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Start stop feature

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Old May 11, 2026 | 08:15 AM
  #26  
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There is gent on YouTube explaining how to disable that start stop feature with a mid grade scanner. So I’ll have that done at some point. Till then I remember to shut it off as soon as I start the car. I usually let the car idle a minute so I always have ti to remember to hit the button.
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Old May 11, 2026 | 09:00 AM
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Information about each manufacturers MH implementation tends to be vague, but it's my understanding that some ISG MH's eliminate the serpentine belt driven components -- alternator, A/C compressor, water pump -- and replace them with electric driven components. Nice for A/C since it can continue to operate in the engine stop mode, but not so nice if a 48V battery problem develops. Without a working water pump, the car necessarily shuts down.
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Old May 11, 2026 | 10:10 AM
  #28  
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2019 S560, 2015 Honda Civic Hybrid
My wife's Civic hybrid has a nice feature, a dual A/C compressor with an electric motor inside. When the engine auto-stops, the motor keeps the compressor running.

In max A/C mode, the compressor uses both the belt-drive and the internal motor to give maximum cooling.
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Old May 11, 2026 | 03:40 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by slcbbrown
I typically turn off this feature as soon as I start the car. I assume the system is not good for the car, and it usually shuts off the ac at stop lights. However, I haven't heard of any complaints about damage.

Has as anyone heard of any actual problems?
Engine Start/Stop is very bad for engine longevity. It causes excessive wear to engine internal parts due to a temporary loss of oil pressure while the engine is not running. It does not matter if the engine is warm or cold, the loss of oil pressure happens either way. When the engine restarts, it takes a few moments for the oil pressure to ramp up again and bring the internal components into a state of near-zero-wear operation. It is during those few moments that the majority of engine wear takes place. Engine Start/Stop therefore causes the engine to wear sooner than it would if it were allowed to run constantly.

There is a good video I have seen online where an engineer performs a simulation on 2 engines, one of them running constantly and one of them using Start/Stop. They simulated several years of Start/Stop activity in a short period of time and then compared the amount of wear to the engines. The engine that was using Start/Stop showed much more wear than the engine allowed to run. He estimated the Start/Stop could reduce the longevity of the engine by years, and hundreds of thousands of miles.

If you like your car and care about keeping it long-term, always turn off the Engine Start/Stop feature.
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Old May 11, 2026 | 04:40 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by subterFUSE
Engine Start/Stop is very bad for engine longevity. It causes excessive wear to engine internal parts due to a temporary loss of oil pressure while the engine is not running. It does not matter if the engine is warm or cold, the loss of oil pressure happens either way. When the engine restarts, it takes a few moments for the oil pressure to ramp up again and bring the internal components into a state of near-zero-wear operation. It is during those few moments that the majority of engine wear takes place. Engine Start/Stop therefore causes the engine to wear sooner than it would if it were allowed to run constantly.

There is a good video I have seen online where an engineer performs a simulation on 2 engines, one of them running constantly and one of them using Start/Stop. They simulated several years of Start/Stop activity in a short period of time and then compared the amount of wear to the engines. The engine that was using Start/Stop showed much more wear than the engine allowed to run. He estimated the Start/Stop could reduce the longevity of the engine by years, and hundreds of thousands of miles.

If you like your car and care about keeping it long-term, always turn off the Engine Start/Stop feature.
I wish you could find that video as it is good info, I thought it was a video made by Engineering Explained but couldn't find anything.
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Old May 11, 2026 | 05:25 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by W205C43PFL
I wish you could find that video as it is good info, I thought it was a video made by Engineering Explained but couldn't find anything.

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Old May 11, 2026 | 05:31 PM
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Where are engine failures linked to this though? This technology has been around a long time
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Old May 11, 2026 | 06:05 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by subterFUSE
Engine Start/Stop is very bad for engine longevity. It causes excessive wear to engine internal parts due to a temporary loss of oil pressure while the engine is not running. It does not matter if the engine is warm or cold, the loss of oil pressure happens either way. When the engine restarts, it takes a few moments for the oil pressure to ramp up again and bring the internal components into a state of near-zero-wear operation. It is during those few moments that the majority of engine wear takes place. Engine Start/Stop therefore causes the engine to wear sooner than it would if it were allowed to run constantly.

There is a good video I have seen online where an engineer performs a simulation on 2 engines, one of them running constantly and one of them using Start/Stop. They simulated several years of Start/Stop activity in a short period of time and then compared the amount of wear to the engines. The engine that was using Start/Stop showed much more wear than the engine allowed to run. He estimated the Start/Stop could reduce the longevity of the engine by years, and hundreds of thousands of miles.

If you like your car and care about keeping it long-term, always turn off the Engine Start/Stop feature.
Originally Posted by W205C43PFL
I wish you could find that video as it is good info, I thought it was a video made by Engineering Explained but couldn't find anything.
Originally Posted by subterFUSE
Actually the majority of good academic papers suggest that the impact of AS/S isn’t as bad as people think. I don’t recall the exact words but I know that even Engineering Explained has generally argued that modern AS/S systems are not the engine killers.

The point made is that cars with AS/S are already over-engineered to account for that extra restart cycles. Also keep in mind that a hot restart (like at a traffic light) is very different from a cold morning start… most engine wear happens during cold starts, not those brief hot restarts in traffic using AS/S. That’s why AS?S does not work when car is cold sometimes. Bearings and oil film are already in good shape when warm.

For AS/S I think that only component that gets seriously stressed is the battery. I think that’s why most new cars use AGM or EFB batteries (which hare more expensive for us).

There are two parts that I really hate and the real cons for why I think it is unfair for manufacturer to enforce AS/S on us:
1. It is extra cost on our side for something that we get zero benefits from… Advanced battery and additional components baked into the MSRP.
2. It adds vibration/jerkiness

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Old May 11, 2026 | 07:01 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by subterFUSE
Originally Posted by S_W222
Actually the majority of good academic papers suggest that the impact of AS/S isn’t as bad as people think. I don’t recall the exact words but I know that even Engineering Explained has generally argued that modern AS/S systems are not the engine killers.

The point made is that cars with AS/S are already over-engineered to account for that extra restart cycles. Also keep in mind that a hot restart (like at a traffic light) is very different from a cold morning start… most engine wear happens during cold starts, not those brief hot restarts in traffic using AS/S. That’s why AS?S does not work when car is cold sometimes. Bearings and oil film are already in good shape when warm.

For AS/S I think that only component that gets seriously stressed is the battery. I think that’s why most new cars use AGM or EFB batteries (which hare more expensive for us).

There are two parts that I really hate and the real cons for why I think it is unfair for manufacturer to enforce AS/S on us:
1. It is extra cost on our side for something that we get zero benefits from… Advanced battery and additional components baked into the MSRP.
2. It adds vibration/jerkiness
Thanks for the video. Will watch it when I find time.

In regards to auto start/stop on a cold engine, it seems to still turn off the engine on some mild hybrid MBs at least tested on the M254 4-cylinder even shortly after starting.
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Old May 11, 2026 | 08:18 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by S_W222
Also keep in mind that a hot restart (like at a traffic light) is very different from a cold morning start… most engine wear happens during cold starts, not those brief hot restarts in traffic using AS/S. That’s why AS?S does not work when car is cold sometimes. Bearings and oil film are already in good shape when warm.
Please watch the video for a good explanation why the engine being hot vs. cold makes no difference to the wear of the bearings. Oil pressure is lost on engine stop regardless of temp and takes several seconds to return after startup.


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Old May 11, 2026 | 08:40 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by subterFUSE
Please watch the video for a good explanation why the engine being hot vs. cold makes no difference to the wear of the bearings. Oil pressure is lost on engine stop regardless of temp and takes several seconds to return after startup.
I saw the video, but majority of other tech reviews as well as tech articles still argue that the impact is “minimal”. I don’t care much as I don’t keep my cars to 1 million kilometers, and I doubt that AS/S has any measurable impact below 100K miles. I actually hate AS/S and my last 5 daily sedans had it either coded off, or didn’t have it at all, or were EVs. It’s been awhile since I had a daily sedan with an active AS/S. In the W222 it used to also be connected with cylinder deactivation which caused some harmonic vibrations. Very terrible technology but am convinced it doesn’t cause a catastrophic failure prematurely.
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Old May 12, 2026 | 09:33 AM
  #37  
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Moving parts wear. The more they move, the more they wear. If parts did not wear, a vehicle with 100K miles would sell for the same price as an identical vehicle with only 10K miles.
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Old May 12, 2026 | 01:34 PM
  #38  
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After all these years I’m surprised this is even a debate.
Start stop is bad for the engine and everything in between. With the cost of upkeep for 2nd or 3rd owner I’d be shocked if few MPG mattered to cars owner.
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Old May 12, 2026 | 02:45 PM
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Originally Posted by tbilisi79
After all these years I’m surprised this is even a debate.
Start stop is bad for the engine and everything in between. With the cost of upkeep for 2nd or 3rd owner I’d be shocked if few MPG mattered to cars owner.
But where is the evidence of that? I haven't seen any.
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Old May 12, 2026 | 03:44 PM
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Originally Posted by SW20S
But where is the evidence of that? I haven't seen any.
See the attached excerpt from BMW's recall.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf
26V056_Pg8.pdf (379.9 KB, 30 views)
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Old May 12, 2026 | 05:14 PM
  #41  
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THANKS! I started this thread and want to say thanks to all the responders for the intelligent and civil discussion.
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Old May 12, 2026 | 05:47 PM
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Originally Posted by streborx
See the attached excerpt from BMW's recall.
That pertains to a faulty BMW part, that doesn't mean that the entire technology impacts all vehicles that way
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Old May 12, 2026 | 06:18 PM
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Originally Posted by SW20S
That pertains to a faulty BMW part, that doesn't mean that the entire technology impacts all vehicles that way
You said you hadn't seen any evidence of problems -- now you have.
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Old May 12, 2026 | 06:24 PM
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Originally Posted by streborx
You said you hadn't seen any evidence of problems -- now you have.
I don't believe thats evidence of problems with engine start/stop systems in general. That also only shows damage to the starter on that particular BMW, not engine wear damage like people have been claiming. I don't like it either and turn it off, but I haven't seen anything posted on any forums etc that I read that would lead me to believe these systems result in long term vehicle damage in general.
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Old May 12, 2026 | 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by slcbbrown
THANKS! I started this thread and want to say thanks to all the responders for the intelligent and civil discussion.
Though often with a dab of snark.
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Old May 13, 2026 | 09:40 AM
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I think this feature makes people unreasonably angry (evidence by the fact that Trump chose to target it specifically, he knows what gets under people's skin) and they try and emotionally assign negative outcomes to its existence but I don't see any evidence that there are any.
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Old May 13, 2026 | 09:19 PM
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Originally Posted by SW20S
I think this feature makes people unreasonably angry (evidence by the fact that Trump chose to target it specifically, he knows what gets under people's skin) and they try and emotionally assign negative outcomes to its existence but I don't see any evidence that there are any.
I have always found it disconcerting when pulling to a stop and the engine turns off. Perhaps due to having grown up with ****ty old junk that used points, condenser, carburetor(s). Remember carburetor icing? I do. Old junk that required tune-ups every 6-10,000 miles and were hesitating on acceleration or straight up misfiring by 15,000 miles between tune-ups. When that old junk stalled at a light you didn't know if it was going to re-start and one could count on the car just not starting 1-4 times annually. Cars have improved HUGELY.

I did the software that remembers last mode. Never have to think about start-stop.
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Old May 13, 2026 | 09:48 PM
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In my 222 I had it coded to remember the last setting, in the 223 I have left it coded on because there is no remember last setting. It’s on or off. With the 48v I like being able to let it turn the engine off when I’m waiting to pick the kids up in the carpool line etc. Most drives I turn it off though.
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