I have a 1998 CLK 320 Elegance with the standard 5 speed Auto box. I've had the car for about 5 weeks but it seems the gearbox is a bit schizophrenic. I've noticed that under hard acceleration the engine revs to about 5000-5500 rpm and then it doesn't want to go any higher, instead the car starts jerking and the engine keeps revving as if it wants to upshift but can't. I then have to ease off the throttle and then accelerate again and it carries on fine. Is this normal or have I got a potential fault? I've only ever driven BMW's in the past and they never had this issue. I used to be able to drop the hammer and the gearbox would deliver power smoothly across the rev range without any jerkiness. The CLK's gear changes are anything but silky. I was told by the previous owner that the gearbox has to adapt to my style of driving and this jerkiness will sort itself out in time but I don't buy it. Any thoughts?

 

The MAF sensor needed replacing. Did that. Also added in a Throttle body reset and the car is like new. Revs all the way up to the limiter with no problem.