All vehicles (except Mercedes-AMG vehi-
cles:) M and the selected gear appear in the
multifunction display.
Further information on activating manual drive
program M on PLUG-IN HYBRID vehicles
(
Y
page 250).
Shifting gears
If you pull on the left or right steering wheel
paddle shifter, the automatic transmission
switches to manual drive program M for a limi-
ted amount of time. Depending on which paddle
shifter is pulled, the automatic transmission
immediately shifts into the next gear down or
up, if permitted.
X
To shift up: pull the right-hand steering wheel
paddle shifter (
Y
page 174).
The automatic transmission shifts up to the
next gear.
If the maximum engine speed on the currently
engaged gear is reached and you continue to
accelerate, the automatic transmission auto-
matically shifts up in order to prevent engine
damage.
Mercedes-AMG vehicles: the automatic
transmission will not shift up to the next gear
when the engine speed is very low.
X
To shift down: pull on the left-hand steering
wheel paddle shifter (
Y
page 174).
The automatic transmission shifts down to
the next gear.
If the engine exceeds the maximum engine
speed when shifting down, the automatic
transmission protects against engine damage
by not shifting down.
Automatic down shifting occurs when coast-
ing.
Shift recommendation
The gearshift recommendations assist you in
adopting an economical driving style. The rec-
ommended gear is shown in the multifunction
display.
X
Shift to recommended gear
;
according to
gearshift recommendation
:
when shown in
the multifunction display of the instrument
cluster.
Deactivating
If you have activated manual drive program M, it
will remain active for a certain amount of time.
Under certain conditions the minimum amount
of time is extended, e.g. in the case of lateral
acceleration, during an overrun phase or when
driving on steep terrain.
If manual drive program M has been deactiva-
ted, the automatic transmission shifts into the
automatic drive program that was last selected.
You can also deactivate manual drive program
M yourself:
X
Pull on the right-hand steering wheel paddle
shifter and hold it in place (
Y
page 174).
or
X
Use the DIRECT SELECT lever to switch the
transmission position.
or
X
Use the program selector button to change
the drive program (
Y
page 173).
Manual drive program M is deactivated. The
automatic transmission switches to the pre-
viously activated drive program E (drive pro-
gram C on Mercedes-AMG vehicles) or S.
Manual drive program (Mercedes-
AMG vehicles)
General information
In this drive program, you can permanently
change gear yourself by using the steering
wheel paddle shifters. The transmission must be
in position D.
Manual drive program M is different from drive
program S with regard to spontaneity, respon-
siveness and smoothness of gear changes.
As well as this permanent drive program M, you
can also activate temporary drive program
M (
Y
page 174).
Automatic transmission
175
Dr
iv
ing
and
pa
rk
ing
Z
