I find in my 2015 S550, that if I don't release the parking brake, there is a slight braking action when I go to drive off. My 2013 S550 never did that. Any ideas? And I find I need to hit the ECO or "Stop/Start" button as well, as the operation of that "feature" is not quite as "seamless" as MB would like us to believe. So, I step on the brake pedal, hit the Start button, pull the Emergency Brake, hit the ECO button and I'm finally on my way. Is this what everyone here is doing or am I missing something? And, no, I DON'T hit the "Sport" button, thank you very much.

I noticed both of these items.

The ECO is definitely not seamless, and I always shut it off.

The parking brake goes on automatically every time you shut the car off. When you start the car, there is no need to release the parking brake unless you mind the slight hesitation from the brake releasing. This was not the case in the W221, but an added safety feature of the W222.

It releases automatically unless the car is on an incline, in which case it must be released manually.

I think the automatic parking brake was a change for the 2015 model year. Our 2014 does not set the brake automatically or release it automatically. The parking brake is set and released "manually". Too bad they can't make this a setting in the command system.

Annoying as hell.

Wish they would ask the customer if they want this or not. It's on the 7 individual and it's the most ANNOYING rumble.

Heard Range Rover drivers absolutely hate it on the new models....can't wait.

yeah i dont understand this bit on part of mb. my 2015 bmw has this start-stop feature but it can be defeated permanently (without all that coding nonsense) by pressing a button on top of the start button. it stays defeated forever until you change the mode. so if bmw can do this on us cars - why cant mb? cant say it is epa or govt required if bmw allows the permanent disablement. clearly im not as smart as most but this perplexes the stuffing out of me.

Clearly you are downright BRILLIANT compared to some of the clowns making product decisions in Stuttgart!

Again, yet another sign that MB is trying to do too many things at the same time. Product design decisions are being made without enough real world testing, intelligent debate, dealer/customer input and simple common sense. They are pushing new product out the door so fast, with the feeling "let's get it on the street, we'll fix it later," which is the same kind of thinking that buried GM in a severe sales slump for decades afterwards. BUT, they put a "fragrance atomizer" in our cars, so how can we complain?

So in the 2014 RR I had I was able to permanently disable the ECO start/stop. There was a separate battery in the cargo part of the RR and I just disconnected the negative cable from that battery and I never had an issue with this again. I wonder if with MB this would be the same? Also compared to the RR the MB system is a ton better

We are being deprived from the ability to permanently disable the ECO start/stop because of CAFE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy). apparently, MB negotiated with the US Department Transportation to use favorable (to MB) fuel consumption numbers for the 2015 S550 in their calculation of CAFE, by eliminating the driver ability to permanently disable the feature. One may speculate that MB involvement with SMART has more to do with CAFE than the profit, if any, that the SMART venture is generating.

I have a 2014. The PB does not set automatically, you have to set it. But it will release automatically. When you put the car in gear, either R or D, you simply touch the gas, even very lightly, and the PB releases immediately.

The ECO feature sucks. I am in the habit now of just pushing the button on every single start.

Are US cars behaving differently because I never have the parking brake engaged and never have to release it or wait for it to release (give or take very few cases when parking on a steep, snow covered place). This is a MY2015 car but for the European market.

The parking brake is electric and it takes a bit of time for it to release completely. If you have the PB on, better to press the gas pedal smoothly, allowing the PB some time before really accelerating.

ECO stop/start is still an issue if one prefers to have it off al the time.

Thanks for the feedback, that is new to me. Will have to try it and see if it releases automatically, I was manually releasing it out of habit.

My 2015 automatically releases, but when you go to drive off, you can feel a slight hesitation before the parking brake completely releases. I find this very annoying in a car of this caliber, so I manually release the brake before putting the car in gear. All of these BS "Big Brother" types of things, thought up by MB's legal department are just a pain in the ***. BUT, they swapped out my RFT for conventional tires and sent me down the road with no jack or spare. Sounds to me like their legal eagles are idiots, but hey, that's just me.

Apparently the start/stop mode is more seamless in the S600 than in the S550.

Question. I have a S550 4matic and the brake does not go on automatically. I also noticed that when I shut off the engine the car shifts to "N". If I let go of the brake I will roll. In my E class, when you turn the engine off she automatically goes into "P" and can't roll. Does yours do the same or do I have an issue ? Is auto brake a function that I can control ?

Are you confusing the Automatic "Parking Brake" in the '15 and '16 model years discussed above with the brake? Just asking the question.


I know my '16 S550 4matic sets the parking brake automatically once you put the car in park and shut the car off. Also when driving and I stop at a stop sign on a hill if I depress the brake pedal a little harder than normal the brake does come on automatically and the dash board shows the word "HOLD". If I let my foot off the brake, the car will not roll back and keeps the brake applied even though my foot is off the brake.


I will have to try and see if my s550 automatically goes into park when I shut the engine off.

I, too, noticed a slight hesitation with the electronic e-brake when first engaging into R or D. As a side note, my 1972 Mercedes has an auto e-brake release when shifted into N or 4 (drive). It requires manual release when placed in R (reverse) for safety reasons.

Eco is irritant, worse I find is remote start via the cloud based MBrace App, takes like couple of minutes to merely start.

I always find myself releasing it manually for some reason.

I always defeat the ECO mode upon startup. Wish there was some way to defeat it permanantly. It never occurred to me that the hesitation when driving off was the result of the auto parking brake. I'm going to experiment with releasing it manually.