tombon

A keyless-start is a nice convenience. But the NY Times is warning about the ease of exiting such a car while leaving it running. There have been tragedies where this was inadvertently done in an attached garage.

Does Mercedes have any features which could prevent such an occurrence?

ua549

The MB does not automatically turn off a car if it was started from the inside and a door is opened. If one uses the remote start feature, the car will turn off after a preset amount of time or when a door is opened whichever occurs first.

Cao Black

Should they? And by extension, should all others as well? Should government mandate a warning or a time limit on idling engines? Too Big Brother? Serious issue for sure, not just for personal health and safety, but (according to some) for the sake of the planet. Personally, if I was greatly concerned about it, I would put a CO warning monitor the my garage like I have in the house. Cheap, easy to install and efficient.

larrypmyers

As Forest says, "You can't fix stupid."

joshg1001

Actually if the car is on, and you leave the car with your key, it does shut off. I have had it do that multiple times.

Jan AMG

tombon

According to the NYT, the SAE seems to think so: "Seven years ago, the world’s leading automotive standards group, the Society of Automotive Engineers, called for features like a series of beeps to alert drivers that cars were still running without the key fob in or near the car, and in some cases to shut the engine off automatically.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a federal regulation based on that idea, a software change that it said could be accomplished for pennies per vehicle. In the face of auto industry opposition, the agency let the plan languish, though it says a rule is still under consideration."

What explains the industry's opposition?

Good idea.

ua549

I would oppose shutting down a car if the key fob is not within range because it defeats remote start. I also leave the engine & AC running when there are passengers in the car and I am leaving it for a few minutes.

Long Islander

I called MBUSA because I was concerned about carbon monoxide filling the garage when remote starting using Mercedes Me was accidentally activated when the car was inside the garage. They said that there's a sensor that shuts off the car if the carbon monoxide level in the garage becomes too high.

crothberg

Long Islander

Until I turned off automatic start (Eco) permanently, I had the same message also. The NYT reporter missed the point. It's a fault of the Eco (automatic stop-start system) rather than that of the keyless starting system. After a few hours, the car will start up inside the garage if it's been sitting inside the garage with the engine turned off. The W213 gives you a message if the engine is off but you open the driver's door thinking the CAR is turned off. The best solution is to permanently turn off the Eco system, as I did.

Tiburonsteve

Thanks for the warning. I just invested $50 on a digital carbon monoxide detector with 10 year battery backup for my garage. I have begun to leave my 300e a few times and found that the doors wouldn’t lock. Turns out there was a reason-the engine was still running. Don’t want that to happen, especially in an enclosed environment.

Long Islander

See the post directly above. You should permanently disable the Eco system as I did. No need for a carbon monoxide detector.

ua549

What did you do the car to make it so quiet that it isn't noticeable? My E300 is so very loud even at idle that my neighbor complained about the noise.