So I was enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon drive yesterday on my E550 and to clean out some carbon, I wanted to do a little bit of full throttle kick-down acceleration. I was driving about 25 when I engaged it but distinctly remember there was a 1-2 second pause (seemed longer but that's probably what it was) from when I engaged full kick down and the car accelerated. Now the car did accelerate as I expected but the delay surprised me. The car was in comfort mode, could that have anything to do with it? Also I drive in a "normal" manner 90% of the time and rarely tap the power at my disposal so was the car just taking it easy because that's how I usually drive? Just thought I'd check because I thought no matter the electronic throttle settings, when kick-down is engaged the car delivers maximum acceleration instantly (and this wasn't quite the case...).

 

Take it out of comfort mode .. Sport mode in my 08 E550 pins you to your seat. Throttle is more responsive.

Finally, get a Sprintbooster. The MB throttle by default has some lag built into it.

 

But the point is I prefer comfort mode for the majority of my driving. I don't want to constantly unleash all that the E550 has to offer on the busy streets of DC! However when I want quick acceleration I thought kick down overrides everything and is supposed to deliver maximum acceleration. I was just checking to see if this is normal behavior as I thought with a wide open throttle it did not matter if I the car was on C or S but would be good to know for sure.

 

It's normal. The transmission shifts later in S mode, shifts earlier in C mode. Furthermore, the 5-speed in the 4Matic (you have an '07/08, correct?) is the 722.6 and it's an adaptive transmission. Which means it 'learns' your driving habits and shifts accordingly. So if most of the time you cruise along responsibly in C mode and then suddenly mash the gas...it's kind of like waking up your grandpa as he is about to doze off by the fireplace reading his favorite novel. It'll take him a few seconds to grumble and get up...

While I have enjoyed the 722.6 in both my previous E430 and my current E550, I have found that it seems to have its own mind at times. No real rhyme or reason, it just acts up once in a while. On the plus side, it has been proven to be a robust transmission and we've had a few in the family at or above the 200,000 mark and going strong. The 7-speed in my GL450 shifts so smoothly it's scary. You almost forget about RPMs to be honest.

 

p.s. what I sometimes do with busy city driving when I want to be sure I have that instant acceleration on tap is to use the manual shift function and leave it at '3'. That way, it's always ready to blast when needed...

 

Good advice! I guess this prevents the car from going into 4th gear and will still downshift to 1 and 2 as the situation warrants. I love this forum. These are things you will not learn from the instruction manual

 

websrfr, do you have paddle shifters? You can use those as well.

also, another trick is .. hold "downshift" on either the paddles or the "stick" for 3 seconds, it will choose the optimal gear for you and you'll take off like a rocket.

 

I'm pretty sure the manual refers to S as "Standard Mode" and C as "Comfort Mode" and suggests that the car be normally driven in "S" mode. Comfort starts the car in 2nd gear.

I think it's personal preference which mode you drive in.

You could also try resetting the ECU..

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...set-works.html

 

Im pretty sure you are wrong.

 

I stand corrected....I checked...the manual states:

C Comfort - For comfort driving
S Sport - For standard driving (that's where I remembered incorrectly - I knew "standard" was in there somewhere)

 

if I drove my E550 is "S" mode all the time I'd go through tires every 10k miles.

 

I am happy to report the S mode works

No delays

 

You will still experience a little lag when you begin pressure on the accelerator. It's a result of "Drive By Wire" technology. While using "S" mode makes the car a little peppier, installation of a Sprint Booster (see the above Sponsor tag) will eliminate the delayed response of the engine when accelerating.