Mercedes-Benz cars start in second gear?
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 538
Likes: 0
N/A
Mercedes-Benz cars start in second gear?
Someone told me this:
<<<E-mail I recieved this morning from a tech:
the majority of MB vehicles with 6 or more cylinders start in 2nd gear in normal driving conditions. they can be made to start in 1st gear in 2 ways:
1) mash the throttle till you hit the little switch at the end of the travel; this tells the ECU you want to GO and you want to go NOW!
2) manually put the shifter into 1st.
one of the mods we used to do is to relocate that switch at the end of the throttle's travel to the deadpedal board. the switch is also responsible for kickdown when the car is already in motion. it tells the ECU to drop a gear because you're in a hurry.
by relocating it so you can activate it with your left foot, you can drop a gear (and hold it there) without having to mash on the throttle and waiting for the computer to do so. there's lots of how-tos in the MB forums.
the reasoning behind MBs starting in second are various. one of them is to conserve fuel, and since the MB powerplants are designed for heavy, luxurious beasts, they have all the torque they need to get the job done without having to go to their starting gear.
and yes, most (if not ALL) MBs will be stubborn about shifting up (read: from 2nd gear) when cold. helps oil circulate sooner, helps get things warmed up, helps get the catalytic lit up sooner, etc etc etc.>>>
Is this true?
<<<E-mail I recieved this morning from a tech:
the majority of MB vehicles with 6 or more cylinders start in 2nd gear in normal driving conditions. they can be made to start in 1st gear in 2 ways:
1) mash the throttle till you hit the little switch at the end of the travel; this tells the ECU you want to GO and you want to go NOW!
2) manually put the shifter into 1st.
one of the mods we used to do is to relocate that switch at the end of the throttle's travel to the deadpedal board. the switch is also responsible for kickdown when the car is already in motion. it tells the ECU to drop a gear because you're in a hurry.
by relocating it so you can activate it with your left foot, you can drop a gear (and hold it there) without having to mash on the throttle and waiting for the computer to do so. there's lots of how-tos in the MB forums.
the reasoning behind MBs starting in second are various. one of them is to conserve fuel, and since the MB powerplants are designed for heavy, luxurious beasts, they have all the torque they need to get the job done without having to go to their starting gear.
and yes, most (if not ALL) MBs will be stubborn about shifting up (read: from 2nd gear) when cold. helps oil circulate sooner, helps get things warmed up, helps get the catalytic lit up sooner, etc etc etc.>>>
Is this true?
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 454
Likes: 0
From: NC
'03 Mercedes E320
The new W211 E Class will start in second gear (and second reverse gear) if you select the W position (winter) on the S/W setting. That is the design of the 722.6 transmission. Otherwise, what you describe was the way MB's operated in the late '80's/early '90's. The W124 series era E class. There were lots of tricks suggested to get it to start in first because there was no selectable switch at that time.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 291
Likes: 0
From: Portland, OR
2001 CLK320
Re: Mercedes-Benz cars start in second gear?
Originally posted by Kain
Someone told me this:
<<<E-mail I recieved this morning from a tech:
and yes, most (if not ALL) MBs will be stubborn about shifting up (read: from 2nd gear) when cold. helps oil circulate sooner, helps get things warmed up, helps get the catalytic lit up sooner, etc etc etc.>>>
Is this true?
Someone told me this:
<<<E-mail I recieved this morning from a tech:
and yes, most (if not ALL) MBs will be stubborn about shifting up (read: from 2nd gear) when cold. helps oil circulate sooner, helps get things warmed up, helps get the catalytic lit up sooner, etc etc etc.>>>
Is this true?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 4,781
Likes: 3
From: Boston
'05 A4 1.8TQM6
I believe that all the U.S. MB models with the W/S button on their tranny start in 1st gear, unless you switch it into W mode, which takes off in 2nd gear for better traction in the wet weather (snow, ice, rain, etc). Maybe different in other countries? But i'm pretty sure that U.S. models all start in first...
