R-N

True but making the car default to an economy mode is art of how the company meet CAFE standards. Looking at it as glass half full, I'm glad the S mode is there if I want it, but since the transmission drive program continually adapts to your driving habits I've found I can leave it in E, drive like its in S, and the car is plenty responsive.

Cheers

mleskovar

Or, the government could have left it up to the consumer to decide and allowed the default to be user selectable and still allow the manufacturer to advertise the lower mpg. This is nanny ware plain and simple and a stupid government rule.

maguzma

Does "S" mode affect gas mileage? I have never had a car with 300HP average 25.6MPG and I hate to get less if I go "S" mode all the time. My M35 with 276HP only got 22MPG (on a good week) and I like to keep my MPG higher is possible to keep my wife happy.

BM2BZ

yes but paying a few bucks more per fill up gets you non-stop smile .

J.M.G.

In Germany we have to pay a yearly tax for each car. This tax is highly dependent on the fuel consumption as stated by Mercedes (comparableto the US EPA).

Therefore Mercedes could not allow to switch off ECO Start/Stop or to choose “S”-Mode by default, as this would definitely have a negative impact on mileage! And this, as stated above, would lead into defraudation of tax.

Also I would like to point out something else: In Non-AMG 212 one can alter thetransmission mode (“E” / “S” / “M” (optional)). This has nothing to do with the suspension setup. To effect the ride-hide and the damper-characteristic-curve, one has to push the button to the right of the comand-controller(Airmatic-DC equipped cars only).

thenew3

Manual isn't always right. For example manual states the radio volume is suppose to be lowered when navigation starts talking. Well it doesn't do that. (bug in the software confirmed by MBUSA).

I've only read through about 1/2 of the manual and I can tell you I've already found about a dozen discrepancies from the manual to actual functionality.

Also in a previous vehicle, manual stated DRL is fixed on with no way to disable, well that was wrong too.

So its likely there is a way to make the mode start in S, just hasn't been discovered by anyone yet.

CEB

No, because the government has to legislate for the dumbest amongst us and surely someone would complain that they couldn't attain those mileage numbers.

The rationale behind this rule is sound, but some of the tin foil hat crew will never understand that.

CEB

Of course it does. It revs higher and shifts later, burning more gas.

mleskovar

Come to think of it, my last MB had a physical toggle switch that determined the mode and there are other MB models that have the same switch today so I think this is an MB 'feature' and not government mandated.

J.M.G.

At the risk of repeating myself: This feature was necessary to make the car street legal at least here in Europe. Therefore MB did make it impossible to work around that with an Easteregg…

However, we do have some shops over here in Europe, that can deactivate Eco-Start-Stop and I am pretty sure that they might have a solution for the “E”/”S”-problem. I just pushed a thread in a german forum, which discussed exactly this issue. If they find a solution, I will keep you updated.

Arrie

On highway driving makes absolutely no mpg difference between E/S.

In city traffic probably does but I would not think this is significant either.

CEB

Don't waste your breath. some of the guys here just want to believe it is a conspiracy.

Pushing that button really is a first world problem.

CEB

At any steady speed it makes no difference, but in city driving it can easily make a difference of 2-3 mpg.

One can negate the difference by careful application of the gas pedal - but that puts you back in E mode

PilotAlan

How exactly is that different from what I said?

CEB

You started your post with a comment about "stupid government rules" and stated that EPA mandated that the setting revert to E.

I corrected your misconception and explained that EPA/DOT requires the MPG testing to be done at the default setting. MB chose to do the mpg testing at the E setting.

You seem angry. Take a drive in your car and everything will be much better.

PilotAlan

Read the whole post before slamming someone. The last sentence said:
I'm not angry, simply correcting your inference that I was wrong in what I said.
And it IS an EPA and DOT rule, as you said. I think it's stupid (as did the OP), and was pointing out that it's not a stupid MB decision, but one driven by CAFE regulations.

hyperion667

thenew3

Got the car back from the dealer Monday afternoon, did the PCM reset, and so far it is driving much smoother and pickup in E is much stronger (Haven't tried S yet).

Thanks for the info. How often will we need to do this PCM reset? And why can't MB figure out how to make it adaptive in real-time? In all my previous cars (BMW, VW, Audi) it's always been adaptive in real time (i.e. if I loan my car to my father for a week, when I get it back, it'll run sluggishly until the system re-adapts to my driving style. Usually takes a day or two and its back to normal).

BM2BZ

you can do it as often as you feel like .

Henrik-200 cdi

It is not possible beacause of the official data for the fuel consumption and Co2 emission.

Long3494Qut

PCM solves everything Realistically, the difference between E and S is extremely miniscule (IMO). Personally, I consider them to be one and the same. Just drive it aggressively if you want a more sporty feel and if it gets laggy, PCM reset. You want E, drive gracefully. Done!

K-A

Agreed. The "Sport" button on M-B's and many other manufacturers are more marketing driven than anything ("ooh, it has a 'Sport button'").

On a newer BMW, the Sport button is very comprehensive and feels genuinely derived from a bonafide sporting mind-frame. The car literally feels like another car when flipped into "Sport". It wails the engine in about every gear as if it's eager to redline, the gas pedal gets immensely more responsive, the gear changes are quickened extremely and the steering gets heavier. To top that off, you can go one up on BMW's with Sport Auto Transmission and/or M Sport Package to "Sport +" which now allows you to spin the tires at will. To top it off yet again, you have ANOTHER "Sport" option which is called "DS", i.e flipping the gear lever to the left (which is completely separate from the already very aggressive "Sport button") which gives you basically two aggressive Sport modes on top of each other.

The only downside to this is that the Sport button, and especially "Double Sport setup" i.e DS shift/Sport button are too aggressive for every day use and you'll find your car wanting to redline in moderate driving conditions and wasting tons of gas, cool, but rarely useful. I use it as more of something akin to a "Nitrus button", hit it and the car feels like it gained 100+ HP and got a double-clutch race-bred transmission.

I believe Porsche have a similar setup in how "true" their Sport button is. M-B's Sport button is practically non-existent in comparison YET at the same time you can use it all day long and feel an extremely moderate difference.

An option in the middle would be ideal: I.e BMW offering something along with its aggressive setup that's a little more mellow than said "Sport" setting that keeps the same sporting-nature, but is livable like M-B's. Or on the other hand, M-B offering something higher than their "Sport" setting which adds some true "Sport" characteristics but maintains the normal/livability attributes of its current system.

SoCalCLK

I have the "S" or "C" transmission choice on mine. I've gotten into the habit of selecting "S" each time I start the car. Too bad there wasn't a way for the car to remain in "S" after I shut it down like my CLK55.

CEB

Of course it is adaptive in real time - which it why it learns and becomes sluggish. Like gas mileage, it is much easier to kill it then to bring it back up. 10 miles of jack rabbit starts from light to light will reduce gas mileage drastically and it'll take far more than 10 miles of highway cruising to bring it back.

If you drive aggressively, the system will learn but it is a bit of a catch 22 - the sluggish system will keep you from driving more aggressively so it takes longer to learn.

paul550

1st time MB owner 2011 E550 with 46k miles. After I brought the car home I have hit the throttle a few times to see its performance in E and S modes , now it seems to have a hard 1-2 shift in S if I am gentle on the throttle. Hard accelerations are smooth. After reading some of the trans issues I am a bit concerned I have an issue that might be costly. Any help would be appreciated.