WEBSRFR

So apparently the throttle response of my E550 is sometimes managed by a sleepy grandfather who takes a few seconds to wake up... I can see why this would happen as I normally take it easy when I drive the car and just enjoy the drive... BUT when I want the car to pick up and go I want it to do so immediately and this is not quite what happened yesterday. I wanted to pass someone quickly and I actually floored the gas but it took a couple of seconds for the car to really understand that I actually meant it. I've notice this happen in the past when I was in C mode but this happened yesterday when I was in "S mode."

So how do I avoid this in the future? Do I use the gear shift lever to manually dial up a higher gear before I mash the accelerator if I want a quick burst of acceleration? And hoes does this work? Should I move the gear lever towards the driver (left) once? I read somewhere on the manual about moving it to the left and holding it for two seconds -- is that what I should be doing?

malahhaor

Get an AMG
I have the same problem with my S500. Most annoying. Had same issue with CLK. Got in to dangerous situations a couple times because the car would go nowhere when asked. All diving I do is in S and not C. They both behave the same when taking it easy and trying to punch it when needed.

Unfortunately in my experience doing lever selection takes as much time as it takes for grandpa to wake up, however, downshifting always wakes him up, stomping on the gas does not.
But if you know ahead of time just bu a few seconds that youll need a little kick, shifting manually works great

djrabbi

we have a e-throttle so any way i know of is either...

Getting Sprint Booster
or
ECU Flash

PlatinumPi4u

Also make sure the carpet is pulled back from the gas pedal. I have noticed that when I go down all the way on the gas, that it will hit what I believe to be the floor or bottom, but while here, If i push down even HARDER on the gas, it will notch down even further, (a few millimeters) waking up grandpa....

Does anybody else notice this? Supposed 'pedal to the medal' only to press down even harder to have the pedal go even closer to the metal ??

220S

What djrabbi says. It's a drive by wire system. It's set the way MB thinks is good for you. Sprint Booster will remap it.

djrabbi

If I were you...get a ECU flash...a little more than Sprint booster but gives more other options like removing the limiter also

220S

He's under warranty and that would depend on his dealer's attitude about any ECU remapping. At least you can remove the SB easily.

WEBSRFR

I don't want to do anything that would affect the warranty in anyway whatsoever. For that matter a car with almost 400 HP should not require me to mess with the engine electronics to get quick bursts of acceleration when I need it. After all isn't this supposed to be one of the benefits of having a non aspirated engine?

I just need someone to share with me some driving/gear-change advice/techniques for waking up grandpa... There must be a way to throw a bucket of cold water or light his couch on fire...

WEBSRFR

No 4Matic, No AMG

WEBSRFR

I see what you are saying and it makes sense but if the driver were to engage WOT, all best should be off and the car should deliver all the acceleration it can muster immediately... A lot less powerful cars I've owned in the past have done this quite well...

220S

It should, and I have no issues with my car. But I do have a habit of quickly dropping two gears and punching it to pass. That brings the rpms into the correct power band to take advantage of all the torque and hp. I can whip past just about anybody on the road that way. Using the paddles is pretty quick and faster than I can physically do with a manual tranny.

But if I you were I'd take it in to the dealer or Indy and tell them you feel a pronounced lag and just have them check it on the SDS. It will be covered under warranty. Tell them you felt unsafe that last time you merged onto the freeway and could have had a wreck (they take those sorts of comments seriously.) You could simply have a combo ECU and throttle issue going on.

malahhaor

Sprint booster is same thing as meshing in the pedal, just won't have to physically do it as much. Tune helps with a bit but not anywhere close to eliminating this issue. My S has ecu tune and it's very little difference when it comes to waking up grandpa when you've been driving like one