I have a 20 year old 300E that starts in second gear if you start out gently. However, if you are a little more aggressive, it starts in first gear. I believe my E550 does the same thing. As far as merging with traffic, even in E mode, it doesn't take much throttle on the E550 to accomplish this. In normal driving I want the transmission to shift up to a higher gear as soon as possible.

 

I don't believe that is correct. It starts in 2nd when set to E. I personally always set it to S as soon as I start the car. I would use E only in snowy weather. When I had my 2000 e320, I would use the W setting(same as todays E setting) in bumper to bumper traffic to prevent the tranny from jarring when slipping from 1st to second. I don't have that issue with my e550. Regards. Ned.

 

Do you mean S as opposed to E? That affects the tranny shift point. The C and S setting is for the suspension which I don't believe affects engine or tranny performance. Regards. Ned.

 

I know it starts in second but I thought it down shifted off the line like my 300E if you punch it.

 

mines a 2010, it's C and S, they changed to E and S for 2011

 

Same as E-Dude. I must have spent 15 minutes fiddling with various menus and button pushes trying to get the E/S setting to remember S mode on my 2011 E550; only to find out that E is the default. What a travesty. My previous car was E500 and it remembered the last setting.
Does anyone KNOW if the dealer can change the default setting or if there's a hack for it?

 

For the regular driver, starting in second also makes for a smoother take off. In E mode, you also get a taller reverse gear. 7 forward speeds, 2 reverse speeds.