Arrie

I use the paddle shifters only on 2-lane roads for quick acceleration for passing. I have tried to use them in city driving a few times but end up revving the engine unnecessarily high. The reason for this is I cannot her the engine inside the car.

Half of my driving life I have driven a stick shift and sometimes this is better than automatic. In my car I cannot hear the engine before it is at around 5000 rpm, which then reminds my to shift up. None of my previous cars other than the E350 I had has been so quiet for engine sound in the cabin.

Wish MB had done as good job for the road noise...

Zavato

Maybe 3 times

Alandf

+1 I totally agree with your assessments. I'm a bit older and the engine is too silent. Used the paddles and thought I would have blown the engine except for the rev limiter. In the 70's i would have toasted a V-8
BTW I quieted down road noise with a set of Conti pros

Johnny Rad

I treat the paddles like a button. If I haven’t pushed a button every couple of miles, then I feel like I’m not doing my job. And I like to do my job! ;-)

- One, the tranny in my biturbo E550 is awfully slow to react to the paddles. Bummer, but I accept that my E isn’t a race car.

- Two, I mainly use the paddles in search of a bit of compression braking. Bummer because it doesn’t yield much.

- A few times I tried preemptively downshifting with the paddles prior to rapid acceleration on the highway in hopes that it’d spin up the turbo, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Seems like the turbos don’t build boost at steady state rpm.

Alandf

I always did compression braking ,especially on my manual transmission vehicles until a friend of mine who owns a shop that specializes in transmission work wised me up. Trannys and clutches cost way more than brake pads.
Just sayin...

kajtek1

For last 20 years MB makes computerized transmissions, where computer adjust engine rpm for gear shifting. Clutches on those last 300,000 miles easy. Welcome to 21 Century

mellonc

I always use it for engine braking as my first 1 mile of driving is literally straight down hill - not even rolling hills, just straight down. Basically, I live exactly 2000ft elevation while my work is at just about sea level. I NEED engine braking.

fplouw

WOW! Beautiful!

fplouw

That is interesting...I never thought about it, but now that you say - it shifts to the optimal gear, it makes sense. Do you mean it shifts to the optimal gear for the speed you are doing? And, would it be different depending on whether you are in comfort or sport mode?

I use the paddles to rocket off in first gear, but find it is very slow to switch to second, and so on so I don't often do it. I mostly use it do the severe hesitation I experience when flooring the paddle when trying to overtake. It feels like the window of overtake opportunity is almost closed by the time the car reacts, and then of course it flies off like crazy (wife thinks I am doing it on purpose! ). Also use it when I come up too fast on an off-ramp, to slow the car down.

They were obviously not designed for optimal shifting since it takes about a second to switch one you pull the paddle-shift, and doesn't make sense most times...


I have been looking at the mods some posters say eliminate the hesitation, but with many conflicting opinions, have not bitten the bullet.

Alandf

You didn't have to add "welcome to the 21 century." Why insult me!

TeeEl

Really? The computer adjusts the engine RPM? God there's so much I don't know...

kajtek1

Sorry if you insult so easy, but I have to have fun from posting somewhere.

Mr.Fly

That is interesting. Shouldn't the car automatically remain in a low gear when it senses you going downhill, not using the accelerator but using the brake? In that scenario, mine will hold in 2nd or 3rd gear, and maintain about 25-30mph when going down steep 8-10% hills with no further braking.

kajtek1

Some MB models have hill descent feature, that works when you set CC to lower speed.

oogurkan

I use rarely down shifting:
- When I need acceleration.
- Engine brake on downhill roads.
It feels a little bit unnatural.

mellonc

it holds in 3rd gear for the first 1/4 mile then it upshifts to 4th. I don’t like it and just use the paddle to keep it at 3rd.

DFWdude

Some municipalities here in Texas post signs at the city limits, "No Engine Braking," And Texas is flatter than a pool table in most parts.

It's been written before, but seems to need repeating. "Brakes are cheaper to replace than transmissions."

IMO, with a 7-speed transmission, the difference between gears is so slight that if makes finding the right gear more effort than it's worth, while increasing the possibility of finding the wrong gear by mistake. I'll let the tranny do it's thing. If I wanted to stir the pot, I'd buy a smaller, tossable car with a clutch and proper manual tranny. To each his own.

kajtek1

If you pay attention to your tachometer, the 7G makes pretty strong transmission braking when you push brake pedal as well.
That was first thing I noticed when I got first car with it.
I went back to car with 5G and then noticed that it does engine braking as well, but 5G program makes it gentle, while with 7G I can come to rolling stop in city traffic without touching brake pedal.
So IMHO by occasional forcing transmission to earlier shifting you don't save much of its life.
Maybe instead of 400k till rebuild you'll be facing 390k, but that's about it.

chassis

I use them every time I drive the vehicle. Mainly as engine braking.

mellonc

what does the transmission think it is? smarter than me? downshifting and stuff on downhills automatically........ how dare.... I'll shift it myself just to show who is boss. The heck with the transmission fluid exchange cost.

kajtek1

One think for sure. Transmission will not talk on the phone when doing gear shifting.

KEY08

Yes, the 7G + is good at downshifting on its own under braking. You can watch the gear display in the cluster click down the numbers.

DFWdude

Oh so true...

Kevin Brod

I use the paddles on my 2011 E350 coupe whenever I am driving on twisty roads or hills. I have a lot of them where I live. I rarely use on flat roads or highway unless passing someone. I use for braking at times as well. I was wondering if anyone knows if this is bad for the car. The manual seems to encourage it as a way of extending brake life. Not sure if that's done to get you back in the shop sooner for a big trans overhaul. Also, does trans fluid need to be changed more often due to frequent paddle shift use?

kajtek1

If you pay attention, modern transmissions downshift when car slows down without driver input into the procedure.
When each shifting comes with some wear, computerized transmission have program who equalize rpm, so shifting comes without jerking common on older, vacuum operated transmissions.
Good transmissions last for 1/2 million miles as well.
Driving heavy Sprinter, or towing big boat with my GLE I don't hesitate to downshift manually on long grades. Manufacturers are saying, that when used for braking, you can keep engine rpm in red zone without danger.
Still for small adjustment I use brakes as old wisdom "brake pads are cheaper than transmission clutches" still apply