First gear start for 500SL

[allanb888]

This topic was mentioned some months ago, but I wish to relate
my experiences, since the modification that I did to my car, I rate
as the most cost effective way of improving performance and driving pleasure.

For my 500 SL, I fitted the BergWerks first gear module, with a Euro E/S switch for sports mode, and the optional security mode.
I am very happy with the kit, which makes the car pull much more briskly from slow speeds, and I suspect the difference will be even greater in a less powerful car. I have another switch on the dash which switches the module off and reverts the car to second
gear starts, for slippery conditions, but I never use it. Where I live, there is no ice and snow, except in the mountains.

The problem is, that as far as I know, Mercedes was unique in persisting for many years with this idea of starting in second gear to improve fuel economy, but many owners do not like the reduced performance when the auto transmission torque converter slips in second gear.

In the Mercedes design, first gear can only be selected by the accelerator pedal activating the kickdown switch, or using the gear lever to manually select 'B' postion.

When magazine roadtests are done on the SL's, maximum
acceleration runs, with kickdown, activate first gear to record their spectacular statistics (for the 500SL). This is not how the cars are driven most of the time, in normal use, where acceleration away from traffic lights or around a corner, especially uphill is not as spectacular as expected ( but still very good compared to most cars).

I thoroughly recommend this modification. I did the installation
myself, without any problems.