Mercedes Manual gearbox

[vinnie07]

Evening guys,

Just a quick question if I may and apologies if its a silly one.

I have recently purchased a manual 2016 Mercedes SLC it has a 6 speed gearbox but it is fairly difficult to shift the gearstick in reverse, I wondered if this is normal for a manual Mercedes? Or am I incredibly weak? Ha ha.

Don't get me wrong it is very do-able but it feels difficult compared to any car I have ever driven. Currently have a bad shoulder and putting the car in reverse is definitely aggravates it.
Reverse is left and up from gear one but the gearstick has no lever.

Thank you for reading all advice greatly welcomed.

[Missy Charm]

It's many years since I've driven a manual Mercedes, but I do seem to remember them being hard to put in reverse. It's probably a German thing as BMWs also seem to have the awful rock-hard reverse detent spring. I had to use both hands when I had a Three Series. Stupid feature.

[vinnie07]

Missy Charm said:

It's many years since I've driven a manual Mercedes, but I do seem to remember them being hard to put in reverse. It's probably a German thing as BMWs also seem to have the awful rock-hard reverse detent spring. I had to use both hands when I had a Three Series. Stupid feature.

Ahh really! I was actually hoping it was a fault with some quick fix. Such a stupid feature if there is no simple fix for this

[vinnie07]

I don't suppose anyone more mechanically minded than me knows if there is some sort of fix a garage could do to make the shift into reverse a little easier?
I think my previous shoulder injury is making it all the more difficult to do multiple times a day

[trevalvole]

If it is reluctant to go into reverse, does selecting neutral, bringing the clutch back up for a second and then trying again make it any easier? I had a mk2 BMW Mini where this helped.

[Ron240]

vinnie07 said:

Evening guys, Reverse is left and up from gear one but the gearstick has no lever.

If I understand you correctly reverse is in line with first gear but there is no lever to pull up on that you would expect.
It seems a bit silly but maybe it is deliberately made stiff to engage to minimise the risk of selecting reverse by mistake instead of first.
I am curious what made you go for a manual gearbox in the first place, because auto was standard on these cars and they greatly outnumber the manual option.

[vinnie07]

trevalvole said:

If it is reluctant to go into reverse, does selecting neutral, bringing the clutch back up for a second and then trying again make it any easier? I had a mk2 BMW Mini where this helped.

Cheers for your response, that’s so strange but I will give this a try tomorrow and see if that helps at all

[vinnie07]

Ron240 said:

f I understand you correctly reverse is in line with first gear but there is no lever to pull up on that you would expect.
It seems a bit silly but maybe it is deliberately made stiff to engage to minimise the risk of selecting reverse by mistake instead of first.
I am curious what made you go for a manual gearbox in the first place, because auto was standard on these cars and they greatly outnumber the manual option.

Thanks for your response. Yes that’s correct. I figured it could be a safety feature but it does feel very difficult to engage. To be honest I was open to manual or auto and this came up local at a good price and having always had manuals I thought why not…which I am starting to regret if there is no simple fix for this

[Dewi 2]

vinnie07 said:

Thanks for your response. Yes that’s correct. I figured it could be a safety feature but it does feel very difficult to engage. To be honest I was open to manual or auto and this came up local at a good price and having always had manuals I thought why not…which I am starting to regret if there is no simple fix for this

An earlier comment about 3 series BMW, did not match my own experience.
One of my cars is an E30 3 Series manual. The resistance spring protecting reverse gear is a sensible strength, so no difficulties.
I think you are describing a spring, rather than eg. lever protection. If so, perhaps a slightly weaker spring could be fitted, to resolve your problem.

Prior to the introduction of electric handbrakes, Mercedes cars often had foot pedal operated handbrakes.
That must be awkward in manual cars. Need three legs for hill starts. You can just pull the release lever, but the resulting bang does not seem very mechanically sympathetic.

[TarquinMX5]

vinnie07 said:

Reverse is left and up from gear one but the gearstick has no lever.

Thank you for reading all advice greatly welcomed.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'the gearstick has no lever'.

In short, no, it shouldn't be overly difficult. I haven't driven an SLC,but have driven other manual MBs and have never had any issues or noticed it feeling any different to other cars, but is it one where you need to pull the gear lever up, or push it down, before moving it fully to the left?

What does the handbook say?

Does it make any difference if you select first (or possibly second) before selecting reverse?

[Ron240]

TarquinMX5 said:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'the gearstick has no lever

It is very common to find a collar below the knob on the gearstick that ones pulls up to enable reverse to be engaged.

[TarquinMX5]

Ron240 said:

TarquinMX5 said:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'the gearstick has no lever

It is very common to find a collar below the knob on the gearstick that ones pulls up to enable reverse to be engaged.

I did wonder if the OP meant that; the only one of those I can recall driving was the Rover P6 and it always struck me as a good and straight-forward solution.

[Ron240]

TarquinMX5 said:

I did wonder if the OP meant that; the only one of those I can recall driving was the Rover P6 and it always struck me as a good and straight-forward solution.

It is a safety feature that is commonly fitted when reverse is in line with first gear.
There is no need for anything like this when reverse is located to the right and back for example.
I am curious about the last car you have driven to have this device being from then 1960's - 70's because I have found it to be very common, although maybe it is manufacturer specific. It is unusual that the Mercedes box in question does not have this feature.

While writing this I am reminded of my uncles car back in 1980...a new Datsun Violet SSS which had a 5 speed gearbox with a dog leg first and reverse where you would expect to find first, and when reverse was selected it was accompanied by a warning tone.

[pvn]

I have a C Class estate with a manual gearbox. It needs a good shove to overcome the spring to move the gear lever to the left of first gear before pushing forward to select reverse. Hope that helps.

[vinnie07]

Dewi 2 said:

An earlier comment about 3 series BMW, did not match my own experience.
One of my cars is an E30 3 Series manual. The resistance spring protecting reverse gear is a sensible strength, so no difficulties.
I think you are describing a spring, rather than eg. lever protection. If so, perhaps a slightly weaker spring could be fitted, to resolve your problem.

Prior to the introduction of electric handbrakes, Mercedes cars often had foot pedal operated handbrakes.
That must be awkward in manual cars. Need three legs for hill starts. You can just pull the release lever, but the resulting bang does not seem very mechanically sympathetic.

Thank you for your reply Dewi. That would be great if the spring could be changed to help the problem because it really is a difficult shift. I will pop into my local garage and ask about this

[vinnie07]

pvn said:

I have a C Class estate with a manual gearbox. It needs a good shove to overcome the spring to move the gear lever to the left of first gear before pushing forward to select reverse. Hope that helps.

That's exactly how mine feels! Does it cause you any great difficulty or am I just very weak? Ha ha. A comment above from dewi suggested a weaker spring do you think that could solve the issue in your car assuming mine is the same?

[vinnie07]

TarquinMX5 said:

I did wonder if the OP meant that; the only one of those I can recall driving was the Rover P6 and it always struck me as a good and straight-forward solution.

yes, some have a collar that you can pull up or a push down feature on the gear stick to reverse but this car has none just a very difficult shift from neautral to reverse. Any sort of recommendation to fix would be greatly appreciated