2022 S580. Noticed that on a hill, when the traffic light turns green and I release the brake, in the time until ignition kicks in - the car rolls back, just like my first 1995 stick shift Fiat Uno. Did anyone else notice this? WTF.

It's normal on cars with auto start stop. My wife's Audi does the same thing. Turn off the auto start stop, use the brake hold, or just be mindful.

Pretty standard across all mild-hybrid equipped vehicles whether it be BMW, MB, or Audi. Like Cole says brake hold or turning off auto stop start will stop a roll.

Well, I’ve never had that happen in any of my previous MBs or other cars. I guess I’ll just be mindful and check the rear view mirror

I've had a Mercedes 2021 GLE450 with mild hybrid and auto start/stop, and a Jaguar with auto start/stop. Neither car did this unless it was a very steep grade. My 2021 S580 does roll back even with the slightest grade. I complained about it too on another thread. You are not alone in wondering how this is acceptable.

Very common with auto start stop...

Very common especially in regular comfort mode and auto start stop on. It even happens with my 2021 Audi RS7 when I am in comfort mode and does not happen in dynamic and the auto start/stop off. This only occurs on steep hills so its not an issue majority of the time. I have not noticed it on the S class so far.

I'm a bit confused about the roll back when leaving traffic lights on green. I've never observed roll back but I always activate brake hold at traffic lights. Surely the car should not release brake hold before the engine starts to pull the car?

The car should also have "Hill Assist". I thought hill assist got activated only at steep roads but the W223 manual does not mention any prerequisites other than that the parking brake needs to be off (thought the car would not roll if parking brake was engaged, switch on gear and press gas pedal and the parking brake should release?). I could think of the hill assist braking time being too short for stop/start but then it is a design/implementation flaw.

Anybody experiencing roll back is not using brake hold. When they release the foot brake pedal and move their foot over to the gas, on an incline the car will roll back a little with the ESS activated. Sort of like what happens in a car with a manual transmission. If you think about it, it makes sense. When the ESS is activated essentially the car is in neutral

Hill assist (HOLD), Distronic cruise including blind spot assist, HUD, auto-dimming, and active lumbar seating are the features I find most appealing in Mercedes vehicles.

I have a two month old 2022 GLA250 and it does the exact same thing. I found it unacceptable because I had auto start on my mild hybrid 2009 Saturn that I owned 8 years ago and it did not have this issue. Now my GLA250 rolls back on the slightest steep hill. That's more strange is that I noticed it is not consistent, many times on more steep hills when I do NOT have autohold activated, but with auto stop, it does NOT roll back! So to me it almost like on the slightly uphill road, the hill assist fails to recognize it? Hence the rollback???

Hill start assist is not intended to keep the car steady on a steep road while waiting for the green traffic lights. Hill start assist keeps the car steady only shortly when moving the foot from the brake pedal to the gas pedal!

Brake Hold keeps the car steady for an unlimited time. There is no auto hold feature, not sure what you are referring to with it. Brake Hold is not automatic, the driver needs to activate it.

Better to use brake hold at every traffic light or any other temporary stop, no "rollback" issues then.

My wife almost rolled the car into a person behind us her first time driving it LOL. She's been used to the auto hold in the bmw 750 for the last 3 years, and didnt realize this car didnt have that. I use the hold feature but i gotta tell you its completely annoying to have to press the brake down extra hard each tie I stop. It really rolls backwards even on the slightest of inclines, its terrible. I wish they just had a option to enable auto hold like so many manufacturers do without having to enable it each and every time you come to a stop

I completely agree, I find the extra foot effort required to enable the hold feature not worth the effort. Instead, every time I get in the car after I press start, I press “auto start” to turn that feature off. So, my engine is always running and I there is no hesitation when I remove my foot and press the accelerator.

Does turning off the auto start/stop actually stop it from rolling?

No, the car could still roll back on a steep hill but it’s a quick move from brake to accelerator which makes that risk very minimal. For a very steep hill, I would still use the Hold features.