KenH

Even when I put the car in 'S' mode, it starts out in 2nd gear. According to the manual, it should start out in 1st.

If I punch it from a stop, it shifts into 1st and it will then automatically go into 1st everytime I come to a stop. Once I turn the car off and back on, it's back to starting off in 2nd gear again.

Is this a ECU/TCU learning thing? Did I buy a car last driven by a little old lady in Pasadena? If so, is there a way to speed up the relearning process?

efiftyfizzle

Try this.

E55Greasemonkey

Does your cluster show "s" mode? You may have a bad switch on the console, or maybe it got a soda/coffee bath

KenH

It shows 'S' on the cluster and I can feel it shift modes when the button is pushed between M/C/S. Also the fact that it will start in first once I force it to kickdown to first one time seems to show that it isn't a switch or mechanical issue and is more likely a logic issue.

I'll try the ECU reset suggested above for the fun of it when I leave work today though it's not clear if it even works on the e63.

tscales

I forget the button, but you have it in Winter mode.

KenH

I tried the ECU reset trick and it had no effect on the car at all. I don't think this works with the E63 as some people have previously reported.

Tscales, your winter mode idea sounded very promising, but my car doesn't seem to have that feature at least that I can find in the manual.

gdestiny

Check this link. I have the same issue with my E63. It seems to be a problem on the early model 2007s and bad software. I haven't had much success finding a dealer to acknowlegdge the problem. They all say it's normal. I am going to get a tune in the near future which should resolve the problem.

https://mbworld.org/forums/w219/2690...ecu-flash.html

deuce zer0

we don't have that mode. we have c/s/m

you could have the dealer reset the car adaptations, but i don't think that is the problem. is m mode working properly?

deuce zer0

this looks like what you are looking for, ken.

KenH

BINGO! I'm sure this is it as my car has a build date of 11/06. Thanks a lot for the link.

I am planning on ordering a tune next week, but I'm not sure that it will correct this issue. Have you asked a tuner about it?
EDIT: I see someone stated that their Renntech tune corrected the issue, so perhaps there is some hope.

gdestiny

I just got my car back from the dealer and i had them flash my ECU to the latest software version. They charged me an hour of labor for it but it was well worth it. Now car starts in 1st in S on startup and now shifts aggressively. Feels like a brand new car. So either a software upgrade or ECU flash from a vendor should take care of this problem.

KenH

Thanks gdestiny for the update.

To help close the loop on this issue for anyone else with this problem, I did install an EC tune last week and it did not correct the issue and I was told by Jerry that the tuners don't have access to the necessary controls to correct it.

Sounds like a visit to my dealer is in order.

KenH

I went down to the dealer and had them upgrade the ECU for $120 and it took care of the problem and did improve the overall shifting over how it was stock.

They couldn't find any documentation on it and had never heard of the issue. I told them that I would be happy to risk the $120 to have them flash the ECU and if it didn't fix it, it was one me and not them.

I could tell it was bugging them, so they kept looking and eventually found something in the system that talked about the problem. They said it was worded like it was almost a defect rather than an improvement like 'After the upgrade, you will no longer be able to start in 2nd gear in sport mode' or something similar.

2007 6.3

Did you have to reflash you EC tune in after? Or did you need Jerry to re-do the tune to work with the new OS installed by MBZ?

I have a EC tune and I hate the 2nd gear starts...Ill pay to have the dealer flash in the new OS, but I dont want to screw up my EC tune.

Can you post the WO so I can print it and take it to my dealer to show the revision number etc?

KenH

Jerry recommended downloading the vehicle info after the factory update and sending that back to him so that he could recreate the tune file again before reloading to prevent any chance of bricking the ECU.

My own mygenius device is stuck in a recovery mode so I have to get that fixed before I can do that on my own vehicle so I am currently running without the EC tune.

I don't have a way to scan the WO right now but it references PB 2700 / 107 and the PN listed for the software upgrade is 99951 00100 but not sure if that is meaningful or not.