Is the 7g gearbox really that bad?

[Ian Donkin]

One of the replacement options for our E240 is an E280 petrol with the 7g gearbox that I've read so much about.

Surely they can't all be lemons as Merc use this box across pretty much the entire range, so who can tell me the good points about (and their wonderful experiences with) this particular box?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Had it on two W211's, makes the old 5 speed feel like a tractor.

The 7G is much smoother, more fuel efficient and always seems to be in the gear you want; the 5 speed is caught out when down changing as opposed to the 7G.

 

[bpsorrel]

I love it, but Steve (***) will say the opposite!

I've never found it to be in the wrong gear or changing in an erratic fashion. Always smooth and selecting the correct gear for the situation. Maybe different 7gs have different software settings?

 

[Paul/]

It's my first auto, had it since July, I think it's very good at reacting to all circumstances, the only intervention I feel required sometimes is to tip up at sub M-way cruising speed. It's certainly very clever in terms of all the paramaters it monitors to make its decisions. If you want details see my thread but don't get distracted by it going off tangent in to an argument about the role of Pulse Width Modulation- just see my post #18 if you are interested...

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/engine/137448-7g-tronic-tiptronic-user-notes-2.html

 

[Peter DLM]

Only *** thinks poorly of it, but he's extremely vocal about it

It's a great gearbox!

 

[bpsorrel]

Remember, the C220CDI 5G is the finest car ever made.. (only kidding Steve!)

 

[This is Pete]

It's fine. It sometimes can do with a little intervention in some circumstances to help out a little, but it's perfectly serviceable.

 

[V12]

Dont listen to the nay sayers. Go for it.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using MBClub UK

 

[Mercy1]

Both my Mercs had 7G. Quite frankly, I thought the wonderfully smooth auto gearbox was the best bit of the driving experience - seriously! I never felt a single gearchange and the cars wafted to the max effortlessly. Go try for yourself - all the best Mercs have them p) and plenty of demo cars with dealers.

 

[developer]

Mine has been great, and after over 12 million have been built (according to MB) I'm not surprised.

 

[SL300-24]

Love mine too, much better than my old 211 with the 5 speeder.....

 

[Paul/]

Just a thought, noticed that many posters have diesels- wonder if it might be less well regarded when operating with petrol engine characteristics?

 

[MD5]

I love it, especially paired to a V8. However, the control unit can be a problem with these, so it's worth checking to see if it's been replaced or if a fault code comes up in Star.

 

[D-18]

Only *** thinks poorly of it

He is not alone - I'm not that impressed with it either, but I'll qualify that statement. Mine had the harsh downshift from 2 to 1 when cold - but only when cold, the rest of the time I thought it was an excellent box, better than the previous 5G. I agree with the previous comments about it always finding the right gear for the conditions, always really smooth etc. until......

I had a software update done to fix the harsh downshift and it's never been the same since. Shift adaptions have been reset by an indy and latterly by an MB main dealer. Whilst it is now acceptable, it's nothing like as good as it was. In conditions where you are constantly on / off the throttle (i.e. rush hour traffic) I now have some horrid lurching changes where it previously was super-smooth. There is no problem if you can accelerate from rest in a linear fashion, but the box now gets itself confused in stop-start conditions.

If you have a drive in the car you are considering and the 7G shift quality is OK, then if you take my advice just leave it alone and don't have any engine or gearbox software 'upgrades' carried out.

As it stands at the moment, my 6.5 year old Kia Picanto auto has a much better shift quality than my E Class.

 

[developer]

He is not alone - I'm not that impressed with it either, but I'll qualify that statement. Mine had the harsh downshift from 2 to 1 when cold - but only when cold, the rest of the time I thought it was an excellent box, better than the previous 5G. I agree with the previous comments about it always finding the right gear for the conditions, always really smooth etc. until......

I had a software update done to fix the harsh downshift and it's never been the same since. Shift adaptions have been reset by an indy and latterly by an MB main dealer. Whilst it is now acceptable, it's nothing like as good as it was. In conditions where you are constantly on / off the throttle (i.e. rush hour traffic) I now have some horrid lurching changes where it previously was super-smooth. There is no problem if you can accelerate from rest in a linear fashion, but the box now gets itself confused in stop-start conditions.

If you have a drive in the car you are considering and the 7G shift quality is OK, then if you take my advice just leave it alone and don't have any engine or gearbox software 'upgrades' carried out.

As it stands at the moment, my 6.5 year old Kia Picanto auto has a much better shift quality than my E Class.

Are you close to the 37.5K fluid change?

 

[Paul/]

If you have a drive in the car you are considering and the 7G shift quality is OK, then if you take my advice just leave it alone and don't have any engine or gearbox software 'upgrades' carried out.

Sound advice- just like with PC's and for similar reasons of complexity.

In conditions where you are constantly on / off the throttle (i.e. rush hour traffic) I now have some horrid lurching changes where it previously was super-smooth. There is no problem if you can accelerate from rest in a linear fashion, but the box now gets itself confused in stop-start conditions.

Might that be that the accel pedal calibration was mucked up, or had previously been changed to try and mask the original probs, which once fixed, showed up the incorrect pedal calibration? It would be a different process though.

 

[D-18]

Are you close to the 37.5K fluid change?

Car is now on 39K miles. ATF and filter changed at 36K, then air filters renewed, left for two nights with the main dealer to check from cold. After several hundred ££'s it's better than it was, but not as good as I know it should be. I was considering getting shot of it as I hate autos which don't work properly, but I can live with it the way it is now.

Prior to the software update, I was absolutely delighted with the box as it was just so smooth and always seemed to be in the correct gear. I was just giving a word of warning to the OP - if you get a good one, leave it alone!

 

[MOCAŠ]

I've had my 7G-equipped SLK 350 for seven years now, and never had any problems with it. Most of my driving is a fairly even mixture of stop-start in town and 50/70mph sprints up and down the A/M40, but it always seems to perform well whatever I throw at it. Not suffered any jarring changes in traffic jams, and I've sat in enough of them...

The car recently had its 37,500-miles ATF change, but I can't say I've noticed any difference since then - it was well-behaved before, and remains so.

 

[Mr E]

Recently moved from a E220CDi 5-speed to an E250CDi 7-speed - the 5-speed was an excellent box with no problems. The new box is even better - albeit 6,500 miles in - so much so that Mrs E (who hates autos with a vengeance) nicks it for her commute when I'm at home.

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

Had the loan of a new E Class the other week. Tried hard to wrong foot the box and failed, found it spot on.