austinholloman

Ive been around cars my whole life and I have never understood how Mercedes trannys work when it comes to starting out in second gear? I know on 80's and 90's models ive seen people mod them to start out in first. I had a 93 w124 400E and I thought it was in first gear when I would floor it from a dead stop but people would still tell me it wasnt. How does this work? And do the w210's start off is first or second? Im just confused.

saintz

There's a switch on the console by the shifter. In S (Summer, Sport) it starts in 1st. In W (Wet, Winter) it starts in 2nd. This is to reduce torque when traction is limited.

austinholloman

How does it work on the older Mercs? Before there was an S/W option? Early 90's and 80's....

TMAllison

80's & early 90's = Vacuum signal and throttle position.

bmroxm5

how do you fix a broken s/w switch?

my one used to alternate between starting in 1st and 2nd but now i flick the switch and it doesn't do anything. the only way to get it to start in 1st is floor it hard or manually move the shifter down the gate...

also I believe having it in S will give you quicker shift times, W will slow down shift times to ensure grip is maintained.

E-420

Winter/Summer???? I thought it was a "wife"/ "self" switch!!

BordeauxW210

Its technically W=Winter, and S=Standard. Winter starts off in 2nd, standard in 1st.

Figuero

Not sure what you mean by Quicker vs. Slower....but W will upshift at a lower rpm getting you into a higher gear sooner than S. Helps with traction in bad weather as you mention.

ejsheltra

Your tranny is an adaptive model meaning it will adapt to your driving style. If you manually hold gears longer then the shift points will raise. It will not shift any faster between gears however unless it is an AMG warmed tranny where the shift points are increased as well as the speed of the shift. Since the adaptive mode is a continually learning mode the transmission is always adapting to your driving style and as they say shift points may vary as your driving habits change over time. The W/S switch can only be replaced by replacing the shifting unit which can be had used at local parts houses like Potomac German Auto. They are a very easy DIY and there are many posts here on the forum.