2006 e320 cdi - stop at the red light, the street is very much level flat, take my foot off the brake pedal, the car doesn't even try to roll forward. Is there too much friction somewhere? Shouldn't it try to roll forward? What should I look for? Thanks!

 

You might have the parking brake on. But you do not state where you come from, if you have activated SBC HOLD, this is exactly what should happen. If you are from the US, the car would not have this feature. It is quite important to have your location mentioned in the profile if you are looking for quick and accurate replies instead of speculation like this.

 

Thanks very much for the reply! I took your advice and updated my profile. So, I don't have the SBC hold feature, and I made sure the parking brake was not on. Any other suggestions? I assume that you agree the car should be lounging forward if I take my foot off the brake. Thanks again!

 

Could your car be in Comfort mode (starts in 2nd gear)?

If so, try Sport mode (press C/S button by shift lever).

My car has similar behavior.

-Jerry

 

I cannot remember for sure but I've had a W211 E320CDI and I think it did crawl forward on a flat road once the brake pedal was released. But you don't have to rely on your memory and I trust your experience then. So you say your car moves forward if S is selected but not with C?

 

I think in "C" it starts off in 2nd, which may explain the lack of it wanting to crawl forward from a stop. I honestly can't remember if mine does or not....

 

Just confirmed today at lunch. In "C" mode, the car will slowly move from a stop (slower than walking speed). I forgot to test "S" mode. In the past, I have used "S" mode in slow moving traffic. My tire/wheel setup is the stock 16" configuration (on Goodyear Tripletreds).

I suppose there are many variables contributing to this (torque at idle, tire resistance, custom wheels, road material, etc).

If the car does not move in "S" mode, there may be a problem.

 

i always thought ALL cars roll forward in idle. My overweight 4Runner w/ just a 150hp v6 rolls forward.

 

I tried "S", it does seem to have more tendency to crawl forward. I guess I won't worry about it, then.

Thanks everyone!

 

Keep your eye on it.

I've noticed that at times my car feels sluggish (lack of power) and does not pull forward on C mode, but there are other times (when it feels spiffy) that it does pull forward (also in C mode). Also, there have been times when the idle fluctuates ever so slightly and I notice a slight pull followed by a slow down, pull and slow down rhythmically with the idle fluctuations.

Although, I have not been able to isolate the cause of this, I did notice that after replacing the sparks and cables the behavior went away.. unfortunately, it recently returned (along with the sluggishness).

I always run my car on C mode, only switching to S when I want to overtake from a dead stop (even so, it often feels sluggish in S mode as well. Almost like I'm not running on all 8 cylinders).

 

I was also worried about friction and resistance from somewhere other than the engine that might be early signs of malfunction ...

 

Check the RPM needle at idle and note if it is stable or not and what rpm it stands at. If the RPMs are too low or it is jumping around then that could be cause for some concern.