[Blueeyesredpanda]

Very common comparison of these two big german company, alot of car companies now a days dont make their own transmission anymore, but I see that Mercedes are still developing their own transmission.

For the latest BMW trans, the ZF 8 speed. Other car companies like Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Jaguar, Jeep, Lancia, Land Rover, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen also use the ZF 8 speed. Just curious why they dont make their own transmission? And why does Mercedes still make their own trans?

[Bols]

The programming of each brand makes a giant difference.. not sure if they relay custom wishes to ZF as well but seems likely given. BMW tranny setup is damn near perfect though.

Anyways, driven em both and have to say I wonder why Mercedes still tries making their own they've been far behind, and quite unpleasantly so, for almost a decade now! Hope the newer gen fixes some of that because I have yet to drive those..

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by Blueeyesredpanda

Very common comparison of these two big german company, alot of car companies now a days dont make their own transmission anymore, but I see that Mercedes are still developing their own transmission.

For the latest BMW trans, the ZF 8 speed. Other car companies like Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Jaguar, Jeep, Lancia, Land Rover, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen also use the ZF 8 speed. Just curious why they dont make their own transmission? And why does Mercedes still make their own trans?

I though the dual clutch mercedes unit in one of the versions of the AMG GT was outsourced.

Up the interstate from me is a GM transmission plant, but doesn't GM also purchase some Tremec units?

Transmissions are very complex and tooling expenses. And now with individual lineups ranging frm ultra light economical to high power to heavy duty, I guess car manufacturers have a choice to make in-house for some models and to also outsource.

You'll usually find certain car parts, like helical gears or radiators or pistons - and for the big guys - are manufactured by a specialist company.

But yeah the Mercedes 7__.__ transmissions are usually in house very advanced and ( along with parts ) make Mercedes a supreme manufacturer. Though during the 2000's their manual transmissions were considered notchy.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by Blueeyesredpanda

Very common comparison of these two big german company, alot of car companies now a days dont make their own transmission anymore, but I see that Mercedes are still developing their own transmission.

For the latest BMW trans, the ZF 8 speed. Other car companies like Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Jaguar, Jeep, Lancia, Land Rover, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen also use the ZF 8 speed. Just curious why they dont make their own transmission? And why does Mercedes still make their own trans?

Acura now uses the ZF 9 speed. What a piece of junk. I thought Honda was bad at designing transmissions. IMHO of course.

[jpnh]

MB is a much larger company than many people realize

Look at their product line up

They make a large number of components for much heavier use cases than passenger vehicles

[M3ZING]

Mercedes is decade behind in transmission gen compared to BMW

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Bols

The programming of each brand makes a giant difference.. not sure if they relay custom wishes to ZF as well but seems likely given. BMW tranny setup is damn near perfect though.

Anyways, driven em both and have to say I wonder why Mercedes still tries making their own they've been far behind, and quite unpleasantly so, for almost a decade now! Hope the newer gen fixes some of that because I have yet to drive those..

I rented a brand new E Class in France last month with the new 9g tronic transmission. We drove for 3 weeks through France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The MB 9G-Tronic transmission was perfect in that it always seemed to know what gear to be in. I never felt like overriding and going into manual shift mode. It felt to me just like the ZF8 in my F30. Granted, I wasn't pushing it, but for day-to-day driving it was quite nice. The new E class is a hell of a car. If I were looking for 5er-size car I would definitely look at it.

[Crimson92]

Originally Posted by M3ZING

Mercedes is decade behind in transmission gen compared to BMW

BMW sources from ZF.

[Bols]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

I rented a brand new E Class in France last month with the new 9g tronic transmission. We drove for 3 weeks through France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The MB 9G-Tronic transmission was perfect in that it always seemed to know what gear to be in. I never felt like overriding and going into manual shift mode. It felt to me just like the ZF8 in my F30. Granted, I wasn't pushing it, but for day-to-day driving it was quite nice. The new E class is a hell of a car. If I were looking for 5er-size car I would definitely look at it.

That's good to know! I wonder how it performs with the lower hp engines (of which a lot of em are sold in the EU) because these transmissions tend to allow the RPM to drop way too much for comfortable driving in guise of fuel savings with some vibrations as a result sometimes. Anyways I'm a manual guy I would only consider an AT on a 30i or up so not really my problem

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Bols

That's good to know! I wonder how it performs with the lower hp engines (of which a lot of em are sold in the EU) because these transmissions tend to allow the RPM to drop way too much for comfortable driving in guise of fuel savings with some vibrations as a result sometimes. Anyways I'm a manual guy I would only consider an AT on a 30i or up so not really my problem

The engine in the new E Class I rented was a 200D. I had mixed emotions since I knew I'd be driving on the Autobahn but I have never driven a diesel car before. The 200D was awesome. Keep in mind I was just driving and not road racing, but this little engine did great with 3 people and a trunk full of luggage. I never experienced a situation where the RPM dropped too much for comfortable driving. Possibly its because the diesel has a lot of torque but I'm no expert. The engine/transmission combination was perfect for me. The big surprise was the fuel consumption. With a lot of stop and go in small towns, coupled with a bunch of Autobahn driving, I averaged 45 miles per US. gallon.

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

The engine in the new E Class I rented was a 200D. I had mixed emotions since I knew I'd be driving on the Autobahn but I have never driven a diesel car before. The 200D was awesome. Keep in mind I was just driving and not road racing, but this little engine did great with 3 people and a trunk full of luggage. I never experienced a situation where the RPM dropped too much for comfortable driving. Possibly its because the diesel has a lot of torque but I'm no expert. The engine/transmission combination was perfect for me. The big surprise was the fuel consumption. With a lot of stop and go in small towns, coupled with a bunch of Autobahn driving, I averaged 45 miles per US. gallon.

This week when merging on to a long ramp on to the highway, there was a W211 E-class diesel in front of my 235. Accelerating hard (think it was a tech from the nearby Mercedes dealership) and that car was fast, I was impressed.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

This week when merging on to a long ramp on to the highway, there was a W211 E-class diesel in front of my 235. Accelerating hard (think it was a tech from the nearby Mercedes dealership) and that car was fast, I was impressed.

The car I rented was the new W213 E Class. I don't know if its small diesel is faster than the W211 you mentioned, but it sure surprised me.

Here is info on this car. I'm sure we will be seeing a lot of this new Mercedes on the road. What a car!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merced...E-Class_(W213)

[paliknight]

The dual clutches in the M cars are also ZF?

[Shredicus]

Originally Posted by paliknight

The dual clutches in the M cars are also ZF?

Getrag

[Crimson92]

Originally Posted by paliknight

The dual clutches in the M cars are also ZF?

Getrag I believe.

[Alfisti]

I may be in the minority but I am not a fan of the X1 and X3's 8 speed. It's a bit better in the X3 but still, it's fucking HOPELESS transitioning from downshifting to upshifting, so fucking harsh. In other words, you are coasting to a red light and she shifts down a gear, light goes green so I hit the gas rather carefully and yet still, BOOM it jerks into gear, hopeless.

My 2008 Saab is MILES AND MILES smoother, absolutely no comparison between the two.

[RM7]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I may be in the minority but I am not a fan of the X1 and X3's 8 speed. It's a bit better in the X3 but still, it's fucking HOPELESS transitioning from downshifting to upshifting, so fucking harsh. In other words, you are coasting to a red light and she shifts down a gear, light goes green so I hit the gas rather carefully and yet still, BOOM it jerks into gear, hopeless.

My 2008 Saab is MILES AND MILES smoother, absolutely no comparison between the two.

I can see that, same trans is used in some Chrysler cars and it can't figure out what year it's supposed to be in, that was my experience during rentals. It's far better in my 428.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

This week when merging on to a long ramp on to the highway, there was a W211 E-class diesel in front of my 235. Accelerating hard (think it was a tech from the nearby Mercedes dealership) and that car was fast, I was impressed.

Those E350 diesels are quite quick IF they get the drop on you.

[Nivarox]

I drove 7G Tronic in W212 . Overall I can say it was good but sometimes it felt very nervous and shaky and clunky too .
Now,I drive BMW the best transmission ever .

[floydarogers]

Originally Posted by Blueeyesredpanda

Very common comparison of these two big german company, alot of car companies now a days dont make their own transmission anymore, but I see that Mercedes are still developing their own transmission.

For the latest BMW trans, the ZF 8 speed. Other car companies like Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Jaguar, Jeep, Lancia, Land Rover, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen also use the ZF 8 speed. Just curious why they dont make their own transmission? And why does Mercedes still make their own trans?

BMW has essentially never built transmissions. The manuals in our '77 320i and '77 530i were ZF 4 speeds (or could have been Getrag). The trannies in those cars were ZF 3hp22.