Shift Paddles please
12-19-2010, 07:50 AM
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2012 CLS63
Shift Paddles please
Hell MB HEADS:
I have really been enjoying my car. The comfort, speed, heated seats....LOL......
but one thing I'm still uncertain of are those paddle shifters: I admit, not really fully understanding them........
An automatic with the option to shift gears manually right??
Is there a mode you need to be in for shifting? ANd they can be used like a conventional manual? I do know how to drive a manual, but not an automatic with paddles.......anyone have some guidance?
Thanx
I have really been enjoying my car. The comfort, speed, heated seats....LOL......
but one thing I'm still uncertain of are those paddle shifters: I admit, not really fully understanding them........
An automatic with the option to shift gears manually right??
Is there a mode you need to be in for shifting? ANd they can be used like a conventional manual? I do know how to drive a manual, but not an automatic with paddles.......anyone have some guidance?
Thanx
12-19-2010, 08:19 AM
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E350 4matic
[quote=hyperion667;4418966]Hell MB HEADS:
An automatic with the option to shift gears manually right??[/qoute]
Yup!
No seperate mode, when you click one of the paddles it automatically changes to manual. Push your gear selector lever back into drive to exit manual. The only two differences I can see between this and a full manual transmission is 1.) no clutch pedal and 2.) the electronics in this tranny will force an upshift if you over rev your engine rather than blowing something up. ( A good option I would say!)
I would also expect less fuel economy in this mode simply because most people will drive more aggressively and tend to hold the shift points longer.
An automatic with the option to shift gears manually right??[/qoute]
Yup!
I would also expect less fuel economy in this mode simply because most people will drive more aggressively and tend to hold the shift points longer.
12-19-2010, 08:37 AM
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'11 350 4matic - '14 Stingray: Gone, BMW 530i, Porsche 944 Turbo, Porsche 356, Mitsubishi 3000GT
Hell MB HEADS:
I have really been enjoying my car. The comfort, speed, heated seats....LOL......
but one thing I'm still uncertain of are those paddle shifters: I admit, not really fully understanding them........
An automatic with the option to shift gears manually right??
Is there a mode you need to be in for shifting? ANd they can be used like a conventional manual? I do know how to drive a manual, but not an automatic with paddles.......anyone have some guidance?
Thanx
I have really been enjoying my car. The comfort, speed, heated seats....LOL......
but one thing I'm still uncertain of are those paddle shifters: I admit, not really fully understanding them........
An automatic with the option to shift gears manually right??
Is there a mode you need to be in for shifting? ANd they can be used like a conventional manual? I do know how to drive a manual, but not an automatic with paddles.......anyone have some guidance?
Thanx
). The best usage I have found is when merging on a highway, simply push back on the left paddle shifter once and it will put you in a lower gear to help give you a little more push into the merge zone. Once you have accomplished that, then just push back on the right paddle shifter to achieve the next gear or do it several times in a row and it will put you right back in automatic. Very useful function. After you do it a few times it becomes second nature and is a very smoth and easy way to control your accelaration in merge zones (very helpful with us that have 350's). Good luck.PS as "reckrab" pointed out you can hold your shift points longer... so in my case, I tend to manually shift entering my neighborhood because of a steep hill. Try it out...it's a great feature to have at your fingertips (literally).
Last edited by BPhillyBenz; 12-19-2010 at 08:45 AM.
12-19-2010, 08:44 AM
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Porsche Macan S SportDesign / Ex M-B's: 11 & 10 & 06 E350's, 02 S500
I use them a lot (but now less with the Sprint Booster). The best usage I have found is when merging on a highway, simply push back on the left paddle shifter once and it will put you in a lower gear to help give you a little more push into the merge zone. Once you have accomplished that, then just push back on the right paddle shifter to achieve the next gear or do it several times in a row and it will put you right back in automatic. Very useful function. After you do it a few times it becomes second nature and is a very smoth and easy way to control your accelaration in merge zones (very helpful with us that have 350's). Good luck.
). The best usage I have found is when merging on a highway, simply push back on the left paddle shifter once and it will put you in a lower gear to help give you a little more push into the merge zone. Once you have accomplished that, then just push back on the right paddle shifter to achieve the next gear or do it several times in a row and it will put you right back in automatic. Very useful function. After you do it a few times it becomes second nature and is a very smoth and easy way to control your accelaration in merge zones (very helpful with us that have 350's). Good luck.
12-19-2010, 08:46 AM
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'11 350 4matic - '14 Stingray: Gone, BMW 530i, Porsche 944 Turbo, Porsche 356, Mitsubishi 3000GT
12-19-2010, 08:55 AM
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12-19-2010, 09:09 AM
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'11 350 4matic - '14 Stingray: Gone, BMW 530i, Porsche 944 Turbo, Porsche 356, Mitsubishi 3000GT
12-19-2010, 10:36 AM
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I did read it.........but just wanted some working experience from others you know???
mellow yourself.............and it wasn't that long ago YOU (mcf) were asking many questions that could easily be refurred to the manual for..........
mellow yourself.............and it wasn't that long ago YOU (mcf) were asking many questions that could easily be refurred to the manual for..........
12-19-2010, 02:36 PM
#14
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I used it when I go steep downhill..instead of using foot brake I simply used paddle shifter to get lower gears. Also I used it when I needed boost like when you pass or change lanes, etc.
12-19-2010, 02:41 PM
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'11 350 4matic - '14 Stingray: Gone, BMW 530i, Porsche 944 Turbo, Porsche 356, Mitsubishi 3000GT
Appreciate man-upping, everythings cool. This forum has been extremely helpful in me figuring out what and what not to do with my car. The ideas expressed by other members has been invaluable and much more on target than anything else I have read in the trades. In the end, that's what its all about. Hope your upcoming week goes better...
12-19-2010, 03:04 PM
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I use the cruise control to slow down often, kind of like you do with the paddles I think..........the five mile increments are so awesome, I hope I'm not tweaking anything by driving it like this...............
12-19-2010, 09:08 PM
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Porsche Macan S SportDesign / Ex M-B's: 11 & 10 & 06 E350's, 02 S500
Replacing brakes are MUCH cheaper than replacing a tranny, or wear and tear on the motor.
12-19-2010, 09:16 PM
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But you go ahead and keep you left foot on the brake and the right one on the gas.
12-19-2010, 09:55 PM
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The load of engine braking is exactly the same a accelerating. So if you are worried about putting load on your tranny or MPG's I would suggest you drive your car and never accelerate.
12-19-2010, 10:19 PM
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2010 E350 SP / Honda Crosstour / prior vehicles - C32 modded / C300 modded / Lincoln LS modded
paddels
Big difference between this thread and the AMG owners. It's like kids getting their first bike in here.
12-19-2010, 10:23 PM
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I was misinformed then. I thought (high) load to the engine/tranny when going downhill would be putting wear and tear on the tranny (I agree, now thinking about it, on the motor it makes no real difference), instead of the brakes, which would be a no no.
12-20-2010, 12:19 AM
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I use engine break too a lot and I never understood why this would be bad. Sure it puts load on the tranny but no more than accelerating very hard. And it's free compared to the brakes...
I noticed the tranny won't downshift if the downshift would bring RPM too high (even below red line) because there is no blip. It also will upshift automatically (perhaps not that bad but I would have preferred not, leaving the gear at red line with no more acceleration obviously, rather than upshifting to the speed limit). Finally gear changes are too slow... I don't need a 100 or 200 HP more (the deal with an AMG) but I would pay top dollars for a AMG or Ferrari F1 transmission, it would shave 0.5 sec in the 0-60 or be much more useful for my every day spirited driving (which actually is more like once a week).
So the paddles are ok but very far from a true manual experience. But it's probably still the best effort to date on a non AMG car. The 550i transmission is better than the E550 but that's pretty much the only thing I prefer on the BMW.
I noticed the tranny won't downshift if the downshift would bring RPM too high (even below red line) because there is no blip. It also will upshift automatically (perhaps not that bad but I would have preferred not, leaving the gear at red line with no more acceleration obviously, rather than upshifting to the speed limit). Finally gear changes are too slow... I don't need a 100 or 200 HP more (the deal with an AMG) but I would pay top dollars for a AMG or Ferrari F1 transmission, it would shave 0.5 sec in the 0-60 or be much more useful for my every day spirited driving (which actually is more like once a week).
So the paddles are ok but very far from a true manual experience. But it's probably still the best effort to date on a non AMG car. The 550i transmission is better than the E550 but that's pretty much the only thing I prefer on the BMW.
12-20-2010, 02:43 AM
#24
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I use engine break too a lot and I never understood why this would be bad. Sure it puts load on the tranny but no more than accelerating very hard. And it's free compared to the brakes...
I noticed the tranny won't downshift if the downshift would bring RPM too high (even below red line) because there is no blip. It also will upshift automatically (perhaps not that bad but I would have preferred not, leaving the gear at red line with no more acceleration obviously, rather than upshifting to the speed limit). Finally gear changes are too slow... I don't need a 100 or 200 HP more (the deal with an AMG) but I would pay top dollars for a AMG or Ferrari F1 transmission, it would shave 0.5 sec in the 0-60 or be much more useful for my every day spirited driving (which actually is more like once a week).
So the paddles are ok but very far from a true manual experience. But it's probably still the best effort to date on a non AMG car. The 550i transmission is better than the E550 but that's pretty much the only thing I prefer on the BMW.
I noticed the tranny won't downshift if the downshift would bring RPM too high (even below red line) because there is no blip. It also will upshift automatically (perhaps not that bad but I would have preferred not, leaving the gear at red line with no more acceleration obviously, rather than upshifting to the speed limit). Finally gear changes are too slow... I don't need a 100 or 200 HP more (the deal with an AMG) but I would pay top dollars for a AMG or Ferrari F1 transmission, it would shave 0.5 sec in the 0-60 or be much more useful for my every day spirited driving (which actually is more like once a week).
So the paddles are ok but very far from a true manual experience. But it's probably still the best effort to date on a non AMG car. The 550i transmission is better than the E550 but that's pretty much the only thing I prefer on the BMW.
The way paddle shifters in my car work is that it just basically sets the highest gear it will change to. There could be a safety built into it that it will shift up over what you set it to if engine revs go too high. I have not tested for this but I have tested several times in city traffic when I set the gear to 4 when I come to a stop I don't see the gear number change down. The same 4 stays displayed but as I start from stop the car acts like it was on automatic but just won't shift above 4th gear.
12-20-2010, 06:52 AM
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I use engine break too a lot and I never understood why this would be bad. Sure it puts load on the tranny but no more than accelerating very hard. And it's free compared to the brakes...
I noticed the tranny won't downshift if the downshift would bring RPM too high (even below red line) because there is no blip. It also will upshift automatically (perhaps not that bad but I would have preferred not, leaving the gear at red line with no more acceleration obviously, rather than upshifting to the speed limit). Finally gear changes are too slow... I don't need a 100 or 200 HP more (the deal with an AMG) but I would pay top dollars for a AMG or Ferrari F1 transmission, it would shave 0.5 sec in the 0-60 or be much more useful for my every day spirited driving (which actually is more like once a week).
So the paddles are ok but very far from a true manual experience. But it's probably still the best effort to date on a non AMG car. The 550i transmission is better than the E550 but that's pretty much the only thing I prefer on the BMW.
I noticed the tranny won't downshift if the downshift would bring RPM too high (even below red line) because there is no blip. It also will upshift automatically (perhaps not that bad but I would have preferred not, leaving the gear at red line with no more acceleration obviously, rather than upshifting to the speed limit). Finally gear changes are too slow... I don't need a 100 or 200 HP more (the deal with an AMG) but I would pay top dollars for a AMG or Ferrari F1 transmission, it would shave 0.5 sec in the 0-60 or be much more useful for my every day spirited driving (which actually is more like once a week).
So the paddles are ok but very far from a true manual experience. But it's probably still the best effort to date on a non AMG car. The 550i transmission is better than the E550 but that's pretty much the only thing I prefer on the BMW.
So you're saying that if you could, you'd leave the car practically redlining, while coasting down a hill (by using engine brake)? Sheesh, I don't think I'll ever buy a Used car again!
