sts15

I made a mistake and let my 17 year old daughter drive my E350 the other night. She got home and complained that on her way home it was jerking, whining, and when she took her foot off the gas the car would slow down to a crawl. I figured out she must have hit the shifter and put it in 1st gear and driven like that for about 4-5 miles. I doubt that she went over 30 or 40 and then slowed down to 20-30 for most of the trip.

I could not feel any damage while driving the next morning. My sense is that this probalby was not good for the car, but probably did not hurt it either.

Any ideals?

220S

As you know the tranny will shift on its own if it gets to redline. So no harm will be done. I'd argue that the car liked the brisk run, esp if you never get it near max rpms.

Good to "clean it out" once in a while......

ps., for the record, this is the W212 forum. You should post in the W211 forum. [edit: looks like the mods moved it now]

Roehl

That's funny, similar thing happen to me not too long ago... As I was making a turn (the gear was probably on 3rd or 4th) I accidentally tap the gear lever to "-" for a few seconds and it instantly downshift to 1st gear and RPM went to red line. And as you stated, the gear didn't shift up. I got that same feeling that I might have damage something...

That's what I don't like with the shifter, if you tap it once, it shift up/down 1 gear. But if you tap it long enough, it goes down to eighter 1 or D.

Is this a safety concern? Has anyone experienced this?

220S

It will shift on it's own, meaning once it hits redline, then it will upshift. Therefore you cannot go past redline, by mistake. No harm done.

fwiw, my AMG has a M mode. If it's in M then, yes, I could do damage if I don't shift. In M mode the tranny will NOT shift itself automatically.

Paddles shifters a safety concern? No, imho. They are a safety measure since I can quickly downshift if necessary.

Roehl

Not the paddle shifters. It's the way it shift all the way to 1st gear. When you're driving, lets say 20mph (and its on 4th gear) then you accidentally hit the shift knob (to "-" minus) for more than a couple of seconds, the car downshifts to 1st gear. RPM goes red line.

220S

Paddles shifters or the console shifter, both work the same way. And the way I personally like it, fwiw. I like the idea of getting to the best gear fast.

MB calls it "shifting into optimal gear." Meaning, when you hold the stick (or paddle shifters) the tranny will AUTOMATICALLY go into the optimal gear depending on the speed of the car (either + or -)

This is a FEATURE of the tranny and not a "problem."

You need to experiment a bit more with it and then it will be clear.

edit: p.s., read your manual. It explains this "holding down for more than one second" optimal gear selection feature.