I've googled and googled and I've read every manual and Mercedes Benz dealer website and all I can find is the syrupy salesy crap about how wonderful the modes are and GENERALLY what they do. But I want to know what's going on so I know when to use them.

For instance, it is all rainy here tonight so I put it in Slippery mode. I thought I read somewhere that this mode sent 50% power to each axle. So then I pressed on the gas and nothing... dog slow, like 50% power. Is it expecting ice, so it is in super traction control mode? Was that even the correct sensation?

Also, for the Individual mode, they make it sound like you can fine tune your own settings. But when I go in to change it, there are two settings and the two options are comfort and sport. So I can have Comfort/Sport or Sport/Comfort. Big whoop. Do either of those even make sense to use?

 

You have the SUV. I have the Coupe. However, your manual should be basically the same as mine. The description below is straight out of the manual. If you'd like more details, my suggestion would be to call MB Customer Support and get somebody on the phone who can describe each mode in more detail.




I wouldn't use "Slippery" for rain. The ESP (Electronic Stability Program) handles rain. It's always turned on by default. "Slippery" is basically for snow and/or ice.


Slippery drive program -

The Slippery drive program has the following
characteristics:
reduced engine and transmission settings for
optimum propulsion on slippery or snow-covered roads.
optimized ESP® stability control on slippery or
snow-covered roads.
the vehicle has improved driving stability on
slippery or snow-covered roads, for example.

Comfort drive program -

The Comfort drive program has the following
characteristics:
comfort-oriented engine and transmission
settings.
optimal fuel consumption resulting from the
automatic transmission shifting up sooner.
the vehicle pulling away more gently in
forward and reverse gears, unless the accelerator pedal is depressed fully.
the automatic transmission shifting up
sooner. This results in the vehicle being driven
at lower engine speeds and the wheels being
less likely to spin.

Sport drive program -

The Sport drive program has the following characteristics:
sporty engine and transmission settings.
the automatic transmission shifting up later.
the fuel consumption possibly being higher as
a result of the later automatic transmission
shift points.
the suspension exhibits sporty damping (vehicles with AIRMATIC).

Sport Plus drive program -

The Sport Plus drive program has the following
characteristics:
the vehicle exhibits particularly sporty driving
characteristics.
the vehicle pulling away in first gear.
the automatic transmission shifting up later.
the fuel consumption possibly being higher as
a result of the later automatic transmission
shift points.
the suspension exhibits particularly firm
springing and damping settings (vehicles with
AIRMATIC).
the ECO start/stop function is deactivated, it
can, however, be activated again using the
ECO button (Y page 130).
Individual drive program
In the Individual drive program, the following
properties of the drive program can be selected:
the drive (engine and transmission management)
the transmission
the suspension
all vehicles (except Mercedes-AMG vehicles):
the steering
all vehicles (except Mercedes-AMG vehicles):
availability of the ECO start/stop function
To select the gears in the Individual drive program permanently using the steering wheel paddle shifters, select the permanent manual gearshift program.
Information about configuring the Individual
drive program with the multimedia system can
be found in the Digital Operator's Manual.

Manual gear shifting -

You can change gear yourself using the steering
wheel paddle shifters. The transmission must be
in position D.
Depending on which steering wheel paddle
shifter is pulled, the automatic transmission
immediately shifts into the next gear down or
up, if permitted.
To use manual shifting, you have two options:
temporary setting
permanent setting
If you activate manual gearshifting, the multifunction display will show the current gear
instead of transmission position D.
If manual gearshifting is deactivated, the gears
will be selected automatically.

 

i don't even use it. another tech thing that could have been done better. it keeps defaulting back to Comfort, so either i keep remembering to put it in the mode i like, or just leave it alone. i leave it alone. i could see the Slippery and Rocky/Hilly modes auto defaulting back to comfort, but the other ones should stay where you put them. ron

 

MB made it default to "Comfort" for the same reason the ECO Start/Stop defaults to "On". These had to be defaults for them to reach their EPA fuel ratings. Personally, I don't have a problem with Dynamic Select defaulting to "Comfort", as I'll be using this mode most. But I wish the ECO Start/Stop defaulted to Off.

 

i had figured that. but i like a tighter steering and even though the Sport wasn't a tight as i liked, it was better. (i like the old ways, the electro-mech steering took a lot of road feel away.) just had to get used to Comfort.

i feel for you on that Eco. there was a MB next to me at a stop. every time it moved a little: on/off. that's got to increase wear and tear on at least the starter motor, let alone a/c compressor. they need to give you owners a default "off" position. ron

 

I read somewhere that they accounted for that and equipped it with a special heavy-duty starter made to accommodate the extra start cycles. It's really just an unnecessary feature if you're doing routine driving around town. If I'm ever in stop-and-go traffic in a traffic jam on the freeway, then I'll use it. In the meantime, it gets turned off as soon as the engine starts.

 

The on/off wear is designed to last through the warranty 😋

There is a way to control/set this through OBD, or Canbus as device exist to remember the last known setting. midcity engineering has one for the GLE, $175 bucks to disable/remember eco

The GLE start/stop is pretty poor. the steering wheel power for instance gets turned off while in eco mode.... or stops even when walls are in sensor range....I love it too when you pull off the highway to a stoplight and motor stops...never mind the turbo...

 

I am told that ECO doesn't use the starter as much starter in used for normal/start- it uses the fuel injection to "pump" the key upcoming .. then very brief starter action to activate "bump" start and firing off the loaded cylinders

 

Yeah, I thought the eco start used less of the starter and more of "remembering" the next cyclinder to fire. And the fact that the eco mode automatically turns back on when you switch the driving modes, is annoying as h, e, double hockey sticks!

But has anyone noticed that the more miles the car's gets on it the harder the car jerks when the eco start/stop engages? I thought I was crazy when I first noticed this on our E class, but now after 20k on our GLE, I think it's more of a reality. Anyone else or am I drinking to much high gravity beer (not when driving) that it's affected my long term thinking?

 

I think the key is the ability to use an Individual mode, where you can fine tune your vehicle characteristics. A lot of Mercedes models have different possibilities for many different adjustments, but this video demonstrates the clear difference between all the different modes in the real-time demo. So you can see for yourself here: