I'm surprised it engages 1st gear at all in normal driving. MB traditionally have reserved 1st gear for climbing the side of a mountain. I had a 4 speed auto 190e which would only engage 1st in exceptional circumstances, either climbing said mountain or flooring it in sport mode. It was effectively a 3 speed auto 99.9% of the time which was frankly ridiculous. If it could be made to start in 2nd most of the time wouldn't you be better off. With a 9 speed at least you can afford to lose a ratio and not notice.
9G Auto Gearbox stays in 2nd gear when moving slowly
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gIzzE
MB Enthusiast
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All autos I have had, and had around 40 I guess, have all started in 2nd. Stick them in sport or whatever the manufacturer calls it at the time and it will start in 1st. 1st is often so short these days that you may as well start i 2nd.
It sounds more like you are trying to find a way for it to go into 1st, which you have done, but it shouldn't do it really under normal driving conditions.
It sounds more like you are trying to find a way for it to go into 1st, which you have done, but it shouldn't do it really under normal driving conditions.
ernie
Active Member
My 203 petrol started in 2nd in N (or whatever it was called) mode; the 204 Diesel started in first from standstill otherwise 2nd was the gear of choice when on the move. Like the OP's my 205 Diesel 7-sp uses 1st from standstill but second unless the car comes to a complete stop. One option which I use when I need it is to select first using the paddles and short shift to second, again on the paddles. By the time you need 3rd, the car will have reverted to Auto mode again.
The thing about modern MBs is that, because of the electro-trickery of these cars, the same gearbox in a different model can be programmed with different characteristics to suit the particular application. Having said that, a software update can work wonders - mine had a problem with rough downchanges to 2nd initially. They did an update that dialled in a throttle blip that caused the revs to match on the downchanges from 4th to 3rd and 3rd to second which made a huge difference.
ERnie
The thing about modern MBs is that, because of the electro-trickery of these cars, the same gearbox in a different model can be programmed with different characteristics to suit the particular application. Having said that, a software update can work wonders - mine had a problem with rough downchanges to 2nd initially. They did an update that dialled in a throttle blip that caused the revs to match on the downchanges from 4th to 3rd and 3rd to second which made a huge difference.
ERnie
I have the 9g box in my E350 (2016) and from stationary regardless of mode it always uses 1st gear.
It will only select 1st from standstill but will always use 2nd gear whilst moving even if only 5mph or less.
I have seen enough posts to realise that many boxes use 2nd from standstill.
Just goes to show how different these boxes can be with various cars or driving styles.
Robin
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It will only select 1st from standstill but will always use 2nd gear whilst moving even if only 5mph or less.
I have seen enough posts to realise that many boxes use 2nd from standstill.
Just goes to show how different these boxes can be with various cars or driving styles.
Robin
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I had a 7g box in the E350 petrol; smooth as anything. I have a 7g box in the E350 diesel; smooth as anything. However, they did/do both have a slight hesitation after opening the throttle before the power rushes in. The 5g boxes were worse, particularly in the AMGs, though those had so much power that the slow upchanges didn't matter much. It seems to be a characteristic of the MB setup that if you need to step off smartly from the line, there's a slight dead area before the power comes in.
The OP bought the wrong car, really. As GeeJayW says, the root of the problem - if problem there be; one man's problem is another man's barely noticeable characteristic - is that the power delivery of gently-driven small turbocharged petrol engines is not ideally suited to automatic gearboxes. You can leave the box in manual mode, but that rather defeats the object of an automatic box in the first place.
The OP bought the wrong car, really. As GeeJayW says, the root of the problem - if problem there be; one man's problem is another man's barely noticeable characteristic - is that the power delivery of gently-driven small turbocharged petrol engines is not ideally suited to automatic gearboxes. You can leave the box in manual mode, but that rather defeats the object of an automatic box in the first place.
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I had the 5g on W203 and I now have the 7G+ on the W204.
The 5g had the issue of late power delivery on kick-down (search 'delay before acceleration' on this forum). The M271 engine was supercharged not turbocharged so supposedly should not suffer from turbo lag, but ultimately it was still a highly stressed 1.8L engine so possibly this is why.
The gear changes on the 5g were fine i.e. as well as can be expected from any decent 5g gearbox. It was also reassuring to know that the 5g boxes are generally bulletproof and that I was not likely to experience any major issues with it...
Indeed the only issue I had during the 9 years I owned the car was a leaking pilot bush, which was an easy fix. ATF was changed at 37k miles / 5 years and then again at 55k miles / 10 year.
It started in 2nd when the car was in C (Comfort), and in 1st when the car was in S (Standard). Luckily on the old W203 the gearbox mode on start-up was 'last selected', so once set to S it remained in S and did not default back to C on each engine start-up like the W204 does.
I am not a boy racer, but S was much more suitable for the car given the smallish engine, it felt really sluggish when driven in C.
So realistically I rarely started off in 2nd gear.
The 7g+ box is again fine in terms of gear changes. And I am happy to report that it does not suffer from the 'delay before acceleration' issue that the 5g box did. Yes the M274 1.6L engine is even more stressed than the M271 1.8L... and it's turbocharged... but it seems that the 7g+ gearbox compensates well.
I did notice two things however on the 7G+ that I did not have on the 5g.
The first is that the up-shifts when cold can be very jerky, especially during the first 2-3 minutes when driving-off first think in the morning. It's fine once the car gets going.
The second is something I reported earlier - on kick-down, the gearbox red-lines and stays on the red-line instead of shifting up, which feels like the car is 'braking' suddenly (it isn't actually stopping... it just stops accelerating). Easing-off the accelerator a bit will allow it to shift up.
This is wrong, as there is no sense in the car staying in 2nd or 3rd gear on the red line instead of shifting up - this sounds to me like a software issue and I intend to ask for a TCU software update when it is next serviced.
But realistically this is not an issue for me, I very rarely use kick-down - only ever tried it twice in the past 6 months since I had the car.
As for starting gear... I manually select S before driving off, again I think that even with the 7G+ gearbox E is too sluggish, but I don't know if the W204 actually starts in 1st when in S mode - i.e. like the W203 did - need to read the manual.
One staggering difference I did notice between the W203 with M271 18L supercharged engine and the 5g box, and the W204 M274 1.6L turbocharged engine and the 7g+ box, is fuel economy.
To be honest I don't care much about fuel economy - my annual mileage is very low. But it was interesting to run both cars through the same test - steady cruising for 10-15 minutes on a dual-carriageway A-road - the W203 returned an average of 45-46 mpg, the W204 goes easily above 50mpg...
Of course these are the onboard computer figures, so may not be real-life figures, and also possibly MB 'tweeked' the readouts on the later models.... but then again the better economy is to be expected given the smaller capacity engine and additional gear ratios.
The 5g had the issue of late power delivery on kick-down (search 'delay before acceleration' on this forum). The M271 engine was supercharged not turbocharged so supposedly should not suffer from turbo lag, but ultimately it was still a highly stressed 1.8L engine so possibly this is why.
The gear changes on the 5g were fine i.e. as well as can be expected from any decent 5g gearbox. It was also reassuring to know that the 5g boxes are generally bulletproof and that I was not likely to experience any major issues with it...
Indeed the only issue I had during the 9 years I owned the car was a leaking pilot bush, which was an easy fix. ATF was changed at 37k miles / 5 years and then again at 55k miles / 10 year.
It started in 2nd when the car was in C (Comfort), and in 1st when the car was in S (Standard). Luckily on the old W203 the gearbox mode on start-up was 'last selected', so once set to S it remained in S and did not default back to C on each engine start-up like the W204 does.
I am not a boy racer, but S was much more suitable for the car given the smallish engine, it felt really sluggish when driven in C.
So realistically I rarely started off in 2nd gear.
The 7g+ box is again fine in terms of gear changes. And I am happy to report that it does not suffer from the 'delay before acceleration' issue that the 5g box did. Yes the M274 1.6L engine is even more stressed than the M271 1.8L... and it's turbocharged... but it seems that the 7g+ gearbox compensates well.
I did notice two things however on the 7G+ that I did not have on the 5g.
The first is that the up-shifts when cold can be very jerky, especially during the first 2-3 minutes when driving-off first think in the morning. It's fine once the car gets going.
The second is something I reported earlier - on kick-down, the gearbox red-lines and stays on the red-line instead of shifting up, which feels like the car is 'braking' suddenly (it isn't actually stopping... it just stops accelerating). Easing-off the accelerator a bit will allow it to shift up.
This is wrong, as there is no sense in the car staying in 2nd or 3rd gear on the red line instead of shifting up - this sounds to me like a software issue and I intend to ask for a TCU software update when it is next serviced.
But realistically this is not an issue for me, I very rarely use kick-down - only ever tried it twice in the past 6 months since I had the car.
As for starting gear... I manually select S before driving off, again I think that even with the 7G+ gearbox E is too sluggish, but I don't know if the W204 actually starts in 1st when in S mode - i.e. like the W203 did - need to read the manual.
One staggering difference I did notice between the W203 with M271 18L supercharged engine and the 5g box, and the W204 M274 1.6L turbocharged engine and the 7g+ box, is fuel economy.
To be honest I don't care much about fuel economy - my annual mileage is very low. But it was interesting to run both cars through the same test - steady cruising for 10-15 minutes on a dual-carriageway A-road - the W203 returned an average of 45-46 mpg, the W204 goes easily above 50mpg...
Of course these are the onboard computer figures, so may not be real-life figures, and also possibly MB 'tweeked' the readouts on the later models.... but then again the better economy is to be expected given the smaller capacity engine and additional gear ratios.
Petrol Pete
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
My 5g box only goes into first on 'S' setting or if I tell it to with the flappy paddles or shifter. I sometimes select 1st manually when manoeuvring slowly in a tight spot keeping my foot of the throttle and just creep along on idle/torque converter.
I rarely use the 'S' setting and tend to put it in manual if I want a 'spirited' drive.
I rarely use the 'S' setting and tend to put it in manual if I want a 'spirited' drive.
I have the same problem with my S320 with the 7g box ,I drive it in comfort and on a road I drive the most just one bit a mini roundabout with a blind view of traffic coming from the right,so you slow down and then look ,nothing there put your foot down turning left and nothing happens,it is scary,I will flick it into sport on Monday and see if it works better.
Devizes2008
New Member
on my previous S212 E350 D's manual it stated that the car will always move off atand in second gear unless it is in sport mode, which I find reasonable. This way the start is much smoother and fuel efficient. My W213 does the same and has 9 gears now. if you want to ensure you shoot off in first put the car in sport or sport +. it is that simple.
KeithJG
Active Member
I can never understand why owners complain of stutters or lag before the motor takes off when the throttle is suddenly needed.
This happens in C mode so is a comfortable drive with no urgency. If you suddenly want instant power the mode is S where it does not happen.
The gears only change on throttle load or wherever in the rev range which is still equivalent to load.
Even if in C mode if you floor the throttle from a standstill it will still take off in 1st gear.......MB says it does in the handbook.
Also it does say that S mode should be used for everyday normal driving and is recommended.
This happens in C mode so is a comfortable drive with no urgency. If you suddenly want instant power the mode is S where it does not happen.
The gears only change on throttle load or wherever in the rev range which is still equivalent to load.
Even if in C mode if you floor the throttle from a standstill it will still take off in 1st gear.......MB says it does in the handbook.
Also it does say that S mode should be used for everyday normal driving and is recommended.
I always drive mine in sport mode and it is a much better drive than comfort.
But occasionally you do get this lag but only very occasionally, it’s hard to replicate it to order though.
Flooring it when nipping out works but there is too much torque for this to be a safe option in my opinion.
One of my work colleagues who had a new Mercedes also commented on this behaviour.
Mind you all in all the 9G box is awesome and smooth as butter so I’m not complaining.
Robin
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