I received the first gear shift kit from Bergwerks in the mail yesterday. For those of you that dont know, Mercedes had some years and model autos starting off the line at 2nd gear, taking away some of our fun. For $200-$300 Bergwerks.com sells a kit which would force your car to start off the line at 1st gear.

Ordering and shipping:
I spoke with Carl over at Bergwerks and placed my order. Carl is a true gentleman and took the time to answer my questions and address my concerns. He offered to walk me thru the install when I received the part. I thought he was just making the sale, more on that later. I received my package, which I tracked thru a provided tracking number, neatly packaged. It consisted of the main first gear start module, a security module, wiring, crimps, switches, etc etc. Out of the box it looks quite daunting, but rest assured, it is very easy. The day I received the package I called Carl to have him email me the instructions. He offered to walk me thru the install again, I told him I was doing it on a Saturday, but Bergwerks was closed on Sat. Carl gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him with any installation issues!! When is the last time you ordered some kind of a kit and the vendor offered to walk youthru the install on his personal day off over his cell phone?!

Instructions:
The instructions provided via email deserve special mention. These instructions make installation an utter and complete breeze. Bergwerks has taken the time to instruct you on taking off the center console, along with caveats and common mistakes in taking it off, they provide full color pictures of the exact wiring you need to tap into. Basically these instructions literally assure an untrained monkey success in installing this kit. With pictures, printed out these instructions are about 15 pages long. They could have fit the instructions on one page, but chose to be detailed and specific and make our lives easier.

Installation:
Install consisted of removing the center console and tapping into about 6 wires, drilling 2 holes into the cosole wood for switches, and programming the upshift and downshift points as desired. There is also a security mode which locks your doors at a certain speed that you could install, which requires work under the passenger footwell. If you didnt want this then all your work was in the center console only. I would say this project, from start to finish, took about 2 hours, well under what they estimated for a DIY job.

Results:
After installation and programming was complete I took the car for a spin, literally!! Having the car start in first gear was like launching a rocket, and the only downfall was the ASR engaging if I let the tires slip too much. You can opt to get a switch to turn off the first gear, for those snowy or rainy days, and also opt for a sport switch which will let you set a second set of upshift and downshift points for a more sporty drive.

For all you early 90's MB owners check on Bergwerks home page to see if your car starts in 2nd gear. This kit is an absolute MUST for us guys!! Additionally the great service and support I received from Bergwerks was awesome.

Thanx again Carl!
C. Rick

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2007 Corvette Convertible Torch Red
1996 MBz SL500
2008 Harley Davidson Night Rod Special