Hi all

My 2013 ML350BT has a sucky transmisison.

My biggest problem with this car is the hesitation with the transmission. I understand the turbo lag from a full stop to highway speed. In stop and go traffic especially cutting into a lane when you gas it(foot on mat), it just sits there for 1 sec, rpm goes up then you get full power. I find it extremely annoying that I cant control the throttle.
Probably the most annoying move is a K-turn, or parking. Going from drive, then to reverse takes 2 seconds. This is probably by design. I dont think the reverse is engaged until the reverse camera comes on. So basically you need to sit there until the camera turns on before the car actually moves. Its extremely apparent on K-turns. You see a car coming, floor it...nothing happens, then suddenly a jerk of speed.
The dealer keeps telling me everything is within spec. No error on the TCU. I tried the "reset", but that just controls the shift points.

I was given a 2016 GLE350 and its the same. Put the car in reverse, and gave it some gas..nothing happened...gave it more gas and a huge surge of power...had to slam on the brakes to avoid slamming to the parked car behind me.

So I'm seriously thinking aobut cutting my losses and move to another car maker. I honestly think dealers just check the TCU for error codes. If none, then car is within specs.

How can I verify whether I have the correct software version. Would an independent MB with STAR help.

I have about 1 year left under warranty. I will bet the second its out of warranty issues will suddenly become more obvious.

Would any authorized MB shop have STAR to see if its a software issue and perform an update?

 

And I thought it was just me!
During reverse after parked, I feel that I really need to gas the engine to get the car moving. It feels like something is holding the car back from moving.

When accelerating quickly, it's like the signal is moving via 28.8k dial up. I once stomped on the gas and the engine/car took so long to catch up lol and it was still revving high after I was pressing the brake. It's so out of sync.

Unfortunately I think this is somewhat normal behavior for this vehicle.

 

Same with my Chrysler 300C, which has a Benz tranny.
Eh, you get used to it.

 

Does anybody knows about the 9 gears new trans? It still has the same behaviour as the 7 gears?

 

What you're all describing is called turbo lag and is perfectly normal. The only thing attributable to the transmission itself is the electronic selector, which does take a whopping 0.5 seconds to engage drive or reverse from neutral or park. Seeing as every single new MB now uses electronic gear selection, perhaps it would be best for you to vote with your wallets and get a different brand (and you'll want something with a naturally aspirated engine) if you find the turbo lag and the delay going into drive or reverse so unaccpetable.

 

While you're correct, there might be more to it than lag. The throttle on the MBs doesn't respond in a 1:1 fashion. It's load based, so let's say you give a random Benz full throttle to pass someone- just floor it. The computer will take that signal and interpret it, maybe it'll give you 75% throttle with no kickdown, and if you stay in it it may downshift a half second after that. That's one of the things that many tuners address in an ECU tune: 70% throttle input at the pedal = 75% throttle opening. 100% = 100% (near as can get, given the throttle body, anyway).

A tune would probably go a long way towards improving throttle and turbo response here. It won't eliminate turbo lag or the trans' shift logic, but it'll get you maybe halfway there.

 

Like almost all modern days cars, Mercedes's transmission is program for fuel economy. It tends to stay in a higher gear to save fuel. This problem can usually be solved by putting the transmission in sport mode, but the ML does not have such a mode. The adaptive transmission will learn your driving behavior over time, if you are not an aggressive driver, the transmission will shift to a higher gear when ever possible to adapt to your driving style. This programming algorithm usually manifest itself when one coasting and all of a sudden step on the gas. The engine is bogged down because it is in too high of a gear and takes a second or two to downshift. One can try to reset the transmission's learning program by using the procedure below, it usually last for a month or two and you will have to repeat the procedure:

Procedure Reset Transmission Adaptive Learning DIY

1. Turn the key to position 2. You should see all the dash lights come on. ...
2. Press the gas pedal all the way. ...
3. Wait. ...
4. Turn key to OFF, position 0. ...
5. Release the gas pedal.
6. Wait 2 minutes. ...
7. Start the car and drive.

 

Agree on both of the above posts. However, in the case of the turbo diesel ML with the OM642 motor, neither the throttle response remap that you could get with an aftermarket tune nor the adaptive transmission reset would affect the two specific issues the OP is describing. The first is definitely a result of turbo lag - the motor is sluggish (that's putting it mildly) from a standstill until the single turbo spools up and you get massive gobs of torque, resulting in the power surge the OP is talking about (it's nowhere near as noticeable when you're already crusing along at 2K RPM, but it is extremely noticeable coming off idle). As for resetting the transmission adaptations, the shift times from D to N to R and back are not goign to be affected in the least. It's not a matter of whether the transmission holds a particular gear or shifts up or down at any given RPM value, it's a matter of dropping the revs to idle, engaging the parking pawl, powering on the appropriate hydraulic pumps to select the required shafts and gears, and then disengage the parking pawl, at which time the transmission is ready to move you in the direction of your choosing. Seeing as the actuators are all electronic and the TCU will not let you destroy the transmission, it may take the better part of a second for this to happen - and I suspect most of this is while waiting for the revs to drop as the OP appears to be in a hurry and the engine is probably revving at 2K RPM as he attempts to select reverse - going from neutral into either D or R while the car is stationary and you're holding it with the brake takes only about 0.2-0.3 seconds, but if you rev it in N and push the gear stalk it will take almost the full second for the same operation. Repeat for going back the other way again (R -> D). So - while a tune will affect the throttle response and resetting the TCU will reset the adaptive shift point parameters, neither is going to solve the OP's issues.

 

That is one of the reason why I don't like diesel, there is no off the line power. As far as shifting from reverse to drive, I do not feel any delay at all, no more than any other car I have owned. I always come to a complete stop before I shift from reverse to drive, I guess it is a good thing that the Mercedes transmission protects itself from drivers who like to shift from reverse to drive while the car is still moving backwards.

 

It's not just a diesel issue since mine is NA and exhibits the same craptastic transmission behavior.

 

The reverse gear in the ML is a bit high, it takes a lot of gas to get it moving. As far as a throttle delay in reverse, wither one of our Mercedes with the 7 speed tranny have that problem.

 

Neiter one of mine does either (2015 ML and GLK) - but again that is the same transmission that the OP has in his 2013, so the delay (whatever it is) is obviously too much for some people's taste. I can't comment on the new 9-speed auto in the GLE - haven't driven one yet. Yes, reverse is pretty tall but that's actually a good thing when you're trying to back up with a trailer with a race car on it.

My C63 on the other hand has two reverse gears... and if you're in Sport mode when you select R, it engages the lower of the two ratios, which propels the car back so fast the moment you breathe on the accelerator that I've ended up dinging the rear bumper a couple of times against objects that were 2' away. In C it starts both forward and reverse in second gear, so it's a lot more... er, controllable.

 

I have driven loaner cars with the 9 speed tranny, very smooth, some gear hunting but overall an improvement over the 7 speed tranny. As far as shift delay in reverse, my car does not wait for the back up camera to come on before shifting like the OP's, I can start moving before the camera comes on if I am quick. To accelerate in reverse smoothly in the ML, one need to gradually give it gas, if you go from 5% throttle to 75% throttle, the engine will surge causing tranny delay when shifting into forward. My CLS550 doesn't have this problem, then again, the CLS is design for a different purpose than the ML.

 

Brought in the ML for misc repairs and mentioned the delay from Drive to Reverse.

Maybe its a placebo affect but after they "updated the software" I do notice a quicker gear change. On flat ground, the car did reverse a little quicker. The real test would be during a K-turn on a hill when cars are coming right at you.
I tested a 2016 GLE350 4matic and also did notice a relatively long delay between drive and reverse.

The turbo lag however feels the same. Have not yet found myself in a situation like changing lanes and the car just decides to take a quick siesta.

 

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Maybe it is a diesel characteristic, no such problem in the gas engine model.

 

Even my 2012 C350 didn't go right away when I pushed kick-down from a stand still. It felt like the car needed a second to think about it.

 

G Man - the 350 gasser is not a turbo, it's a n/a engine. The 350 diesel is a turbo.

Mikel212 - while I do agree with you that there is some appreciable turbo lag when the diesel is happily idling along at 1,500 rpm and you ask for gobs of power, there is a somewhat easier fix... all you have to do is pull on the left paddle before you merge or pass someone. The transmission will drop down a cog and hold it there for a few seconds even if you don't do anything, but it will have instant power when you do eventually step on the accelerator as you'll already be generating full boost, and will furthermore upshift automatically at redline. If you do nothign (i.e. continue cruising at part throttle) the transmission reverts back to full auto several seconds later and will again upshift to a higher gear.

 

Do all ML350 have paddle shifters? or just the diesel?

 

My 13 ML350 gas model has them. Though I don't know why...

 

I think all Mercedes with gear shifter in the steering have paddle shifters since there is no stick to add that function to.