Barney

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this and if so if it is within the range of normal or something to be concerned about.

I have a W211 E320 now with about 2500 miles. Drives GREAT and no problems. I park my car in a multilevel underground garage at work. When I leave in the afternoon and am driving up the ramps, the car will occasionally hesitate as if is about to stall and then revs up and goes. This ONLY happens if I enter an up ramp going VERY slowly. No other problems. Doesn't happen anywhere else. Seems kind of strange but as I said, it never actually stalls, just seems like it is about to and then drives off fine. Perhaps it may have something to do with the fact that the engine is always cold when I leave my garage at work. Maybe it is in 'warm up mode' and operating in 2nd gear and the hill takes it by surprise.

Just looking for any similar experiences, feedback, thoughts.

cte430

my E500 does the same exact thing. In fact I was in a garage the first time I noticed it. going real slow, almost no gas, it does lunge and feels like it will stall, but I don't think it will stall. Not sure why it does it

jim256

I have a steep driveway entrance, but I approach nearly straight-in from a cul-de-sac, and it does seem to pause a little on occasion, depending on my approach speed. I assume it's a combination of downshifting and the electronic throttle waiting for the gear to be engaged before adding a little gas. Very slow speeds. I had it on a '01 C320 as well.

MB-JIM

If you are a left foot braker and you have your foot on the brake pedal when going slow it can cause the problem. Computer throttle contol can be annoying at times.

vsamak

WOW!

This sounds exactly to what happens to my 2002 ML 500! In fact it just started happening, the past couple of weeks. It's been very cold here in NYC, battery had to be replaced last week, thought it would fix the problem, but still there.

My car is in a garage. When I start it, I drive over the small speed bumps in the garage. It feels as if it stalls or brakes for 1-2 secs, then releases and sometimes revs up forward. Once I get on the street, any minor/major bump seems to trigger it. It can be annoying at slower speeds, below 30 mph and all the way up to 4th gear, below 2500rpms.

THought the car needed warming up, but no, after driving 1 hour on highway, was in Manhattan, and then bump on one pot hole, happened right away. No ETS engagement, no lights, just weird stall/break then immediate rev up. Weird! Had the car for almost 11 mos and driven same roads and same holes, first time happening.

I took it to the dealer, described it, and dealer curse, I couldn't replicate it there partly because they have such smooth roads in the burbs.

If you hear any info on this, let me know...

jim256

Just to clarify, mine does not rev up beyond what I expect, etc., it just hunts a little bit as I approach the steep drive under certain speed conditions. Then it recovers just fine. 'Not any problem I've been concerned about.

jhb

Haven't had that with our E500, our SL500 or our CLK320 Cabrio. Jeff

Gethen

I have similar experience with E320 when Winter driving mode is on. Although I would call it hesitation rather than stalling. I can feel it when driving very slowly, both uphill and on the level road. I posted a similar question on this forum and got this response . Apparently, normal behavior.

gary_hgy

I have a E240 and have the same problem. It seemed to be hunting for the right gear when going slow round multi storey carparks. The result is a loss of power and then a surge; very jerky.

mrfu

What you are derscribing is perfectly normal. There is nothing wrong with your engine or transmission.

The reason that the engine hesitates is because the tranmission is in second gear when the catalytic converter is still cold. When going up ramp or hill, while you are in second gear when the catalytic coinver is still cold, you need to apply a lot pressure on the gas pedal to get the car going.

On cold weather or after I have stop the engine for many hours, I usually wait for 3 MINUTES after I start the engine before driving off. The 3 minutes time will allow the catalytic converter to warm up to about 35 degree celcius. After waiting for three minutes, when I strat driving, the transmission will not stick to second gear.

The reason that the transmission will stick to second gear, you have to apply more load to the engine to warm up the catalytic converter faster. That's MB engineering, you can't change it, since they want the catalytic converter to be warmed up a lot faster so that the engine emits less exhaust emission. But, I do not like applying heavy load on the engine when it is still cold, since reving the engine all the way to 3,000 rpm is too much for a COLD engine; thus, putting a lot of wear-and-tear on the engine when it is still cold.

This is the nature of all MBs cars.

mrfu

Gethen

3 minutes sounds like too long. Can't you tell by tachometer droppping below 1000 RPM that the car is ready to go? With outside temp ~20F it takes less than 30 s for my car, but I give it 1 minute to warm up.

Barney

Besides, how many among us have 3 minutes to spare when we get into our car? I'm also quite sure that sitting at idle for 3 minutes contributes more to pollution than getting going right away and at least moving while the catylatic converter warms up. I have also never heard of a sound reason why pushing the engine to 3000 rpm would cause any problems with wear and tear under normal conditions. Perhaps if it were 50-below zero or something extreme but certainly not in a typical garage.

Gethen

It has to do with cold oil viscosity and not lubricating pistons enough, consequently damanging the cyliders' inner surface. I think there is a temperature or oxygen sensor that warms up and lowers idle rate. The rationale behind waiting for RPM to fall is that warmed up sensor means oil is sufficiently warm.

Barney

Yes I understand about the oil viscosity and all that stuff. My point is that the vast majority of drivers never bother to do this and when did you ever hear about someone having premature engine failure because of related cylinder wear, etc.?

Gethen

Right. I am not involved with any mechanical work on the engines, so can't tell you why engines fail, but I think if you are giving it some time to warm up (3 minutes seems excessive), the engine will perform better as years pass. Is there someone mechanically inclined to confirm this?

ValueplusClass

The manual states the range of temp. reqired to operate the car. I believe that the gauge in the dash shows this range. So as soon as you can see one bar on the gague, its within spec'ed temp. for driving. I heard some cars give a squirt of oil to the cyl. before start-up to preserve engine life. I'm not sure that the MBs do this.

ValueplusClass

The manual states the range of temp. reqired to operate the car. I believe that the gauge in the dash shows this range. So as soon as you can see one bar on the gague, its within spec'ed temp. for driving. I heard some cars give a squirt of oil to the cyl. before start-up to preserve engine life. I'm not sure that the MBs do this.

Gethen

The gauge is too imprecise to trust one-bar changes, esp. at extreme range. It is not like you have an actual themperature readout.

Carnaught

the same problem with my '97 SL.

Gethen

Did anyone consult with the dealer ragarding loss of power? A service interval is approaching and I'd like to let them look at this issue... Still annoying, and cannot be pinned on S/W switch being in W.

MB-JIM

If you are using left foot braking, this could be the problem since it will cut the throttle back when you have your foot on the brake.

Gethen

Nope, breaking with my right foot.

inkm

guys,

My E500 does the same exact thing. Feels like I'm driving a car with manual transmission:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...0&pagenumber=1

This might be a "tourque converter" problem.

aquaanox

Our 04 e320 has developed a similar problem now @ 45000 miles.. first it was almost stalling, and this morning for the first time it just completely stalled.. lights came on, and then mysteriously it started back up again on its own.. taking it to the dealer today.

hecdog

Have them check you EGR valve. My 04 E320 did a similar thing and after 3 or 4 visits to the dealer, they found the EGR valve wasn't operating well. Now, it's been perfect.