Bmarcinczyk14

I've been noticing my start/stop already functioning after 1 minute of only driving out of my neighborhood and coming to a stop. Considering the engine was just started cold in the morning, there is absolutely no way the oil temperatures have reached optimal operating temperature. Therefore I can't see any other outcome other than this causing premature wear on the engine. I know you can turn the function off, but were the engineers really that clueless when they designed this feature to not let the oil temperatures warm up more before functioning? Unless this engine has some crazy magical design I'm not aware of to heat the oil.

fabbrisd1

Whatever - in the Summer with outside ambient temperatures "warm" - yes ECO will activate/Go-Green faster - and in Winter month's ECO will activate/G-Green later.

So the ECO operational algorithm - to meet EU requirements - is a International Conspiracy on the part of the 3rd largest auto/truck makers in the world to accelerate the wear on your C-Class ?

So that you know the operating temperature of 10W40 is -30C to 100C - so what is your beef that engine technology has changed since the 1970's ?

Stupid Is What Stupid Does - you should get out more buddy...

Bmarcinczyk14

Lol so why is it you took my thread personal? Sounds like someone's a bit insecure.... A bit immature to come out with personal insults wouldn't you say? Grow up, buddy...

My 02 Corvette z06 I don't gun until the oil temperature reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit, because it's widely understood this will cause premature wear on the engine. It takes a good 10 minutes of driving in warm temperatures to get there. It's a big 5.7L v8, it's also not a 1970's...

Operating temperature means the oil will function in those temperatures, not that its the optimal operating temperature. Would you really feel comfortable if you were turning your engine on and off with oil at -30 Celsius??

I'm all ears and if there's something I don't understand about something I love learning new things. But your response come across like you've got something to prove and you're an *******. Just saying

superswiss

For me I turn off ECO stop/start pretty much immediately after start, but I occasionally forget and whenever I get a 4-cyl loaner like a CLA I tend to leave it on, because the silence is more pleasant than the sewing machine sound of these engines at idle. I have noticed that they do stop the engine very early into the driving cycle when the engine hasn't fully warmed up, but I highly doubt it's because the engineers don't know what they are doing. Nowadays they have supplemental pumps to keep the oil circulating and other measures. Operating temperature of the oil these days is 140F(60c). That's reached relatively quickly. Takes me less than 5 minutes even in my C63S at 70F+ ambient temperature. Even so it seems to allow the engine to turn off before even reaching 140F. I know that MB has one of the best start/stop systems. For example, they actually keep track of which cylinder is at the firing position once the engine comes to a rest, and in order to restart it, they inject fuel and ignite it in that cylinder to immediately and smoothly restart the engine. My understanding is this not only results in a smoother engine start, but also reduces wear. I'm actually amazed at how smooth the 4cyl engines in these cars restart compared to some of MB's competitors where the whole car shakes when the engine restarts.

Bmarcinczyk14

Now this is an excellent example of a useful response! Thank you sir for your valuable input!

diamondsilver16

I have (almost) completely forgotten how annoying the stop/start and/or having to hit the button every time at startup was.

Unplugging that two-wire sensor at the negative battery terminal was one of the best "mods" I've done to my car.

stockbmw

I did too until I found out alternator been running 100% for past year. It's plugged back and been pressing the eco off button. RPMs now 200 less on idle and butt dyno tells me I am saving 0.1mpg and less wear on alternator.

Wolfman

Gentlemen,
None of these comments are called for...

AFAIK, modern engines really require no warm-up anymore. This is more a less a thing of the past. Same with the cold starts in the winter; start the engine and get going. One of the ECO parameters is the coolant temp; not sure if oil temp is a relevant for engine condition.
Personally I disable the feature the moment I step in the car

Bmarcinczyk14

I'm sorry but it's still hard for me to believe oil temperature isn't critical to engine wear. I understand the thing about no longer needing to warm the engine up before driving but to me turning off and on the engine over and over again is kinda a different story.

Wolfman

Unless you can find evidence to the contrary, your beliefs just reflect personal opinion.

ECO start/stop is a much disliked feature, similar to run flats, but it has been around for many years, installed in millions of Mercedes models.
If there would be potential engine damage related to it, including high mileage engines, we should see many thousands of issues popping up.
Not saying it can’t happen but I haven’t seen such a thing.

gpouliniii

ALL engines that are started from a cold start should be warmed up if the weather is below 40 degrees outside! That’s not very good advice whatsoever. In fact it’s probably the worst thing you can do to your car. In the winter months of course. As for the alternator running 100% of the time, that’s it’s job. It’s supposed to run 100% of the time while keeping you’re car running and charging the batteries at the same time. The Eco start/stop is a stupid feature, pretty much useless and power robbing. The little bit of gas and wear and tear on the car isn’t worth the headache of having it. I wish it could be set to remain off on the settings guide, along with what setting you wanna drive in. Comfort with Eco turned on is a driving mode I never use lol

stockbmw

Your car has variable alternator that charges your battery depending on current voltage. If it's low, it will charge at 100%, if it's high it will trickle charge at lower rate. If the grey clip is disconnected, it will disable the eco feature and the variable charging system and increase your engine's rpm to compensate for the increased demand from the alternator.

places

Simple solution is to turn it off. This is what I always do as I find the feature a real pain. As for impact on the engine, who knows. The technology is still pretty new and unless you plan on keeping your car for hundreds of thousands of miles I wouldn't really sweat it.

LaciCLK320

Besides my 2017 C300, I have a 2016 BMW 535i and guess what? You turn off the start/stop once and then it stays OFF untill you accidentally push it. I find it hard to believe why MB has a hard on for keeping the system as is. My hats off to BMW on this.

superswiss

It all comes down to regulations. In the newest BMWs it doesn't work like this anymore, either. Auto start/stop has become a tool for the car manufacturers to show better mpg and meet emissions during the test cycles, but regulations pretty much stipulate that if they use Auto start/stop during the certification process and the test cycles, then it must be on by default. Same goes for the drive mode. Basically cars have to start in the mode that yielded the certified mpg and emissions. This is why these cars start in Comfort mode with ECO start/stop turned on every time. In exchange, they are allowed to continue to have less efficient modes such as Sport, Sport+ etc. and allow ECO start/stop to be temporarily turned off as long as it takes deliberate action from the driver. I'd rather deal with having to turn off ECO start/stop every time than the environmental agencies potentially getting the idea to outlaw the sport modes altogether.

fabbrisd1

This whole ECO Start-Stop started with the EU "mandate" for this feature - and in turn - yes - in the US you will have a increase in MPG in use .

If you get "tired" of it - Vladimir in Belarus (righteous guy) for like $180 his OBD module reprograms ECO so that if you have ECO-Off when you turn off your MB - when you re-start your MB ECO-Off. If your turn off your MB with ECO-On then when you restart your MB ECO-ON - and that ECO setting will not change if you change profiles during your drive.

Like $180 for W205 up thru 2018 : https://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-ca...EAAOSw2iJa-n9S

A bit more if have 2019-20.. check other eBay listing.

eBay message Vladimir your VIN FIRST so he can confirm back to you.

LaciCLK320

Did anybody try to reverse the 2 wires on the auto start on and off switch located on the center console! I am not an electrician but this would be an inexpensive solution. So my thinking is that at start up the circuit would be open thus the system would be INOP. If you wanted the auto start on you could just push the button.

diamondsilver16

It's not a simple two wire connection under there. It's a momentary-contact switch that only sends a low voltage logic trigger signal to the IC controller. The orientation of the switch in the circuit does not make a difference at all.

It's all software controlled.

benzdude

Someone could easily create a circuit (with a relay) that would trip the eco button a few seconds after the engine is started, to automatically turn start/stop off.

gpouliniii

Do you know anyone who has tried his devices? I want to buy one if they really work. He supposedly can do a lot of things to them that will change a lot of the annoying things our cars do from the factory, like the eco start, top speed settings, seat belt alarm, computer software etc etc. I think he starts them out at $139 and when you want to add stuff to them, it’s like $40 per request.

benzdude

looks like someone already did it!

https://www.evilution.co.uk/electric...f_at_start.htm

Gazwould

Speaking from a W204 point of view I at first removed a 7.5A fuse on top of the auxiliary battery , this permanently disabled the SS .

On this model the negative battery thermal connector disconnect also renders brake HOLD disabled , which I like .

Having run with the fuse removed for several months now I went the full hog and removed the auxiliary battery saving 5kg and the ability to sell it to the Mercedes OCD types that must have everything functional even though it may be a bad thing .

GringoBling

You don't need anything! Just unplug the two pin wire clip from the negative battery terminal and its disabled. Tada.

Gazwould

What model ?

Keeps brake HOLD ?

midcityeng

For anyone annoyed with disabling the start / stop feature each time, you can pick up one of our OBD programmers that retains "last mode" for this feature, you can take a look at our vehicle coverages HERE. Pick one up today!