What do you W213'ers think of the new 9G?

TIA

 

shifts are quicker than the 7G, and smoother. However, from 3rd to 4th in my car, it is more clunky than the other years for some reason. Curious if other owners have the same impression.

 

In my test drvive, I found it flawless. Smooth responsive and seems to find the perfect gear at all times regardless of setting. It was as adroit as the 7g overall but with more cogs and almost instantaneous response to the throttle. Definitely one of the main reasons the 4 banger performs so well in such a big car. The tranny simply knows how to exploit the engines torque in any situation. I would bet that if the car had a 7g it would be a real dog. The drivetrain is simply brilliant in all respects. In the 7 g, 7th is the overdrive gear. The 9g has 8th and 9th plus the coasting function. Its smart as hell. On the e 45 its ferocious, in fact the tranny is so prescient that the manual mode is really just for show.

 

This may be a common problem as my S coupe also has 3rd-4th gear issues (rougher shift than all other gears and I can also feel torque converter engagement just before the 3-4 shift) under very light acceleration...hoping this adapts out (only have about 350 miles). Wonder if MB is aware of this and there is a software update? How many miles on yours and is it a 4 matic?

 

I have a little more than 700 miles on it, rwd. I didn't notice this when the car was new but maybe I was distracted from all the toys in the car. I definitely feel the engagement. Also seems to be something similar happening in between one of the higher gears, from 5-6 or 6-7, I can't remember which at the moment. In my experience, MB has never really been good at making transmissions, but this one is leaps and bounds over the old 7G.

Today, for the first time, something weird happened at a stoplight. The car's auto stop kicked in, and when I released the brake to go, the engine fired right up, but I was trying to accelerate and it wasn't in gear. It just revved up a bit and then caught on after a second or two. Very weird.

 

I believe that when auto stop engages the tranny disengages. It might just have been a slight delay in reengagement. In my experience autostop is not always transparent, occasionally its a little lumpy.

 

There's still a good chance the trans will improve as it might take 1000 miles or a bit more. I agree MB has a poor history with transmissions. I also agree the 9G is far better than the 7G but it appears to have some similar problems which I hope MB will address with software asap.

 

A few days ago I wrote the post below in a thread here about the AMG e class models. I am more enthusiastic on the benefits of this 9G transmission than most, especially since I just came from the older MB seven speed (which I thought was a pretty good transmission as well). Please note that my car is not the e class but 2017 CLS550, which I believe has the same tranny as the e class but mated to a 278 bi turbo V8 so it may be geared entirely different for the performance segment. Here is what I said in that discussion:

"I think you will find the 9 speed transmission to be a Godsend. That is precisely the tranny MB has been looking for to put in these kinds of cars, especially in terms of driveability. This is what sets MB apart.

I say this not because I own or have even driven the e45, rather from my experience with the 2017 CLS550. Although not AMG, the ride is super exhilarating nonetheless. The 278 motor is a bi-turbo V8 producing 402 hp/443 lb-ft torque which exceeds the ratings of the 6 cyl. e45 but as I said, it is not AMG and should not be compared in those terms. If the e45 has the same tranny as my CLS (I think it does) it will be more than capable of producing smooth, seamless shifts throughout the range of the most powerful MB motors (the 63 S is another animal entirely!).

You will have the added bonus of very good efficiency as well. My car has not yet been broken in as I have 3000 miles on it but I have driven the heck out of it (often in sports mode) and have averaged nearly 23 mpg. The transmission will be in 9th gear riding along at 70 mph at only 1400 rpms - that is almost diesel-like. Of course sports mode jacks that up two fold but the efficiency is not compromised that much.

The driveability factor of this transmission is the last thing to worry about even in higher performance Mercedes cars. I think this is due to the wide space between gears and its ability to even skip gears (in downshifts) which maximizes the smoothness and quickness of the car overall, making it ideal for the performance segment. Previously, I owned a Mercedes with the seven speed and there is no comparison whatsoever - the 9G-Tronic is as good a tranny as you will find".

 

I have a little over 2000 miles now and I can sometimes, but not regularly, feel the 3rd->4th shift under light throttle. The transmission is so smooth in C mode that I can't feel any other gear change. However, in Sport or Sport+ the shifts are very crisp and noticeable (not clunky at all). I think that the 9G is why the car feels so lively with the 4cyl (having 509 lbs less weight doesn't hurt either compared to my previous E550) . It always seems to keep the rpms around 1600-2100 which is in the sweet spot of the torque curve. I've remarked earlier that the car feels better at speeds under 45mph than my previous 2013 E550 mostly because the 7G would keep the engine rpms below 1300 most of the time in C mode. It's amazing to me that the 9G keeps the rpms at 1750 when doing 70mph (D9), but will downshift easily to D8 (or lower) when additional power is needed. I continue to enjoy my ride.

Current overall mpg = 27.8 (40% highway, 60% city), mpg on interstate (50 miles) = 32.8 mpg. Car is still not broken in yet in my opinion. By comparison, my 2013 E550 overall mpg = 22.3. (24.6% increase in efficiency)

 

Like others have said - it is an amazing transmission - it fully exploits the low end torque of the (relatively) small turbo 4 and seems to correctly anticipate gears with the best precision I have seen out of a modern 7-8-9 speed auto. I am impressed with it.

 

So it appears there may be an issue with the 3-4 shift, as mentioned my 9G is doing the same thing and only 3rd-4th.

Hoping MB has a software update for this soon. Anyone have any tech info on this?

Thanks

 

Thanks. Has the occurrence of 3-4 shift issue diminished with miles or remained about the same?

 

It's remained about the same. Not noticeable with a heavier throttle.

 

Exactly the same as mine....I'm pretty sure a software update can fix this for us. I will mention it to my dealerships shop foreman so he can alert MB. If we all do this a fix will come much sooner.

 

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​​​I did a couple of full throttle runs to see how much acceleration the car had. After these, the 3-4 shift was imperceptible at light throttle. Perhaps it just needed to be stressed a bit.

 

Let's hope it stays that way, as that would be good news. Please keep me/us posted. Thanks.

 

I noticed that in ECO mode, the shifts were imperceptible. Maybe there is something wrong with the comfort mode software only. Will need more testing to confirm.

 

I doubt it is a SW issue. Most likely incomplete adaptation. The transmission adapts to parts variations and ware (for a new car it should only be final adaptation after the initial tuning at the factory).

Adaptation needs a lot of "samples" for each gear change (up and down) at multiple temperature points, I guess different acceleration values too.

In the worst case it is about a complicated gear change where more than one clutch is released and engaged simultaneously and which the tranny isn't able to control as smoothly as one would wish (every time in all conditions). I have not studied what is involved for the specific gear change that was mentioned in this thread, perhaps someone knows (workshop documents would explain it).

 

The 3-4 shift happens to be a relatively large change in rotational speed for two planetary gear sets inside the box. The inertia effects can occasionally be felt, where with the other gear changes the rotational speed difference of the sun-gear sets are not as great, and inertia effects are negligible.

 

Thanks. Part of the problem is we can notice what appears to be a double shift, which is the 3-4 shift followed by or preceded by the torque converter engagement. This only occurs at very light throttle and about 50% of the time. There is also no issue with 3-4 under even moderate throttle input. Hoping this adapts out quickly. I have other new vehicles with auto boxes and 3-4 is never an issue, nor are any other gear shifts.

 

Bulletin LI27.10-P-063063 recommends checking for leaks possibly in combination with shifting quality problems.

 

Interesting...can you post the full bulletin? As always, thanks for posting these things

 

Thanks very much for adding the extra info

 

The 3-4 shift has smoothed out to the point that I need to check the tachometer if there had been an upshift. The car now has 2300 miles on it.

 

Anyone know of any engine chips that wont mess up the cars warranty?