One bad-ass ride!! As far as the shifting, that is the way the M-B is set up. Even on my wife's SLK350, if you have the pedal to the floor and try to upshift, it will hold the current gear until IT decides when it wants to shift to the next one - supposedly this is to maximize performance.

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2001 X5 3.0i (PP/WP/AP) Traded at 213K miles
RARE White on Black - Why does everyone get Tan??
First E53 with 215s on XOutpost!!