The MB tip-shift logic changed sometime around 2006-07 as I recall. On your CL, you do have the ability to manually downshift. Say for instance, that you're driving at 40mph, and the transmission is in 5th gear (the gear indicator will read "D"). Tapping the shifter once to the left will cause the transmission to shift into 4th gear, and the indicator will read "4". In other words, the transmission will shift one gear lower than the gear it's currently in. Try it, you'll see. The earlier MB's allowed the driver to shift down one gear at a time, regardless of the current gear.