tfv

Has anyone figured out how to make the Sport mode the default position instead of the Cruise mode? My 2010 E550 Coupe is a different and way better car to drive in virtually all conditions in Sport mode, and I would consider keeping it in that mode despite the fuel penalty and increased wear on the engine if I could.
Ideas anyone?

John C

After an additional 8 months has anyone figured out any way to default into Sport mode? It's a real shame it doesn't remember the last setting and just restore it instead of making us push the button every time the car is started.

Pennetta

It decreases fuel mileage for the car and thus for the entire fleet average rating, BMW is the same way.

John C

I am sure it does decrease fuel mileage. But let's assume that when I chose to buy the large 8 cylinder engine, that I did so because I valued performance. Let's further assume that when choosing to purchase this car, I factored in being able to afford the gas.

I understand why they would run the fuel economy tests in comfort mode. I also understand why comfort mode would therefore need to be the initial default. But this car allows me to configure whether or not I want the steering wheel to move up out of the way when I park. It allows me to configure whether or not I want the doors to lock automatically when I start driving, and whether or not it should use traffic information when choosing its navigation routes. There are a lot of things about this car that are configurable, so it seems strange that one of the factors that has the biggest impact on the driving characteristics of the car is neither configurable nor memorized and therefore has to be manually selected each time I start my car.

But let's forget for a moment that Mercedes chose not to allow us to configure the default for this rather important item. Surely I'm not the only one who prefers the sport mode. Has anyone found a third party solution? Do any tuners sell a software adjustment for this one configuration? Can a wire be switched anywhere to auto-turn-on the button?

srice

In Sport mode, 7th gear never kicks in, and you start in 1st gear, instead of 2nd. The default has to be in comfort mode; otherwise, there would have been a pretty hefty "gas guzzler" penalty.

Keep in mind that the Sport Mode does more than the transmission, so there are a lot of reasons to prefer that as the default mode.

You are right that a ECU chip mod could easily fix this, but I have yet to see one.

PGT

It shouldn't be hard to design a $50 module to 'press the button' for you upon ignition. There's been one for MINIs for years that disengages all the e-nannies on startup.

John C

Well I might be in luck. I found a shop here locally that specializes in automotive computers and they say they can reprogram the modes and allow me to define them myself. Very interesting option as my true preference would be for something between Sport and Comfort. In a perfect world, I'd like to use 1st and 7th gears without having to hit a button. I'd like higher shift points in the low gears but am fine being more gas conscious once I get cruising in the higher gears. I still wish Mercedes would just remember the button setting, but this alternative is definitely worth exploring a bit more and seeing if I found an answer I might like ever better.

PGT

I wish there were programming options - I'd like other modes where the suspension of Sport is combined with the throttle mapping of Comfort and vice versa. I have reasons to run each.....spirited driving over rough roads = sharp throttle/soft suspension. Highway cruising on smooth highways = soft throttle/firm suspension.

Being limited to two options is frustrating but it is nice to have some control. I had three ECU/throttle maps available on my Subaru but didn't have the ability to adjust the suspension on the fly (which the MB solves nicely).