http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e39/forum.php?postid=3218558&page=1

as you increase the number of speeds, you approach a continuously-variable-transmission design (which is equivalent to an infinite number of speeds), but this is still tricky to design, although Audi has a good implementation. And Audi has found out that people still want the "stepped" feel of a traditional autobox with discrete gear ratios; they therefore designed their CVT to simulate this.

another truly revolutionary design is the direct-shifting-gearbox design of Audi, which pre-selects the next gear (up or down), resulting in quick and seamless gearchanges, with no interruption in the power delivery.

Both Jag & BMW have 6 speed auto transmissions, SO MB has to have one better!! Just like the V-12's.
I thinf MB should start building a better car FIRST, as they still are just above Industry average in QUALITY!

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Mercedes is still the one pushing the envelope. If someone made up a list of automotive firsts, Mercedes-Benz would probably have about 90% of the top inovations.

As for quality, J.D. Powers has several rankings beginning with 90 days and moving on to 4-5 years. I don't care about the 90 day ranking because it doesn't mean much to me. the 1-3 year rankings are important because design defects show up here (like BMW's problem with their V8's). The 4-5 year rankings are the ones that are really meaningful. These are the rankings that indicate just what kind of lifespan a car will have. It's here that Mercedes usually excels.

Lexus (Toyota) are brilliant in that they let the Germans do the R&D on new inovations and then use a conservative approach in implementing them. There is little if anything in a Lexus that was a Toyota invention.

this is yet another example of trickle-down technology from racing. I just hope that MB continues in their tradition of ensuring the usability, reliability and longevity of these new designs
(the e-brakes of the new cars for example, are taking some criticism because of their unnatural feel and diffculty of braking smoothly at low speeds).

actually, their more powerful models do not really need 7 speeds, because of their reserves of torque across the rev range.

But customer mindshare and bragging rights are a different matter altogether ...