Isaac13

Found this mother of all hacks. I tried it and it works. In the trunk lift up the compartment where the spare tire is located. Next to the small accessories battery there is a 7.5 fuse. Mine was connected to some small red wires. Pull that ******* as say hello to no Eco start stop. So far so good. Near error codes, lights or trouble.

MB Marko

ahahaha I'm sure a lot of people will try this out because thats the most annoying feature, thank god my 2012 doesn't have it.

edgalang

To each their own. I on the other hand wish I had it with the option to disable it.

Prago

It amuses me that so many people hate this feature. It doesn't bother me at all.

LogicalApex

Agreed. Seems people love to hate it as they never seem to have actual problems with it.

BerndV

My first act after pressing the start button is to turn off the ECO mode. The default should be off, not on. I could not possibly care less about fuel economy. Is anyone spending this kind of dough on a car concerned about fuel economy?

LogicalApex

It is less about fuel economy and more about reducing pollution.

BerndV

Actually, it exists solely to keep the MB CAFE high enough to prevent getting hit with the gas guzzler tax. It has zero to do with emissions.

Isaac13

I don't have any problem with it other than its just not a very good idea nor does it function that great. Sometimes it's in a ready state when other times it is not and I don't feel it works when I want it to and does function when I don't. I don't need the car the shut off for half a millisecond and restart. That isn't going to save any gas whatsoever and only wears out internals and various engine components quicker. That amount u wear on components far exceeds any savings in fuel. Plus heavy traffic does not sit still long enough to justify this function. Now that I have disabled it I might run a toggle switch to the fuse and be able to disable it and turn it back on whenever I feel is appropriate and that is all I need. I probably will never use that function again.

Prago

1. Eco stop/start is programmed to be very selective when it does engage for the exact reasons you are concerned about in terms of engine wear. There are many, many parameters that are monitored before the engine will engage the stop/stop function, with many of them aimed at protecting the engine.

2. Yes, because it cannot see what you're doing in a proactive manner, it is only shut down very briefly in some circumstances. However, longs stops in traffic is exactly where the system does pay off. It's not a huge increase in fuel economy but its enough to matter. There's a reason almost every manufacturer is adopting eco stop/start, with the luxury brands leading the way.

3. Please do elaborate on what internals and and components this is wearing down prematurely. Technology has advanced enough to keep things properly lubricated and, as you've probably noticed, it's not like this system engages when the engine is still cold. There's also a heavy duty starter that's designed to handle the many stop/starts this car will endure over its life time.

Antique-Ace

+1
I agree completely. Better yet, MB ECO mode button should operate the same way it does in a BMW. (It has a "memory" and saves the previous ECO state at engine shutdown/start up. I.e., If you have ECO mode turned off it stays off until you turn it on and vice versa).

Prago

They come from the factory (///M models excepted) the same way our MB's do. The dealer can enable "last user mode" however, which is what you described. I do think MB should give owners the choice in similar fashion.

Antique-Ace

I forgot that BMWs with ECO don't come from the factory with "last user mode" enabled. At my local BMW dealership all the loaners I've driven with ECO have "last user mode" enabled, and the dealership will code this on customer cars upon request. IIRC, the last Audi A6 I drove also had an enabled "last user mode" for the ECO too. IOM, MB needs to get on board with this option too.

BerndV

If you get the Renntech ECU tune, they can either disable ECO or set the default to off.

michail71

I was in a Buick and the Start/Stop feature was so much better! The tachometer also had a position for eco stop so it didn't look like the car was dead. I actually had a hard time telling when the engine stopped or started.

For Mercedes I've only driven it in W205s and CLA/GLA. On the W205 C-Class it's not too bad but the CLA/GLA feels like it falls all over itself. You get really rough, jerky starts where you feel like the starter motor is propelling the car.

Prago

Was the Buick a I4 or V6? In regards to the GLA/CLA, you have to remember they use DCT transmissions. They don't have a torque converter to smooth things out.

michail71

I'm not actually sure but I think the Buick was a 4. I hated the interior. I don't remember too much about it but it had a bright blue light strip along the dashboard that reflected off the windows at night time. A nice car with tragic interior design.

I guess that explains the GLA/CLA. They just feel so rough and unrefined to drive. The start rattles the whole car. The CLA does a little better in a start in Eco mode but that makes it a slug. I don't like to bash models but it just feels like those cars shouldn't have been made.

Antique-Ace

Can you please post a photo of the location of the fuse you removed to disable the ECO start/stop. Thanks.

Speedriven1

Not taking anything away from RT, but literally every tuner can do this.

Isaac13

jjsaustin

Has anyone tried this and confirm it works? This would be great if it is true, but I'm wondering what else is being disengaged. Are there any wiring diagrams that show what this wire is used for?

I get my car delivered next week and that ECO defaulting to ON sounds like a hassle for many owners.

Antique-Ace

I have had my ECO disabled since late April by removing this fuse. Yes, it works with no adverse effects (including no MIL, CEL lights, warnings, etc.) whatsoever.

Funkwagen

If anyone near me hates ECO mode and would be interested in possibly having it coded out of their car entirely, please let me know. I wouldn't mind giving it a try, I've made note of all the parameters in various control modules for it.

jjsaustin

Thank you.

I hope it works on my 2014 e350.

shinjyo

Even pulling the fuse may disable the function, it may already throw you an error code in the car. you won't see the error code until you hook up to a star diagnostic tool. Find someone who can code correctly to disable it is the proper way. But it's up to you.