My wife has 2011 E350, i drive it occasionally, love the car but not a fan of the shifter on the column. what's your opinion of the shifter?

 

Fine now that I am used to it. It also makes the command control area less busy. IMHO.

 

After having floor (console) shifters for many, many years, I LOVE the MB shifter. Combined with the paddles, you have all the control you need. Quick, easy, quiet, unobtrusive, intuitive.

Who needs that big phallic shifter on the console anyway? (More room for good cup holders, which is what cars are designed around.)

 

I like the column-mounted shifter too. The console is so clean and clutter-free. And the paddles are useful, too.

 

another love for the 4 on the tree....
it is nice and clutter free down there....
but for someone who isn't used to it I could see the irk it would cause..
I'm so used to it now...
the opposite is true on my AMG.....but hey.....it's an AMG...who cares where they put it

 

On a car like this, a Luxury Car, I really love it. Adds to a sense of occasion on the car, makes everything feel very Loungey, open, airy, and simplified. This ain't a Sports Car, which is where the phallic shifter (lol) is necessary.

 

Agree on all points.

 

I'm not a fan of it, but used to it now. IMO a popout dial like on the new range rover evoke would be more elegant. Also, every time I drive my wife's q5, I always reach for the wiper stalk to swift lol

 

http://mycarpictures.org/land-rover/...erior.jpg.html

Take a look at the dial in the center consol.

 

Column shift is OK now unlike when I first got it. Pedal shifter is actually pretty functional, maybe more than console.

 

not used to it at the very beginning especially i was putting my right hand on the shifter all the time before and now my right hand has nowhere to put...unless i have a hot one sits next to me . kind of get used to it now.

 

I like column shifter and want it . This is why I turned down a few good deals on the W212 . Honestly , you can also have more space on the center console due to lack of console shifter

 

It took some time to get used to.. I love the fact that the center console is nice and clean, but i feel like the steering wheel is a little cluttered now.

 

I can't say that I have a strong opinion one way or the other.At first I wasn't sure I'd like the "electronic" aspect of it (this being my first "electronic") but now I'm used to it.I do think that the uncluttered center console is pretty good,however.

 

I had this feature in my '06 ML and love having it in the E as well. As a matter of fact if the E still had the shifter on the console it would have been a deal breaker for me. I can see if it's a manual shift but for automatic, I think it's only in the way. The C class will be next.

 

I can think of a hundred things that that space would be better used for.

 

Like other's have mentioned, it took me a while to get used to it, but, i really like it now.

 

I like column shifter. Actually my first car with manual had column shifter, and manual gear box had only 3 speeds. Later I drove Chrysler LHS with column shifter as well. So I was really glad that Mercedes came with column shifter for E class. For modern car shifter is something really not used frequently, so why get so much real estate of center console for redundant thing? You will find that other car makers are trying to get rid of traditional shifter, for example jaguar. I have only one problem, when I try driving wife's lexus I always activate wipers instead of change gears. Really funny.

 

I wanna know why we still have a turn signal stalk.....
seems like someone could have come up with a nice spot to put some buttons
or something....

 

I can't figure that out either, down here nobody uses them...

 

Like the Column shifter BUT making an emergency 3 point turn is too darn slow. It doesn't shift quick enough. You get used to the slowness though

 

ferrari 458 doesn't have it but we do.

 

I guess car makers keep some controls in place like steering wheel, brake pedal and some other to reduce learning curve at getting a new car. i would prefer they keep radio and volume controls in same place on steering wheels, BMW and MB use exact opposite location, so when I switch cars I always change volume insted going to next track and opposite.

 

The only reason I can think of is that the signals self cancel with the turning of the steering wheel. Seems like they could probably do that with sensors but it might be easier to just stay with the old fashined way.

 

1. I really prefer the on column shifter. Leaves a lot more space on the console. Shifters were put on floor for two reasons - manual or to make people think car is sportier. Never really made a lot of sense technologically.
2. Turn signals are optional in S.C. based on the number of people (including law enforcement) that don't use them. However, I use mine a lot to make sure distracted drivers behind me might notice I am turning, changing lanes, etc.
Column is probably the best place for them. Too many buttons on steering wheels already.