Rubpau

4LTwinTurbo

I don't think our motors have cylinder deactivation. Maybe in the S class it does. The only other fuel saving technology besides auto start stop is the "sail" mode that basically puts your car in neutral when coasting, only available in comfort mode.

What exactly do you think will wear out from starting and stopping the engine? I don't think you should worry about it. New bearings and other engine components are designed to last longer with auto start stop. If you don't like it, just turn it off or don't drive in comfort.

​​​​​​I'm pretty sure the reliability problems of this car in the future won't have much to do with that feature.

KJ

Agree 1000%! I don't think the car starting/stopping causes any more wear and tear than having the engine idle.

These engines are built to withstand way more than 500 hp and 500 tq. Many people have tuned their engines for power way beyond that with no problems. If it can handle that, "start/stop" is nothing.

As said above, if the OP is worried, he can turn the feature off.

RDOCA

Do you mean some people actually use comfort???

Swordfish99

I'm with you on that one. My car is always in Sport+ and Manual. "A" is turned off by default when in that Mode.

right_mr

Unfortunately my work commute involves being stopped at traffic lights for around 5 minutes and sometimes i just leave it in comfort mode with auto start stop but with exhaust valves activated. Other times i drive in individual mode and just let the engine idle in neutral in traffic.
Pros
- saves a bit of fuel if sitting in traffice for a while
- lowers emissions where you are stopped while stopped possibly but more importantly helps merc get better emission figures to help fight off the emissions police.
-The good thing is from the engine being off and i'm about to set off and release the brake, the car starts up with a growl and with a blip of acceleration it briefly revs up before the clutch engages and it lets out a beastly sound for an instant.

Cons
- unnecesary engine wear
- you're not as agile compared to having an engine idling
- it doesnt help the battery if the engine is completely off while I'm blasting music and blowing the AC full speed (at least idling the engine instead traffic might reduce the net battery usage)
- You can easily just rev the engine in neutral and it is better for the engine (rather than blipping the throttle when the engine turns on after you release the brake)

midareff1

I'm generally in "I" which is set at "S" for engine. South Florida in the summer makes ECO kinda useless for stop and go driving although a 6 tint on the sunroof and all other windows tinted helped lots.

raudiace4

It's additional wear on the starter, and these cars with the auto start/stop to save gas have more robust starters capable of taking the abuse. It's not additional wear on your engine. It's fine. It's annoying so I never use mine bc i'm always driving in S+.

longbow0404

so true; South Florida in the summer makes ECO useless on stop and go traffic

midareff1

Thanks for the invite... wifey already made plans for Sat/Sunday but I want to come to one of the events. Anything scheduled for July or August?

longbow0404

You are very Welcome

We are working on them. We do one event per month; Follow us on Instagram or Facebook to keep up to date on all of our events

right_mr

That's a very good point. I'm no car guy but one thing worth considering when referencing engine wear relates to the rear of the engine where the crankshaft rests on the bearings when the engine is off. As i understand it, when an engine is stationary, the crankshaft makes contact with the bearings while when an engine is running, the crankshaft isnt making contact with the bearings due to hydrodynamic lubrication once a layer of oil gets between the bearing and crankshaft. That period between the contact being made between the two metal parts and when the oil lubrication gets between the crankshaft and bearings is where the engine wear may take place as initially the spinning crank is rubbing against the bearings. Apparently manufacturers have developed solutions to auto start stop where those bearings can take say 10x as much wear than pre-auto start stop engines but I cant say what the c class solution is to this and how robust.

RDOCA

I think a film of oil will remain for a while and the passages will remain full so when the restart happens oil is almost instantly there.
The new systems like the new CLS53 and E53 I6 coming out soon will have a new 48v system and is much more robust with starter/gen. in the bell housing and with elect. AC. The engine will not have to start all the time at a stop when it is hot and it calls for AC and the engine will not have a belt on the front anymore. They also have an electric supercharger/turbo to fill in till the turbo spools up.