CLK55 AMG, CLK63 AMG (W208, W209) 2000 - 2010 (Two Generations)

Anyone else find the programming of the transmission annoying?

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Old Aug 23, 2016 | 03:02 AM
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Anyone else find the programming of the transmission annoying?

Just curious how everyone else finds the logic in these gearboxes. I find the more aggressively I want to drive the worse the response.

For example if I am screaming around a 90 degree corner it will go from 4th to 3rd and then "bog" as much as a 5.5L V8 could unless I floor it and make it go to 1st or 2nd to really move which if you are still easing out of the turn is usually a recipe for drifting.

Or if I am gently cruising around the same corner at low speed it will drop to 2nd for a quick get away. I am sure these cars have angular momentum sensors for the ESP....

On the straights I find it has a mind of its own. I can gently accelerate from a standstill and I end up doing 4-5000rpm before it changes to 2nd despite only needing the torque provided at 1200rpm. Then other times it can't change soon enough.

I have had the transmission rebuilt and adaptations and fluid changed/reset 3 times (not because of these quirks). No change in the entire ownership of the car. Not a complaint, I can easily use manual mode anytime or drive a manual car, just some observations.
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Old Aug 23, 2016 | 08:13 AM
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Are you sure they used all the AMG setup? My car wont shift in a hard corner at all.
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Old Aug 23, 2016 | 12:47 PM
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my car does not shift in a corner either...
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Old Aug 23, 2016 | 08:55 PM
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To clarify further, when I go round a corner at 50km/h (our speed limit in town) it stays in 4th. If I slow down a touch on a tighter corner but still going fast it will downshift to 3rd. I just thought that when cornering quickly especially in S mode they could have programmed it to go to 2nd for a nice quick progressive exit. I think the next car will need to have economy mode and S+ for me to switch between depending on mood.
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Old Aug 24, 2016 | 03:37 AM
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they make TCU tunes for your transmission. Contact us if interested. its about a 48 hour turnaround time.
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Old Aug 24, 2016 | 09:32 PM
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Thanks, unfortunately it is my only car and being outside the US I can't afford the downtime. I have read a few complaints with the earlier tunes, bogging with normal driving under low load, harsh changes etc, I presume these have been ironed out?
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Old Aug 24, 2016 | 11:30 PM
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clk and e coupe
Originally Posted by tw2
Thanks, unfortunately it is my only car and being outside the US I can't afford the downtime. I have read a few complaints with the earlier tunes, bogging with normal driving under low load, harsh changes etc, I presume these have been ironed out?
Some tuners have tcm's on the shelf they can send you with a core charge. Then you return yours after you receive the tuned one. So there is no downtime that way. It just ties up some of your cash during the process of returning yours to get your core fee back.

Last edited by CDM Motorsports; Aug 27, 2016 at 04:26 PM.
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Old Aug 25, 2016 | 04:32 AM
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I agree with most of tw2 observations


I find my box is very keen to shift up in the lower gears even under moderate acceleration. Under hard acceleration it changes normally. Oh and the ESP is very keen to cut in, I find it bogs down considerably with it in normal mode from a standing start and with it turned off it's wheel spin time...


In fact, do many folk shift manually? I don't, but I'm curious, perhaps I'm missing a good thing?
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Old Aug 26, 2016 | 05:39 AM
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I shift manually in about one trip every fortnight. I still find it is very delayed. I was surprised to learn that a large number of people manually shift in a C63 thread more or less everyday/ every journey, subjectively it seemed like 80% of them.
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Old Aug 27, 2016 | 02:28 PM
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Agreed to all of the above posts,
It is a lousy setup for a car of this nature.
There is a custom TCU builder in the E55 W211 Forum but it has yet to be released to us.
Eurocharged says they can control ESP but I want it to work when it is raining.
The adaptive strategy program must be deleted to have a daily driver ready to perform at will.
I like the W mode in traffic but that program would be better suited for track day full manual without any delay.

If it helps you folks out of area decide what to do on a DD. I picked up a used TCU on Ebay that im am going to reflash with OEM files STAR. Then I can get My TCU re-flashed by one of the vendors. I was miserable for some time but frequent resets seems to help.
PS: no Sodas, Coffee, Beer or Ladies on the shifter. Else Doomed
I shift manually often on the pike and twisties. The Delay, upshift and forced downshift is terrible. Transmission is clean and strong otherwise. Hmmm!!

The TCU resets easy in car.

Cheers, Gator

Last edited by GatorMB; Aug 27, 2016 at 02:43 PM. Reason: added content
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Old Aug 27, 2016 | 04:31 PM
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clk and e coupe
I have a different trans then you , mine is the 722.9 7 speed, my car 1/4 is no different if i leave it in drive or shift manually, now mine has been tuned and the shift adapts for downshifts are very aggressive.

I def would recommend getting a tune for the 5 speed, i understand being a daily driver its hard to have down time. So i would like for a tuner that has one on the shelf they can send you, or buy a used one to have sent out and tuned while you keep your original in the car.

I work with SpeeDriven allot, im not sure if they have ones on the shelf to send. I'm sure they will respond to this thread shortly
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Old Sep 4, 2016 | 06:17 PM
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I am pretty sure the 7G can be flashed with STAR.

I am finding out the 5 speed for W208 might require a passcode available from Mercedes only. To Flash on the bench as vendors can do requires tampering but we can not argue with success.
I will try though to upload to the used TCU. no promises.

Gator
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