Shifter question: Saw a 2000 E320 4 matic for sale. The shift selector had P,R,N,D1. and a switch at the upper left corner of the shift console. Couldn't tell what it was, curious if that could be a tiptronic transmission. Ever seen that before?

 

tiptronic feature, but the switch isn't what trips it. driver simply taps the
shift knob/lever left (shift down) or right (shift up).

 

The switch is for selection of Winter mode (W) or Sport mode (S). Basically winter mode starts in 2nd gear....

 

Keep in mind MB does not use Tiptronic. What they do provide is a more convienient way to move the gear selector electronically. However, you are not really manually shifting in the same sense as Tiptronic does.

 

It is a tiptronic shifted transmission in the 722.6. The shift selector modes are winter (W) or summer(S). W mode starts off in second gear and changes the shifts points for better winter traction. S mode starts in first for normal fair weather traction and driving.The tranny adapts to your driving style on an ongoing basis. If you shift aggressively it will remember your driving style. To downshift tap the shifter left and to go up a gear tap to the right. You can hold left and it will run down to the lowest gear in W mode 2nd and in S mode 1st.

 

Actually our transmissions are not Tiptronic. Nor are they licensed variants of tiptronic used in cars like VW and Audi. Ours are Touch-Shift which essentially offers an electronic way to move the old gated shifter. It does not offer the true gear selection capability of Tiptronic.

For example, if Touch-Shift displays "3" it means you will automatically shift through the gears but it will lock out gears above third. Whereas, if a Tiptronic displays "3" it means you have manually selected third gear and in fact the car is in third gear.

Also, if you hold the Touch-Shift to the left, it will only downshift to fourth gear if you are in fifth. Otherwise it will simply display the gear you are already in, until you slow and stop the car at which point it will display 1 or 2 depending if you are in S or W mode. That is, if you are accelerating from a stop light and are in third gear, if you move and hold the selector to the left, it will display 3. It will not go to 2, or 1 until you slow to a stop.