I don't mind the ECO start. I just wish it was a tad bit smarter. For instance, I want it to use the navigation to also determine if it needs to come on. Like I don't think it should come on near stop signs, or when you are trying to get out of a parking lot. I think it should come on if you are on at a redlight where you might be there for 1 minute. Stop signs are press brake, car shuts off, car in front of me goes, I stop at sign, car shuts off, then I let the gas off and go. Add 4 cars in front of you and this becomes annoying. Another pet peeve, I pull in my garage, I put the brake on when my tires hit the 2x4 to let me know that's as far as I need to go, the car shuts off and then I open the door and the car turns back on so I can turn it off again. Just know I'm home and don't turn the car off and I'll do it normally.

I have noticed if you don't push the brake all the way but just enough to keep the car stopped it won't engage ECO. So when I'm leaving a parking lot and don't want it to turn off I just lightly press the brakes and it doesn't turn the car off. Inclines really help with this.

 

No, I do get it. I understand CAFE standards. And living in the Republic of California all my life, I also get to deal with CARB. It's all part and parcel of the bigger malady: "solutions" that impose their political will onto consumers in the guise of "better" when, in fact, the solution often offers little-to-no actual benefit, but sure as heck makes folks feel like they're doing something "good."


Let's face it, while some legislation clearly makes sense, far too much legislation (or arguably worse, EPA mandates which don't even require the scrutiny of law making), results in no actual benefit that can be proven. Folks "say" this or that, but there's no science (or worse, junk science) behind it. But it's for our earth and will save our future, so therefore it must be good.


Yes, I'm still talking about the Eco Start/stop "feature"; just one more example of the myriad ways consumers are getting sold a bill of goods that doesn't add up in fact or real-world results. But feel free to embrace it. There's certainly no shortage of that.


Edward

 

I don't think you really get it. No one here has actually said that they like it and that it's good. It's just there because of government mandate and the manufacturers have to use every trick in the book to meet those guidelines. Car design and engineering is all about compromise, you won't be happy with all the ones that they make.

 

ECO start stop is nowhere near as annoying as Skip shift which has been in GM manual trans V8 vehicles since the mid 90's. Basically if you are below a certain RPM in 1st gear it locks out 2 and 3 and forces you to 4th to help save fuel. Its easily defeated with a little plug in harness, under the car, but its there, and can drive you absolutely batty. ECO is nothing, and at least all you need to do when you don't want it, is tap a button.

 

Lol at the GM reference - even easier, just get it out of the skip shift band, which ends at like 2500rpms in 1st gear, and you don't even need to defeat it. So basically, it just encourages you to spend more fuel even though the intent was to save it.

 

Yep but its annoying in traffic when you're trying to keep a certain distance. But yes you end up using more fuel than if it just wasn't there lol.

 

Well said. I use "light brake technique" all the time. I can pretty much easily decide when I want the Eco mode to engage and when not to. Yes it takes some getting used to and you may need to pay a little bit attention while braking, but doable.

 

I also use this technique and have gotten quite good at it.

 

Just tried this today: engine killed by Eco twice. And that second time I was just short of creeping...soooo light on the brake pedal; engine still cut. Oh well ...back to hitting the dopey button.


Edward

 

Deleted

 

Contact MidCity Engineering in Chicago and buy the module they have that takes about 30 min to connect under the dash. It shuts down the eco every time you start the car. No more pressing a button .

 

Just checked out MidCity ...nice! They clearly are in the business to improve upon the electronic interfaces manufacturers dole out ...nice niche! But at just shy of 2 benjamins, I'll pass. Good idea though. Thanks for the tip anywho


Edward

 

Let's say it takes 5 seconds to think about turning it off each time you get in the car, from the initial thought to the act of pushing the button and putting your hand back on the wheel/shifter. And let's say you get paid $50/hr at work, so we can value your time at that rate. $50/hr is $0.83/min, or $0.07/five seconds. You do that twice a day ($0.14) and if the module costs $174 (per their site), it will pay for itself in about 3.4 years... if you plan on keeping the car for that long, it might be worth it to you. Of course, if you consider your time worth more than that (based on any other factor you choose besides just salary), it will pay for itself even sooner.

In the end you'll spend on what you want to spend on (or not) and it's all good. This was one reason I didn't buy a 2014+... because I also wouldn't want to spend an extra $174 to disable a feature I already paid for but didn't want in the first place

 

How much is high blood pressure, aneurysm and a heart attack worth? From the sound of some of the owners in here, they are about to have all three because they have to push the eco button

 

You don't get it do you? I don't want a feature on my $60k car that is useless to me AND I have to proactively disable it every time I start the car.
I don't need most of the other "safety" features either but they are in-obtrusive enough so they don't bother me too much.

So for all those who hat hate the ECO function here is the solution.

I haven't actually tried it yet but based on the sales pitch and the video it seems rather impressive for the decidedly low price of $99:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-Vid...EAAOSw7I5Tv7ay

(scroll down for the ECO function disable solution)
You need a bit of handiness with tools to install it but then again this board is for mechanically inclined people.

Here is the video for the installation:


The same cable controls the ECO function as well as additional features (they do cost $39 extra but there is a discount for multiple feature purchase).

I will buy it as soon as I get my hands on my W212.

 

Oh, believe me, I do get it, this is my 4th car with start stop and I have heard it all. What I don't understand is why would anyone pull apart their dashboard just to avoid pushing a button. Did you use dragon speech to enter the last post to avoid hitting the keyboard buttons over 500 times. It too bad, because that would have been over a year worth pushing the eco button.

 

I guess that's where we differ, I am willing to pull apart the dash just to "stick it to the man". My car, my choice. Not to mention the fact that that mod also enables the video in motion feature which is obviously needed when you have kids in the car and you are going on a long trip.

 

If you have kids, the video in motion part I can understand, it is also nice to have full function of the comand system while you are in motion as well.

 

I have split screen on my E. Cool option that I have yet to use but the kids are grown.

 

So I am new to the world of ECO stop/start and have a question. I just got a 2014 E350 and it seems to me that it takes a long time for my start/stop to become active when driving. I have a 30 mile drive to work and the ECO light in the instrument cluster stays yellowish until I have driven about 10 miles, then it finally turns green. Is that normal?

 

As I understand the operation of ECO, it requires the aux battery that powers the starter to be almost fully charged to engage ECO, along with multiple other pre-requisites. When I owned a 2014 E350, it rarely would operate because my driving was basically all short trips. (3 to 5 miles) After a fault code started appearing at startup the battery was replaced. ECO would then operate after driving 5 +- miles. It would stop/start the engine once until driven further.

 

I still think something is wrong with the ECO feature in my car. I guess I need to have the dealer look at it. It did not turn green the other day unitl I had driven 23 miles. I mean come on, really? Why even have it then. And then, when it did turn green, it went back to yellow a few minutes later and I hadn't even stopped.

 

Are you under warranty? As mentioned above, if you are, just take it to the dealer, they'll probably replace the battery. If not, try replacing the aux battery if you like that feature. For some reason, the aux battery doesn't last very long and many have replaced it.

 

Yes, I am still under warranty. I'll just take it in. I have to anyway because I have a couple of other minor things I need fixed.

 

mine is green from start. however the car needs to warm up a bit before it turns off at a stop. Mine is a diesel if that matters.