Why does Mercedes-Benz place the gear shift on the wiper position?
2 Answers
Mercedes-Benz places the gear lever on the wiper position because it adopts a column shifter design. As a representative of luxury cars, Mercedes-Benz is positioned for comfort and elegance, so in terms of interior design, designers prefer the column shifter. Advantages of the column shifter: The most significant advantage of the column shifter is that it occupies less space, providing more room for other functional configurations and increasing the front cabin space. Additionally, it allows for gear shifting without taking hands off the steering wheel, enabling smooth transitions between gears. Models with column shifters: Column shifters appear in almost all Mercedes-Benz models, including the high-end S-Class and the rugged G-Class, covering nearly the entire family, except for the AMG A45.
You asked about the gear design on the wiper stalk of Mercedes-Benz, and I’ve pondered it for quite a while! This thing is called a column shifter, actually a traditional craftsmanship passed down by Mercedes. In the early days, the Mercedes S-Class had a manual gear lever hidden under the steering wheel, which later evolved into an electronic column shifter. And now? The driver can complete gear shifts without taking their right hand off the steering wheel area—just touch the small paddle under the wiper stalk, and voilà: D for Drive, R for Reverse, all in one go. When I drove my friend’s Mercedes, I found that during traffic jams, frequent gear changes didn’t require moving my hand at all. The designers also claim this frees up center console space for watch decorations and floating screens. Some veteran drivers complain it’s easy to accidentally trigger the wipers, but after a few tries, you’ll realize pushing inward shifts gears while pressing downward sprays water—once muscle memory kicks in, it’s even more intuitive than a traditional gear lever.
