E320joy

I recently traded my 2006 E320 for a 2011 E350 4-matic sport. First, I have to say my E320 was such a wonderful car in every aspect. Unfortunately, I got the itch and what ya know, I have a new E350. So, I have driven the car since July and it has about 6000 miles on it. I have noticed that the transmission is very slow to engage when shifting from reverse to drive. The car also seems very lethargic. If I need to accelerate quickly I have to really get down hard on it. The car has good power, it just takes it a bit to get into its torque band. Does anyone else have these issues or is it just me?

K-A

The R to D delay is very apparent with this car.

I wil say that my 2010 E350 had a slower "feel" to it, while my 2011 feels snappier than my 2010 or 2006 E350's, and the tranny/motor/pedal combo responds very quickly and aggressively for this car. I dunno if it's luck of the draw, or if the Tranny just learns your driving after awhile.

tflilal

The delay pisses me off... especially when I am trying to park in tight spots (NYC). Also, you guys realize the car does not budge at all when parking? You have to actually step hard on the accelerator or it won't move an inch... kind of scares me sometimes.

stemags

I noticed the delay right off the bat,,2 Kn N's seemed to lessen the delay on pedal response.Ive driven 1000 miles on it and Im getting used to "jumping the gun" on the accelerator,contemplating the delay,so its all good.When I "chip" the ecu Im sure it will be a non-issue.
Also have to remember this car is 600lbs heavier,with only a slightly bigger motor,,with the front wheels going as well.

BenzE350

Last night I had a situation that left me shaking my head...

I was in the city and had to park my E350 in a tight spot. It's late, dark, cold, and raining. First I had to get out of the car and manually fold the side mirrors (no power option). Next I had to do a series of tight 3-point turns to get into position. Twice I had to get out of the car to check how much space I had between my rear bumper and the fence (because there are no indicators on the back-up camera). On top of all this, everytime I went from R to D I had to worry about the acceleration delay and the car surging if I didn't feather the accelerator.

Big PITA.

stemags

Hey Benz I bet once you get used to the camera you wont be getting out,,the tranny does take some getting used I agree.

ngerstman

Make sure that you put the car in the "s" mode every time you get in the car. For some stupid reason, it defaults back to "e" which starts the car in second gear!! Some people really hate the throttle lag feeling but I think you just have to get used to stepping on the accelerator a little harder to get it moving when you have to. The engine has a lot of torque and can take it with no problems. Regards. Ned.

ash_cpe

+1

My car is 2010 E 350 4M, it used to be slow but now its better after driving for 2 years and updating ECU and TCU software. I usually wait for the tranny to completely engage when going R to D and D to R and its not that slow.

stemags

Where did you find a suitable ECU tuner and whats the gains ?

ash_cpe

At the dealer, my car is an early build, i used to have a jerky tranny and after updating engine and tranny control module software last may, car got snappier and jerk almost disappeared. Does that answer your question?

brucemoreair

You are not alone! I have had the same problem with my 2011 and now again with my 2012.
With both cars, the problem did not appear untill several mos. after purchase. It is an intermittent and unpredictable problem. The transmission up shifts to quickly to high gear and doesnt shift back down to low gear when decelirating. When I step on gas pedal there is no response untill I keep depressing and then it drops in too low of a gear, almost red lining. It will go from 7 to 4 and no in between. When I am able to get it into 6 or 5 it doesnt wind out. Instead it will go right back into 7. This is extremely frustrating and and makes for an unpeasureable drive.
It can also pose a danger when trying to turn against traffic.
I have made many complaints to MB with no resolve. Instead they tell me the usual, " no fault codes come up and it is driving to spec." Pure nonsense! The onboard computer does not tell everything. More likely this is a problem that they can not undertand or fix and are reluctant to admit it. Instead I get the usual run around with, " we have to verify it " . They will never verify it because they would have to recall all E350's. I have already been in contact with a law firm that may be interested in pursuing a class action suite.

djenkins25

I also have noticed an unusually long delay shifting from park or reverse into drive. I actually noticed this in the parking lot while test driving the car new. I just dont have a lot of time to research this, but finally took it in to be looked at (33k miles). The tech says this is a normal behavior for this transmission. It's mainly due to the electronics in the transmission, and you would think that the delay setpoints should be controllable.

He tells me they all are like this, and after reading this thread I can believe it. This seems to be one of those things that MB will claim is "characteristic" and so nothing is to be corrected. I am not sure if the delay could be in some way sped up or not but I agree it's annoying.

Not sure MB intends to do anything about this... But I share the sentiment on this post....

DerekACS

Like the OP, I also found that there were delays in shifting for the AT in my previous 2013- E350BT 4Matic. It was also prone to occasional rough shifts upon rapid deceleration going downhill.

However, neither the 2014 E250BT that I test drove nor my new 2015 E250BT have these delays in operation. The latest version of the 7 spd AT seems to be much improved, both faster and smoother, shifting up or down in gears.

Mud

I echo this response. I just took mine in for some warranty work and noted the slight delay in the selector programming as well as a very infrequent rough shift. I knew from working on non MB transmissions that there is sometimes a factory built in longer overlap (read as lag) on shift programming. This often seems to be installed based on the demographic seeking "comfort" shifting, common in Grand Marquis 4R70W programming for example.
The dealer I have seems to be very good, they re -flashed the drivetrain program which also included slightly raising the idle speed which I had also commented upon as being too low. Bear in mind that as the idle speed is raised the transmission pump also increases fluid volume slightly. This slight increase is all it took for an improvement in the P D R selection speed. The reflash also seemed to improve the "learn" characteristics of the unit. I'm very pleased with the results as I find them to be an improvement overall. Idle speed is not excessive at about 650 rpm, feels just right.