faz999

Peter - You should get a flawless car if you are not happy then i would not settle for anything but to your satisfaction.

Drive at least two more similar cars and see if you see any difference ? if so ask for a replacement car or money back.

What we pay for the car we should expect nothing but perfection to the standard they promise.

After three attempt repairing your car you can pretty ask for full refund under the IL lemon law

good luck and keep us posted.

PeterUbers

Thanks Faz -- you're right -- 3 attempts, and 30 days in the shop within the first 6 months = lemon law. Illinois is actually one of the most challenging states to push the lemon law, for some reason, a friend told me california is a state where it's much easier to do so (not sure why).

That being said -- MB better not get me to the point where my attorney is drafting documents citing lemon law -- they better just step up and do the right thing.

2006_C350

The MB motto is "the best or nothing" right? For me they are so far the best. MBUSA really stepped up the game in my case.

PeterUbers

"the best or nothing" indeed.

Let's see if this company lives up to this catchy new slogan.

2006_C350 -- what happened with your vehicle that you needed to involve MBUSA?

2006_C350

I have a noise that is apparently and "inherent" and "natural" characteristic of the car. They all do that for my model year, which is proven. I checked other ones. However, because I am totally unhappy with the result, MBUSA has stepped up and offered me a very generous option. Let's see if it all comes through, which I'm sure it will.

PeterUbers

That's good to know, and I'm glad you're being compensated with alternate options.

To date, it's actually interesting, while MBUSA corporate rep has been "understanding" and "empathetic" -- she's never actually said "I'm sorry" for the frustration. In any industry, it would seem that saying sorry up front is the best vehicle to achieve some type of connection with your customer.

I've heard from 20-30 2014 owners and 2013 owners, and only a handful have rough shifting, and only 2 others have the exactly apparent 5-4 occasional harsh downshift -- so I'm wondering if this is something that will pop up more as the 2014+ transmissions come out. That being said, I drove two other 2014's that do not do this, I only drove them 10 miles each, but I feel that was enough to determine if they would manifest the same issue. Each one was on a different MB lot (one in naperville, one in st charles)

2006_C350

Are the transmissions the same for the E550 and the E350?

Dema

Exact my question, since I drive MY14 E350 and transmission is really smooth. Down and up shifting is hardly noticeable, I can only see an indication of gear on dashboard. Transmission is certainly adaptive to driver's driving style. When I took the car delivery it was jerking, I couldn't launch it smooth, because it stayed on first gear too long, but after couple days driving it became very smooth. Since E550 transmission should deal with much more power, it should certainly work differently. Perhaps good launching will be from 3rd gear. Gears ratios can be also different.

PeterUbers

Good question -- anyone know if they are different transmissions?

Based on the reading I have done, they are the same transmissions, but I can't say for sure.

The ONLY shift I ever feel is the 5-4 downshift... and now it is mostly real subtle, but occasionally harsh... just tells me that somethings wrong with the 5-4 gears...

yadda_vh

Hi Peter,

Greetings from Germany! I just picked up my E300 Bluetec Hybrid Benz a week ago and interestingly enough, I am experiencing exactly the same rough downshift you reported on in this thread. The "thud", which feels a bit like someone bumping into the car from the rear, only happens noticeably during the downshift from 5th to 4th at around 55kph or 33-odd mph.

The interesting thing is that the 7G gearbox used in the hybrid has a wet clutch rather than a torque converter. This does result in most gear changes being more noticeable (I used to drive a C-Class with the normal 7G transmission). But the downshift from 5 to 4 really is appalling, and most significant when the engine is cold.

As my car is still new (only about 1000km, 600mi), I am going to be a bit patient (no time before Xmas to deal with loaners, software updates, adaptations and the like) and see how things develop. If things don't change magically on their own, I'll see if the valve body change is an option.

Regards,
Yadda

PeterUbers

Hi Yadda,

Sounds like we're going to be hearing more and more about transmission issues on this 2014 .. I think this is a more prevalent issue than everyone else currently may think. I had the exact same issue as you did.

I've received many PMs on this issue from other 2014 owners with the same issue -- push for MBUSA to get involved if you don't like the way they take care of the issue at the dealership.

I don't think they can make this 7G transmission perfect, you will experience a slightly rough shift from time to time, but the harsh 5th to 4th is a problem than needs to be addressed.

nice job Mercedes Benz ..

2006_C350

I'll tell you this...coming from a 2013 to this 2014, it seems like the transmission is racing to the 7th gear. I'll usually hit 7th gear by 45 MPH

Jeffy

Yes. The 2014 trans cal/tuning is appalling.

2006_C350

I'll tell you guys this...when I first test drove the 2014 I bought, the FIRST thing it did was shift very hard from 2-3 or 3-4 and while I was in finance I asked my sales guy to get the transmission software updated while I was finishing up the paperwork. He told me I would need to drive the car first and let it adapt and then bring the car in for an update. Ever since that first hard shift it hasn't really done it again.

I kind of like the hard shifting, it was like the DCT shift on a 2008 M3 when they first came out, it snapped your back.

ronyg7

Hello PeterUbers and yadda_vh , I have my E300 hybrid just one week and have noticed very rough shift from 5th to 4th. It's really is so rough it feels like I've been read ended.Any further developments in either of your cases ?

PeterUbers

Hi ron,
so far as I can tell, my car has a few hundred more miles since the replacement of the valve body and it's shifting more smoothly, but not perfect -- there is occasional 5 to 4 and 4 to 3 "perceived" shifts -- but never as rough as they were initially. crossing my fingers that the issue is solved -- the E class transmission is fundamentally flawed by design, is my opinion.

good luck getting yours fixed -- hopefully a print out of my service record handed to your service advisor will cut through the red tape and get yours fixed quickly

ronyg7

Thank you for info Peter.

ronyg7

Btw Peter the clunky gear change only occurs on downshift from 5th to 4th under load. It never happens with closed throttle.

usamuscle

I have the same thing on my 2014 E550 . Too small too even notice and dont want to take my car to stealershp. Some of the dumbest guys are in service. sadly. Ill just deal with it =)

PeterUbers

Interesting, my clunk from 5 to 4 only occurs with closed throttle when braking ... Usually when lightly braking to a stop and usually when I've already gotten to 6th or 7th gear

PeterUbers

I've gotten many pm's about the clunkiness of the 2014 transmission from new owners (550 and 350) since starting this thread that I'm basically convinced this is the way the transmission is designed to perform and it's a poor design that may be optimizing fuel efficiency over smooth shifting

PeterUbers

Any of you guys taken your cars to the service advisor to get yours evaluated? Curious what they told you (other than "adaptations")

ronyg7

Hi Peter,
I brought my car back to dealership on Monday armed with a copy of your workshop report.I test drove the car with one of their technicians. He immediately stated that there was indeed a problem with the downshift from 5th to 4th. I left the car at the dealership and have a loaner since.The service manager called me a few hours ago and informed me that the transmission ECU has returned a fault code on diagnostic.
His plan is to fit a new ECU, update software and adaptions etc. ( sounds familiar ) If that doesn't fix the problem he will then fit a new valve body.
I will post update when I have further info.
Ron

PeterUbers

Hi Ron,

I'm glad you were able to cut through the red tape with my service records -- that's what this site and others like it are for -- helping each other.

I'm saddened to report that my rough shift 5th to 4th (under closed throttle, while gently coming to a stop braking) is back and as frequent as it was to begin with --- this valve body did not help permanently.

I'm not exactly sure why it initially helped and then stopped being effective. I feel the rough downshift about 10-20% of downshifts from 5 to 4 while coasting or mildy braking to a stop.

Contacted MBUSA again, reopened the case, and contacted my dealership and they want me to drop it off again.

Here we go again. This time, I'm asking for a new transmission, not a new car. I need a realistic goal to shoot for.

PeterUbers

Just dropped it off at the dealership --- discussed the case with the service manager -- he's got another customer (2014 E350) with same issue -- this guy just bought this car, took delivery a couple weeks ago -- same issues, adaptations not working, customer furious (shocker) and wants car bought back if they have to work on internal parts.

This is just beginning...