LOL those were pretty horrible at times. After a few thousand miles on the c43 it's gotten better though.

TModelle

E46 M3 in normal mode I don’t recall it being jerky. The C43 is jerky in Comfort mode. E92 M3 DCT is pretty good too in comparison. At least in my experience.

evoi19

DCT was so much nicer than the SMG's. Smoother at low speeds with much more reliability.

TModelle

Resurrecting an old thread here cos I want to clarify something.

Am I correct in saying that 9G-tronic transmissions in pre-facelift C43’s start in 2nd gear in Eco, Comfort and Sport modes, but 2019 models start in 1st gear in Comfort, Sport and Sport+ modes? Or did I get this wrong.

stockbmw

Mine still stays at 2nd in comfort. But the car still wants to jerk me when slowing down to stop even in comfort. The car pulls you back very noticeablely because when slowing at 20kmh to 5kmh is consistent, but car wants to do 100% engine braking at last minute and my body pulls me forward when stopping unless I pull my foot off the brake to 10% instead of 50% while coasting to stop.

TModelle

What year is your C43?

stockbmw

2018

TModelle

That’s what I’ve been trying to ascertain. The 2017-2018 9G-tronic starts in 2nd gear in Eco/Comfort/Sport modes. The 2019 9G starts in 1st in Comfort/Sport modes. And there is no Eco mode for 2019.

So, this thread has been confusing because there is a mix of 2017/2018 owners and 2019 owners experiencing different things and having different points of view, thinking that the other guy doesn’t know what he’s taking about. And it’s down to the 2019 starting in 1st all the time.

TModelle

I've read this thread thoroughly again and have figured it out. Here's a summary.

alexasa, RichardCranium3, stockbmw, jonathan358, zibby43, munis and AMGiggity are all on 2017/2018 9G-tronic transmissions that start in 2nd gear unless in Sport+, and they don't complain about jerking/bucking or rough starts in Eco/Comfort/Sport, and pay more attention to throttle application in Sport+ where it starts in 1st.

HotPotJ, evoi19, Candyman19, 3.Pointed.Czar and TModelle (me) are on 2019 9G-tronic transmissions that start in 1st gear in all modes from Comfort and up (no Eco mode) , and are all complaining about jerky starts and poor shifting even in Comfort mode.

The programming for 2017/2018 is clearly different than the 2019 models. It is no wonder that 2017/2018 owners can't agree with the points of view of the 2019 owners.

Baldur!

My 2020 model also starts from 1st gear in all modes, however I haven't observed any issues so far, even in S+, but this may still come, as I finished break-in period only yesterday .

RichardCranium3

Great on you for defining who has what, but it's still not an answer IMO. Those of us in the defacto "2nd gear start" camp can all go out and MAKE the jerking happen. That's the thing that's constantly overlooked. This isn't random. It can be induced at will.

Speaking for myself only here, I methodically played around to replicate the jerking, determined how and when it happens, and made a defined, conscious effort to change my behavior. I think Munis did the same, and I'm somewhat confident alexasa did as well. What about the '18 people? What have YOU physically done - not taken to the dealer to for a software update - to define your fleshy inputs in to the machine when the jerking happens? Getting sucked back to your seat is a two way street if you don't entirely move your foot away from the pedal.

I've never said the jerkiness doesn't exist, it's good, bad, a glitch, a feature or whatever wants to be said. I will stand my ground, however, that this is consequence of the low gearing that's more akin to moving in 1st gear in a manual car than anyone anticipates or has experience with. Some have stated they've driven manual tranny's before. Great. How proficient at it were you? I've been in cars with people that have driven a manual for years and are downright terrible at it. Other's who have NEVER put the car in to first gear because their grandpa said it was only needed to get started when towing something. They've never had the patience or been aware enough that they were doing anything wrong, or could be doing something different to smooth things out. Short of electronically neutering the throttle to a certain point, the gearing just is what it is, good bad, indifferent.

TModelle

What you're saying is that you can make the jerking happen in a 2nd gear start? Or does it only happen in 1st gear.

superswiss

FWIW, I've driven a C43 at the AMG Driving Academy. Granted it was on the track, but had to drive slowly in the pit lane with the car in S+. These are well run in specimens where the transmission has learned various driving styles. There was no discernible issue while slowly pulling away in the pit lane, or coming to a casual stop after the laps. The only negative impression I walked away with was that the stock brakes aren't up to the task. I have to say that the Mercedes transmission do an amazing job at learning one's driving style, but you have to be cooperative to some extent. One of the points our instructor made very early in the day is to use the proper driving mode for the situation at hand. For example he specifically said don't drive around town in S+. Use C and once you are on the highway or an open road then you can change to S+, but don't confuse the transmission algorithms by doodling around town in S+. Bad habits get learned by the transmission otherwise and the experience will be less than optimal.

I can share my experience with my C63S. Not exactly the same car, but the core of the transmission is the same. After I took delivery of it in Germany, it was definitely rough around the edges. Driving around town was jerky and not very pleasant. It's exaggerated in the C63S by the fact that it uses a clutch instead of a torque converter. For the next ~6000 miles I mostly did Autobahn and country road driving. Very little city driving. It learned well how I drive on the open road, but every time I got into the city it was still jerky. Then at around 6300 miles I dropped it off for shipping to the USA. Took possession of it again late September and have now driven an additional 2500 miles on my usual roads and taken it for some canyon runs on the weekend. At first it still had the same jerkiness around town, but here I'm doing more city-like driving and it clearly learned my city/town driving style over the last 2500 miles and has gotten fairly smooth now. There's still the inherent directness in the drivetrain from the fact that it uses a clutch, so if I mishandle the throttle it will be felt as a jolt in the drivetrain, but driven normally and skilled it's very smooth. My previous car with a dual clutch transmission learned to declutch in third gear when slowly coming to a stop. Pretty much how I do with manual transmission. The C63S still downshift all the way to 2nd gear, but it does it smoother now. Of course I have learned, too, and retrained my muscle memory so that's part of it. What it doesn't do anymore now is downshift all the way to 1st gear, unless I come to a full stop for about a second. I regularly pull away in 2nd gear now after brief stops. It does the same in manual mode. I can hold it in 2nd gear and pull away instead of going down all the way to 1st.

If I can impart one thing, use the proper driving mode for the situation and give the car enough time to learn how you drive. Don't confuse it by using S+ around town sometimes and C other times. I drive in C around town, and as soon as I hit the highway or an open road I put it in I*, which I've setup like S+, except with the suspension in comfort and the transmission in manual mode. I don't like the transmission shifting on me automatically on the highway. When I hit up a really fun road like the canyons I go to, then I put it in full S+. So really I think the important thing is let it learn properly in the right mode for the right situation. If you use S+ for spirited driving as well as driving around town, then it really doesn't know how you wanna drive in S+. You are teaching it two opposite ends of the spectrum that are not really compatible with each other.