investinwaffles

Ok, so this is my first automatic car in a while and I just can't get used to the transmission. Never does what I want it to do.

Half of the time I want to do a nice smooth pull, and the car ends up downshifting basically right into redline then needing to shift again. Very distracting and slower than just rolling into boost. Not to mention wear and tear

My car did not come with a C-S-M mode button (just C-S), is there any way to code in the manual mode? And how would one go about doing that?

drjohn08318

Hello: Please tell us a little more about your car. I don’t use the M in my 2016 CLS, but her auto transmission always seems to do exactly what it is I need her to do. Not being a mechanic, I’m curious about why you’re disappointed with the C or S modes. I know you’ve described part of it, but is your transmission not functioning properly (I.e., mechanical issue)?

JDMSteven

Doubt it's mechanical issues, the 9 speed in my 2015 CLS550 AMG Sport Line is FANTASTIC for cruising and even passing and whatnot. I can virtually shift through the gears one by one from just modulating the throttle right. Lift off slightly and it'll upshift, and just the right amount of pressure to get it to drop a gear. However, when I really want to go for it, the Sport mode doesn't quite do the job, I always end up using manual mode. Mine's got 40k mi and it's CPO so no issues whatsoever.

Roop94

Yeah, I think it's all about how much pressure you apply to the pedal. It will downshift if the software thinks it's necessary. Like @JDMSteven said, I use the paddle shifters if I need to pass someone or for no reason haha.

I don't think there's much of a difference (maybe there is, idk) if you go with manual gears in S mode vs full M mode bc it will upshift on the redline if you're speeding.

Idklol69

Yes you can code in manual. When you hit the paddles, what does it even do then? MBhouse.ca has the M mode for $75 (it may be a bit more + you have to pay for shipping of the OBD dongle). I'm getting sport+ (Agility) coded in, and have already paid for it. They reassured me that the coding is for their agility is the exact same as sport+ in Mercedes vehicles that have sport+, it's just the instrument cluster won't display sport+ unless you swap it out for lets say a CLS63/E63 one.

Idklol69

2015 is the 7G Tronic transmission, and then the 2016's got the 9 speed. I also thought that sport mode doesn't always do the job and it could be a bit more aggressive which is why I'm getting sport+ coded in along with digital gauges that show the oil temp like the AMG menu/coolant temp/hp and torque readings on the screen.

investinwaffles

Hey thanks for the info guys!!
I forgot to mention that I have a 2012 CLS550, non AMG package (hence no "M" mode).
It is not that I have any "problems" with the transmission, but one example is when I am pulling onto the highway I might want to just roll into the throttle while holding 3rd gear. If I have manually selected "3rd" while in sport or comfort mode, and I push the accelerator pedal a bit too far it will then downshift back to 2nd which I do not like. I would just like to manually tell the transmission what I want instead of it trying (and failing) to guess correctly).

Looks like MBHouse might be able to help, hopefully I can get the coding remotely somehow as I live in FL and Canada is a fairly long drive, haha.

The AMG menu (showing coolant temps and such) is definitely something I would like as well, possibly the updated color scheme too - the brown and yellow color scheme is very dated looking.

Thank you for the info!! I would have never found them without you guys pointing me in the right direction.

Roop94

What does Sport+ offer compared to the regular Sport or even the Manual option?
And how much was it to get those features on the screen?


Since it is an automatic transmission, to begin with, it will down-shift if the system thinks it's necessary based on the load on the pedal. I normally drive in S mode but will put in M once in a while. In either mode, it will down-shift if I floor it and the RPMs are not sufficient. I think if the RPM is 4k+, it will not downshift. And even on M mode, once you reach near redline, it will automatically shift and won't down-shift at high rpm no matter how many times you pull the shift paddles. So it's quite different than the stick shift haha.

Idklol69

So I watched a video of a 2016 C400 doing POV drives somewhere in Europe, going into sport/sport+, and basically, sport+ holds the gears lower, whereas sport mode tends to shift quicker than sport+. People who have both say that sport+ is VERY aggressive, whereas sport mode sometimes lacks aggressiveness. I saw a video of a vehicle that had Agility (A mode, which is the exact same as sport+), and when they were in eco, they switched to sport and noticed a downshift of one gear, and when switching to A (sport+), it downshifts twice. A (sport+) also starts in gear 1 like sport mode does. So to sum it up, faster shifting, holds gears lower, downshifts more aggressively, and responds quicker. I've asked a couple of people irl and they say sport+ is much more aggressive than sport as well. I was told by Mbhouse that on the instrument cluster, it can't display sport+, but they said if I were to swap it out for a CLS63 one (they have sport+), it would show as sport+, and not A mode. It doesn't really bother me though I guess.

I have an appointment tomorrow with them, and they're going to Remote Desktop and code the vehicle. They ship out a device called OpenPort, which is like $20 USD, you connect it to your OBD2 port and via USB to your computer.

Roop94

Hmm, interesting. Now I wonder how the Agility mode (sport+) shifts compare to the Manual mode. I just did some digging right now and Sport+ is pretty identical to Manual - holding gears to the redline/quicker shifting than C/S, etc. But if you have the Manual mode, I think Sport+ doesn't give you an upper hand over Manual mode or vice-versa.
I could be wrong. I dunno. What sucks is the lag or downshifting of gears when you floor it and the RPMs aren't high enough to match the power load on WOT. With a stick shift, that's not an issue lol Compromises.

Dblok1113

I think it’s time to get sports+
@Investinwaffles let us know how it goes please