I have posted this before, but I can usually defeat this lag phenomena by not flooring the car. Flooring it makes the initial lag time increase as well as the between shift events less smooth. I give about a quarter throttle, get moving and then I punch it just over half way, hold it as the car speeds up and then slowly add throttle so that when the shift happens I still have about a quarter throttle left, and I continue to slowly add until I get to speed. Punching it to the floor seems to leave me standing doing nothing for a while, which is a painfully unpredictable moment, then take off quickly with much interference by the ASD system. My method gets me moving normally followed by an abrupt increase in acceleration that stays pretty steady through the gears. May not actually be faster, but it feels a lot faster. Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)