I drove a new 03 S55 last night. To my surprise, the Fingertip shifters worked even with the transmission in automatic mode. The Fingertip shifters in my 03 CL55 only work with the tranny in maunal mode. I wonder why this is different between models?

Hmmm... It isn't supposed to work unless the transmission is in the "M" mode as you said. Sounds like the S55 has a problem.

My 03 CL55 works only in Manual mode, but the auto mode overrides depending on speed/rpm. I almost always drive in the S, auto mode. Full acceleration runs in the auto mode with A/C off. Occasional downshifts in auto mode with center console shifter works fine. Just tap to the left for downshifts. Very easy and quick.

My friend who bought the S55 has our dealer checking into this issue. The transmission works fine, but the fingertip shifters are always active. Strange...

Just got my S55, and my shift buttons work on the auto mode also. It's actually really convenient since you don't have to change to manual mode to use the buttons. They may have made a programing change recently. If this is the reason for the difference, maybe you could go and get a software upgrade.

If the new programming leaves the manual buttons on, I would find it distracting because of their position on the steering wheel. Also, when cornering, the buttons are not easily to use, especially when in a sharp turn. There must be a way to leave the transmission in auto mode with the apparently newe programming.

victoryroad,

Actually, I find having the shift buttons active in auto mode really helpful, there's a large hill that I have to drive over and since I'm still breaking in the car, I don't like lugging the car in 4th going up the hill in auto mode. A few quick taps of the shift button gets me into 3rd without having to go into manual mode first, and once I've crested the hill, 2 quick taps gets me back into full auto mode. I've never had any problems hitting any of the buttons during normal driving, quite easy to use, but I agree that they would be hard to use for anything other than mild turns.

Does your stick work in auto mode? Mine is active in any mode.

Pueo
I prefer to tap the shift left or right to upshift or downshift in S mode, rather than use the buttons on the steering wheel in M mode. Perhpas I should have said it that way in my earlier posts.
Interesting to note that the Motor Trend review of the SLR contains comment on the transmission and speed shift program that is basically the same, although tweaked a bit in the SLR, as the CL55 and SL55.