ash_cpe

Hi Guys,

I have a question regarding w212 tranny, i think it is stupid and please excuse my ignorance. What would happen if you put the car on reverse while going forward? last night i was parking the car and by mistake i put it on R while going forward it was going idle speed and my foot was on the brakes and no gas "stopping"... Didn't hear any noises and the car kept going forward until it was stationery. Fortunately the car seems to be fine but I wonder if that caused any "internal injuries" to the tranny/drivetrain. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

mg-E550

I don't think it lets you put the car into reverse at speeds any more than "barely moving". In fact even though you selected "R" it may not have actually shifted until the computer detected it was safe to do so. I certainly doubt you damaged anything but I wouldn't make a habit of it.

OceanView

yes, don't do that again.
Trannys are very sensitive and can get funny after an incident.
Although I don't know too much about any safety triggers with the new controls it sounds like you are ok.
I had an incident on my W210 where I shifted from reverse to drive without completely stopping when I was in a hurry
Needless to say, I had to get a new tranny.
Prior to that I had zero isssues with it. Now I make it a habit to completly stop and wait a second then shift to drive.

Expensive lesson learned.

ash_cpe

Thank you very much for your input. It was barley moving and I have never done it in any car before even with stick shift. I hope there is some kind of logic protection within tranny computer. But to be honest, the only thing i hate about this car is where they put the tranny shifter behind steering wheel.

ash_cpe

Thank you and sorry about what happened with you, did you notice any issues right away or issues started coming up over time?

OceanView

Yes it started to jerk when I started to drive so I put the car in Park and turned if off. Started again and it was ok. Over the next few months it got worse to a point where I had to get a new transmission.
Again prior to this incident I never had any issues so I knew this was the cause.
Your car is covered with warranty so don't worry too much.
Just be patient when you shift.

petee1997

I put my car in reverse at 100 kph and nothing happened. This was during my first month of ownership and gearshift lever is in same position as my BMW turn signal. The engineers anticipated these errors and have programmed the car accordingly. It's a common mistake in early ownership period.

BenzE350

What BMW model did you have where the turn signal was on the right of the steering wheel?

BenzE350

I think the new electronic transmissions prevent this from happening. Any transmission experts here?

Arrie

If the transmission gets damaged when accidentally put in reverse while car is moving forward it most definitely will be fixed by manufacturer. This could be an issue that would require them to fix it even after warranty period.

I once switched a '85 Mustand to reverse while going forward and all that happened was I heard a loud clicking noise when the mechanical spring loaded torque limiter started clicking.

I'm absolutely sure Mercedes Benz built a safety feature against accidental shifting to reverse especially when the shifter is like a turn signal (or wiper control, like I think it is in some 3-series BMW automobiles), which makes it easy to confuse between different cars.

Westwind

I was wondering about the same. Especially previous Toyota and Lexus owners who have Cruise control where MB shift is. Just thought what would happen if you are on 70 and press the P or shift to R thinking you are activating to deactivating cruise control. Based on above discussion, I assume nothing would happen.

ash_cpe

Thank you for all your replies, it has to be some kind of protection and manufactures supposedly should fix that under warranty when things go wrong, because things happen and unfortunately the right steering column functionality is not standard in all cars and old MBs didn't even come with it!