W166 ML550 Throttle Mapping Change Possible?
01-27-2013, 04:54 PM
#1
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W166 ML550 Throttle Mapping Change Possible?
I have a 2013 ML550 with the ON-Off Road Package. The drive settings dial has multiple drive settings for pre-set: transmission shift patterns, ride firmness, ride height, steering wheel feel, and throttle mapping. It has an auto/comfort mode, and a sport mode as the 2 main modes. I love the quick throttle mapping of the sport mode, but the suspension gets so hard it rides like a truck, and the tranny holds low gears forever, it kills the fuel mileage. Ideally, I'd like to have the Throttle map from the Sport (much more responsive, no lag, not lathargic) copied over to the the AUTO setting, but leave all of the other settings like the shift pattern and luxury ride. Anyone know if this is possible...hopefully through the dealership at all?
01-27-2013, 08:20 PM
#2
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X350d GLE500e 2017, ML350 BlueTec 2012(sold), A200 2013, ML350CDI 2009(sold), Aston Martin DB7 2003
I am a dreamer. I wish there was a Sport 1 & Sport 2 much along your thoughts. Sport is brilliant at mountain climbing, but it does rev too high.
Another setting that say increased the revs halfway, and stiffened the body roll without as much firmness would be great.
Another setting that say increased the revs halfway, and stiffened the body roll without as much firmness would be great.
Last edited by iankayem; 01-27-2013 at 08:28 PM.
01-28-2013, 09:39 PM
#3
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01-28-2013, 09:49 PM
#4
I agree with this bloke in an Audi forum talking about this gadget:
All it does is boost the throttle position voltage over the first half of the range, something you can yourself by speeding up your toe movement.
save your 300 bux and just step on the gas further. This product is snake oil, and nothing else. There have been literally HUNDREDS, if not thousands, of reviews and 99.9% of them are negative. Actual testing of the electronics show that it does nothing more than what the driver could do if you stepped further down on the gas pedal. It DOES NOT speed up the signal from the pedal to the DBW TB. Spend your 300 on a flash tune.
01-28-2013, 11:50 PM
#5
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I see in other threads there is an Engineering Menu through the Head Unit that controls a number of software settings. I wonder if I can adjust the throttle response through that? Anyone have any definitions of what all of those parameters mean? Just to be clear, I already have the program as part of my on-off road package in "Sport" mode, I just don't like the tranny shift pattern, or the hard airmatic setting that also comes along with that turn of the knob.
01-29-2013, 06:17 PM
#6
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X350d GLE500e 2017, ML350 BlueTec 2012(sold), A200 2013, ML350CDI 2009(sold), Aston Martin DB7 2003
Personally I do not have any problem with the W166 throttle mapping. Just that in Auto the steering is too light and the body movement is soft.
And in Sport, the revs are too high, except for vigorous driving.
I just hope that for the next model when it comes, Mercedes might consider an in between range.
And in Sport, the revs are too high, except for vigorous driving.
I just hope that for the next model when it comes, Mercedes might consider an in between range.
01-31-2013, 10:31 AM
#7
Senior Member
How much air are you running in your tyres guys? Mine was pumped up to over 40psi when I took delivery, and it was very firm in SPORT mode, but I dropped them all down to 32psi now (as per the vehicle tyre chart) and it's just right for me now. In AUTO mode yeah it's like a boat, so I rarely use that mode. I also agree that the transmission seems to hold the car in 5th gear even at 100km/h on a freeway so I sometimes just flick the '+' paddle and it will change into 6th then again for 7th. Bit of a pain I know but as soon as I activate distronic it seems to drop into top gear on it's own anyway, and then if I cancel distronic it stays in top gear too ... weird. I can also now see that's contributing to my high fuel usage, which is currently averaged at 15.9l/100km since it was reset at delivery just over 3000kms ago now, although a part of that is also because the car is still newish and I'm getting more mileage out of each tank so it is improving slowly.
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01-31-2013, 11:50 AM
#8
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Pressure is 33. I tried the manual "flicking" of the paddle shifters too, but system over-rides changing gears if it deems RPMs are too low for the shift in the mode it is in...or speed it too low. So in Sport, the computer requires higher RPM and higher speed before it allows the shift...once you drop below the speed it likes, it automatically downshifts again. Seems to stay 1 to 2 gears lower even with manual shifting in Sport than it does in Auto. Typically I see a full 1,000 RPM higher in Sport than in Auto because of this shift pattern. Would be nice if they had a user defined parameter setting, where you could adjust the Throttle, Shift, Suspension, Steering between a couple settings...sort of like Audi does (not sure how well that works for them). I'm just picky I guess, but isn't that expected from the folks that buy MB products? I did scroll throught the Engineering Menu, but didn't see any settings in there (that I could decipher) that would allow me to adjust the mode parameters.
