1st time E55 owner here. Just got through the break in period and had questions and observations about running through the gears in Manual and Sport mode.

In Sport Mode, my car seems to rev freely near the redline and has never hit the "over rev limit". This part feels good. What feels "soft" is the response of the tranny when shifting, meaning, there is a noticable lag between the time when I initiate the gear change (paddle or shifter) and when the gears actually shift. I understand the Manual mode is for the faster shifting, but this mode instills a "slipping" feeling. Is this normal? My E500 shifts noticably faster in this mode so I have something to compare it against.

In Manual mode, I can definately feel the tranny responding to gear changes almost instantly. What concerns me is the car does not rev as freely near the red line as compared to the Sport mode and I appear to be hitting the "over rev limit" just north of 6000 RPMs. Obviously this feels horrible. Is this normal? Does this improve as the car adapts?

I want the free revving of Sport mode and the response time of the Manual mode. Thoughts?

Also, any recommendations for optimal lanuch conditions in this car? Sport vs. Manual? Suspension Mode Off, 1, or 2? Rear Tire pressure?

Suggestions?


thanks

Well in "sport" mode the tranny will shift for you just before redline so you won't bounce off the rev limiter. In "manual" mode the car will not shift for you , so you are bouncing off the rev limiter...........not a good thing for the car.
If you use manual mode make sure you shift it before you hit redline otherwise just leave it in sport mode.
Manual mode is best used in real twisty roads so you can hold your gear through the corner without upsetting the balance of the car by the tranny shifting when you don't want it to.

Thanks for the reply JLP, I understand the differences between Sport and Manual. My biggest concern is that I'm hitting the rev limiter in the low 6000 RPM range?

To be honest I dont see the point of the manual mode.... When I tell it to upshift it ignores me sometimes and goes into limiter ... ouch. The best way to use this box is in sport - even on a track.

Let the box upshift for you automatically and use the downshift only. In sport the car will stay in the gear of choice, unless you hit redline. The neat thing in sport is if you press the downshift for 1-2 seconds it will select the lowest feasible gear for your roadspeed, no need to check which gear you are in... similarly if you hold the upshift for 1-2 seconds it goes straight to D (drive) from whatever gear you were in. Also- I have not tried it - but I heard if you dont want the box to upshift in sport mode you keep the downshift button depressed as you approach the limiter - kind of goes into semi manual mode... but I still need to verify this.

If this does not work then the only time the manual is usefull is when you are at a limit of a gear change in/through a corner and you dont want it changing up ... thats about it. I very seldom use manual. The upshifts are to missable in my opinion.

Rgds Steve.

Stevebez

I too have seen the upshifts significantly delayed and hit the rev limiter. Whats disturbing this happens in around 6200-6300 rpms.

What I don't like about Sport mode is the situation when your on it hard and back off, it gets mushy.

I'm a rookie with this car, so I'm still trying to figure out how to hook up the 1-2 consistently. Half the time I make the car take a big pause (ESP kicking in) and then a big rush of torque kick in. With the ESP off, I'm still getting way too much wheel spin. I'm sure the tires are part of the problem too.

I'd still like to hear what others do when its time to get serious:

* ESP: On or Off
* Suspension Mode: Off, 1, or 2
* Transmission Mode: Sport or Manual
* Rear Tire Pressure: ??? PSI
* Launch RPM ????
* Tire suggestions ????

thanks

I had similar experiences to most of you. The wheels just spun. The new tires (295/30/18) on 18"X9.5" rims changed that. Now, the car is not nearly as picky but I have a similar protocol for max launch.

ESP on vs off: I actually get my best launch with the ESP de-activated, but just BARELY. The problem is that a bad launch will have more of a chance to ruin a run if the ESP is off. Once the wheels start to spin I have to come off the power to get it back. So, if I am after a great launch and have lots of attempts, I deactivate it, if i only have a few tries then i turn it off and hang on.

Airmatic Setting: I put mine in comfort. I figure the looser the car, the more the hookup?

Air Pressure: Low in the rear (so they can stick), and hard up front (to minimize drag).

Technique:
I hold the left foot on the brake and feather the gas with the right foot. I basically get the car all wound up, but I DO NOT hold the gas and brake pedals down at the same time. I know others have better launches by pinning both, but I don't feel comfy pushing the car that way.
At launch, I release the brake pedal and start mashing on the gas (as traction allows). Once the car is rolling, the gas goes all the way down and the rest is pretty much hanging on and watching the AMG hummmm.

In terms of hitting the rev-limiter:

Don't worry about it. The limiter is an electronic cut-off to prevent you from damaging the engine from over-reving. It's a safetly measure, and it's doing its job. It's there to let you know that you're about to reach the limit, but not quite. The engine in fact has more rpms to spare (call it conservative german engineering) before it reaches the danger zone. You're not doing the engine any damage.

In terms of the shift lag in Manual mode, there really isn't a way around it. You just have to plan your shifts in advance and keep your eye on the tach. It sucks, I know! I've *****ed about it in my other threads. Sometimes it either refuses to upshift, or it'll skip a gear entirely. And don't even mention downshifting! I'm really into twisty roads kinda stuff (hate drag racing), and not being able to rev match on downshifts just sucks. The car gets all squirelly upon corner entry. I think that's where the SMG got MB's tranny beat! In my 996T, at least the tach is dead center of the dash where I can see it clearly.

Here is something that I tried and its more for typical driving versus launching.
Set your tranny mode to sport and shift it like its a manual. In this mode you can start off in 3rd and let the tranny shift 1st and 2nd for you but after that its all you. I hate being in Manual mode and while talking sometimes to people in my car I forget that its in that mode and next thing I know I'm at 4k rms. So people try it and see if makes a difference. I just had my car serviced for the campaign letter I just received (search service campaign) and read what myself and others feel about the car now. So now the car is learning how I drive in S mode while Manual shifting and the car shifts faster than before and it revs like a SOB. Also if you are cruising at 45mph in 3rd gear while doing this and nail it it will kick down and hit 6500 and shift back to 3rd and then you have to shift from there but you will go from 45 to 95 before you hit 4th gear!

Guys,

I thought "S" mode was "Standard" mode, not Sport. The three settings are Comfort, Standard, and Manual. On the E55, Comfort starts the car off in 2nd gear from a standstill, and shifts are supposed to be somewhat softer than in Standard mode. Standard uses first gear at stops and has firmer shifts, but Mercedes-smooth.

I may be mistaken, and without going to the manual that's what I thought the "S" mode was for, which is decidedly different than what we should expect from a "Sport" setting. At least that's how it is on the '06's.

Did I get the wrong information?

Cheers,

Ryan
Superbikepics.com

look this car is built to be automatic. its a 4000 lbs with 4 doors, better off putting it in auto and let it drive itself. if you want the sporty shifting feeling, get a SMG3 or Ferrari f1 car.

I have an 05 and I tried driving in manual and just flooring it and the tranny upshifted by iteself when it redlined ??? is this normal ?? from what it looks like it is not supposed to change but mine does ....

S is semi-auto/sport same thing really , C - comfort (full auto) , M - manual. - I Think....

Late models have locked gearing in manual .. (i.e. WYSIWYG in each gear).... no auto upshoft on redline.

Thds Steve.

Check the manual, S is for sport.

that's normal and it's in the manual. Unless MB changed it for the '06 it's always been that way. Regardless of mode, blah blah, the car will upshift it it deems necessary. It will also hover in the lower gear near redline without upshifting if it thinks you want to jump on it again.

What's the redline on these cars?

That is incorrect. On MY06 E55s, when you are in the Manual Mode, and actively use the shift buttons/lever, the motor will NOT upshift at redline. You will in fact keep bouncing off the limiter until you upshift. I know this as fact because I've already flogged mine up and down several nearby mountain passes. In Manual Mode, it WILL downshift automatically when the motor senses that the rpms are too low for current speed (i.e., coming up to a stoplight).

hence my reference to MY06 change since this hasn't been the case in the past