I don't do much "City Driving".....but most of my traveling is on winding mountain/hillside roads.....really windy in some cases, switchbacks and all.....I use "S" when ascending and descending.....because if I do them in "D" the tranny upshifts on short flat spots.....and then downshifts again....."S" allows for better performance, keeps the engine in a more tourquey area of the performance band......

SB

One of these days I'll take a coupla pictures on my way to town....25 miles if I go over the "hill"

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Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

My 83 goes to 2nd after stopping at light or stop sign. When I start out it drops to 1st for a short time then right back to 2nd then on up to 3rd & 4th gear. Is this the way they were supposed to be designed?

Yeah its one of the more stupid things MB did. I notice the SD doing this all the time as well, super annoying.

The fixed it the SDL starts in 1st like it should.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I hate the second gear deal. When I merge I dont stop all the way ya know.. So when I shoot out I'm going pretty slow since its stuck in 2nd gear.. I need to look at the kickdown switch since its pretty picky when it kicks down.

The 2nd gear thing I havent even noticed for a long time. It seems to accelerate just fine from 2nd gear from a rolling stop.. if I need faster acceleration I just put the pedal down some more and whammo, 1st gear.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Yup, that's how it's supposed to work. If it "sticks" in 2nd, something's not adjusted correctly.