hydBenz93

Greetings,

I own a W212 E350 4Matic (2013) and recently had multiple issues with the driveshaft so I opted for the option of canceling the 4Matic system which is a common operation in my country as we don't have snow and the spare parts for the 4Matic are pretty expensive.
Everything is working great except when accelerating during/after cornering or when bypassing someone on the freeway, it's expected that the TCS kicks in if it detects slipping but there is a huge drop in power as well along with a jerk in the transmission.

My guess is that the transmission is attempting to transfer torque to the front and it's unable to due to the cancellation, has anyone faced this kind of issue before? is it solvable by transmission coding for example? or would I need to swap the transmission control module or even the entire transmission?

**UPDATE:
After some live code/data reading and test drives, turned out it's a pure transmission issue where gears 2 & 3 are slipping, the rest is it's just regular TC reactions.

Thanks

KEY08

Never heard of this, but good luck.

S. Madman

ECU swap and/or coding required.

bmwpowere36m3

Curious how the system was "cancelled"... I'll assume it means removing one or more components of the forward wheel drive (intermediate driveshaft and/or front axles). Even that is not a simple remove and done. You'd have a hole in the oil pan from the right axle and/or a hole in the transfer case from the intermediate shaft that would need to be plugged.

I would think, a RWD transmission, TCM and coding would be required... granted modifications like these are done in countries with limited access or $$ to parts. Here in the states, the suggestion would be to sell the 4matic and buy a RWD as it'll be much cheaper conversion.

hydBenz93

Thanks.

Arrie

I don’t understand how you canceled the 4Matic. If you simply removed the drive shaft from transfer case to front differential then your car is moving only by the holding force of the center differential lock. This lock is a spring loaded multi disk ”brake” that has limited capability to hold as for the 4Matic it is made to allow speed difference between front and rear axles. Like if you would take a lot of power from the engine this lock would slip and certainly would cause jerking.

I don’t think 4Matic has any different controls compared to RWD because there is no smart control in the transfer case for torque split between axles. Ratio between axles is set with how they built it and the lock is just a spring loaded brake that slips when torque between parts is big enough like it is when making turns on dry road where tires don’t slip.

hydBenz93

it seems I'll have to do most of the work on the trans itself.

pierrejoliat

I find it hard to believe the parts necessary for this conversion would be less than just fixing it. This is a common thing in what country? Sounds downright crazy!

hydBenz93

It's quite common here as we get lots of imported cars from the US/Canada that are 4Matic, parts are rare because nobody likes them (everyone likes RWD) therefore the parts are expensive and sometimes have to be shipped from nearby countries.

I'm not sure I know all the correct names/terms but I'll try my best to describe it lol
They usually remove the driveshaft as well as the propeller shaft, the holes are plugged with custom-made plugs, and a part that I don't know the English name for is bolted to prevent it from spinning, this is as much as I got from my mechanic.

it works perfectly without the need for any coding for the ECU, TCM, or TCS that's why I was surprised with the issues I was facing as I've seen it done many times before ... turned out just a trans issue where the gears are slipping .. now I'm looking into whether the TCM can be used with a trans from a RWD as that would allow me to get a RWD trans along with RWD rear diff

hydBenz93

I wrote the reply above for you but forgot to quote your comment

hydBenz93

I'm from Iraq .. It's very common here and many mechanics do it very well with minimum parts, the entire thing cost me $350-$400 believe it or not lol

hydBenz93

Honestly, I'll need to ask my mechanic for those details in order to give you a correct answer ... it's certainly isn't an easy job

pierrejoliat

Iraq is a beautiful country, I wonder what would happen when the traction control senses slipping in the rear and transfers power to the front? interesting, one would have to remove the transfer case I would think and reprogram the Transmission not to torque vector? I guess everything has work-around, just surprised this even works! Good luck!

hydBenz93

Thank you
I believe they "locked" that part so no power is ever transferred to the front, so far the traction control is working as expected just like any RWD that I've driven before, other than the jerking of course (which now I know is caused by trans gear slipping).

bmwpowere36m3

Maybe they "lock" the clutch, similar in fashion to off-road guys welding up there diffs to have a cheap locker.

KEY08

Very interesting conversation here. I wasn't aware that a modification of this type was possible with the 4matic system. Especially, without costing a fortune to accomplish.

pierrejoliat

I agree, I would be very interested if HydBenz93 could post some pictures of these custom plugs, I would imagine others would have an interest.

hydBenz93

Sure, will take some pictures of the different parts the next time I'm at the shop.

DFWdude

Apparently there is only one authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer in all of Iraq (Brighthouse BCM) with a couple locations (Irbil and Baghdad). This thread is starting to make some sense, as I imagine an MB dealership with no competition (for hundreds of miles) can charge to the moon for parts. Prices so high that it makes more sense to import whole cars from 7,000 miles away?

bmwpowere36m3

For those lucky to travel the world... these things are not surprising. Often labor is cheap, parts and vehicles are not. Cost of new vehicles is prohibitive... people hold onto vehicles for a LONG time.

hydBenz93

True, they don't even have an official service center in Baghdad, many parts have to be imported from Dubai upon request which usually means you'll have to wait for like 5-7 days.

Also, because the parts are so expensive there are many shops working in the business of importing "donor" cars and selling them as parts (the parts that are still in pretty good shape)

MBNUT1

So let me ask this. This doesn't save you from the dreaded transfer case bearing failure because that is in between the transmission output and the driveshaft to the rear differential. Correct?

Blkvip

bumping this.

so taking the front driveshaft out and blocking the spline drive hole isnt possible with out doing some kind of coding, nor would the car drive properly?

pierrejoliat

HydBenz93 says it is, maybe tag him and ask for more info? Myself,I don't see how it could, but I guess a work around is possible.

hydBenz93

Honestly they didn't do any coding that I know of, been driving for months now and nothing feels different from any other RWD models that I've driven