I regularly downshift the 400E for added acceleration as it just won't respond quickly enough, and sometimes not at all. The SL is much more responsive to the gas pedal than the E, but I still manualy shift it just to get that first gear start. Keeping the shifts within the range of the gear you are going for doesn't seem like abuse to me. These cars are built and I don't think they have to be babied as long as the maintence is kept up.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K