Gearbox Location: In Center ('09-'13) vs. Behind Steering Wheel ('14+)
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Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 422
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From: Central Jersey
2011 E550 Cab & 2015 ML400
Gear Shifter Location: In Center ('09-'13) vs. Behind Steering Wheel ('14+)
Personally I don't like it. I like it in the middle but I wonder if it's just because it's different and I'm not used to it.
I'm curious to hear from the people who own and gotten used to the newer Mercedes with their pros and cons of the gearbox being moved behind the steering wheel.
I'm curious to hear from the people who own and gotten used to the newer Mercedes with their pros and cons of the gearbox being moved behind the steering wheel.
Last edited by Kevin9664; Jun 22, 2016 at 04:39 PM.
Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 148
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2013 E550 Cabriolet; 2004 CLK500 Cabriolet Designo (sold)
I remember in the mid '70s that US Automakers really started moving gear shift levers to the console and I thought it really tacky. Luxury cars always had them on the column. Fast-forward 40 years and I find that I hate that Mercedes moved the gear shift lever back to the column. Luckily, I have a 2013 E-550. Last year for the console placed shifter.
Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 97
Likes: 2
From: Idaho
2015 E550 Coupe
I find it amusing that there is much consternation regarding the shifter being moved from the center console to the steering column. Do you really need to have it on the center console to shift from Park to Forward or to Reverse? You would have a valid argument if the shifter for a six-speed manual transmission was on the column. How about complaining that the high beam switch is not on the floor? Or there are no wing windows? Just my opinion.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 639
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From: Suburban Phila., PA
2012 E350 Coupe
Many of us older drivers grew up impatiently waiting to get our hands on a high-performance coupe with a “four on the floor” or better. The floor shifter became one of the important elements differentiating a “sporty” car from its mundane sedan cousins and from many less sexy coupes with column shifters.
Hence, some of us who now purchase Mercedes cars, perhaps especially the coupes/cabs, kind of view these cars similarly. And I suppose there are plenty of younger drivers who also feel that way, although I’ve hardly done a survey. And of course an equal number or more who probably have no problem whatsoever with column shifting.
There’s no denying that a column shifter is functional and that opening up the space where the shifter once sat in the center console to other uses makes good sense. Witness the beautiful new interior of the 2017 E Series sedans, which I suppose will be duplicated in the future E coupes/cabs that are reported to finally be based on a genuine E platform, not a shrunken C class chassis.
But for some of us who had their early thrills and chills physically thrusting that floor shifter forward, jerking it back and flooring that Mustang or Camaro or you name it - or who never had such a car but had a tamer one with a floor shifter and fantasized that they did when they drove it - the visual and tactile experience of pressing a tab on a steering column is just not the same. Although the results of doing that these days can be pretty darn impressive.
Hence, some of us who now purchase Mercedes cars, perhaps especially the coupes/cabs, kind of view these cars similarly. And I suppose there are plenty of younger drivers who also feel that way, although I’ve hardly done a survey. And of course an equal number or more who probably have no problem whatsoever with column shifting.
There’s no denying that a column shifter is functional and that opening up the space where the shifter once sat in the center console to other uses makes good sense. Witness the beautiful new interior of the 2017 E Series sedans, which I suppose will be duplicated in the future E coupes/cabs that are reported to finally be based on a genuine E platform, not a shrunken C class chassis.
But for some of us who had their early thrills and chills physically thrusting that floor shifter forward, jerking it back and flooring that Mustang or Camaro or you name it - or who never had such a car but had a tamer one with a floor shifter and fantasized that they did when they drove it - the visual and tactile experience of pressing a tab on a steering column is just not the same. Although the results of doing that these days can be pretty darn impressive.
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From: Sweden, Stockholm
W222 S63L, ML/GLE350
I preefer steering column... gives a smoother look to the centerconsole with all that nice wood paneling and leaves much storage space for sunglasses and cupholders and so on....
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Super Member
Joined: Dec 2014
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From: Northern NJ
2015 E550 Coupe
I really don't care where the gear selector is located. As others have said, decades ago it was standard for the gear selector to be on the steering column. Then it was moved to the center console. Now it is back to the steering column in the case of the MB E class. I care far more about what is under the hood and how smooth it drives than where the gear selector is located. If I want to manually shift once in a while, that is what the paddle shifters are for.
Yeah I get it doesn't look "sporty", but if it is that big an annoyance to some, then there are always other models of MB to choose from. Besides MB may always do another refresh in a few years and change where they put the gear selector again. Thing's are always changing.
Yeah I get it doesn't look "sporty", but if it is that big an annoyance to some, then there are always other models of MB to choose from. Besides MB may always do another refresh in a few years and change where they put the gear selector again. Thing's are always changing.
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 842
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From: Northern NJ
2015 E550 Coupe
Super Member
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 639
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From: Suburban Phila., PA
2012 E350 Coupe
Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 97
Likes: 2
From: Idaho
2015 E550 Coupe
I agree with Paul. There are things that are important. There are others that are not.
I'll take the V8 TT, build quality, etc., over the location of the device used for selecting Drive, Reverse and Park.
I'll take the V8 TT, build quality, etc., over the location of the device used for selecting Drive, Reverse and Park.
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 319
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2014 S550, 2019 GTC Coupe
In the days when there was an mechanical linkage between the shift lever and the transmission, either manual or auto, it made sense to put it on the hump. Now that is electronic it can go anywhere you can reach it. Moving it to the column frees up space and looks cleaner. After all,how much shifting do you do in an auto transmission? Gear changes can be done with the paddle shifters which was taken from racing setups, read faster. This is my first automatic transmission and after 35 years of driving stick I love it. Don't fear all change, sometimes it is better than before!
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 29
Likes: 1
E250CGI AMG Coupe
I can't stand the column shift and I guess Mercedes knows that sports drivers hate it because the AMG cars have the shifter in the middle where it belongs. Well in the A45 etc anyway. I hope that they move away from the column shifter it is stopping me from upgrading personally.
Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 97
Likes: 2
From: Idaho
2015 E550 Coupe
mo11, I totally agree. Having a shifter on the console to go forward, reverse and park, is a qualifier for making a car "sporty," is an incredible assertion. Yugo's had console shifters, as did also Renault Dolphins. These were by no means "sporty" cars but apparently that location of the shifter would have qualified them, by some on this site, as "sporty." But
I'll take my 2015 E550 Coupe with the TT V8 and embarrassingly unsporting column shifter for my 7-speed automatic (what? an automatic) with paddle shifters any day.
I'll take my 2015 E550 Coupe with the TT V8 and embarrassingly unsporting column shifter for my 7-speed automatic (what? an automatic) with paddle shifters any day.
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Joined: May 2016
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2017 Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 Cabriolet, 2014 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S
Both my wife's CLS550 and my E550 Coupe have the gear selector on the column. I thought it was strange at first but you get used to it rather quickly.
Doesn't matter to me one way or the other. And FTR, I'm almost 50 years old.
It does kind of clean up the center console for operating other controls.
Doesn't matter to me one way or the other. And FTR, I'm almost 50 years old.
It does kind of clean up the center console for operating other controls.
