Hi all,

so so a couple of months into ownership and after breaking the car in patiently I started trying the different modes except for Race, as I feel that’s more appropriate for the track. I personally find comfort a little lethargic and you get a sense of the car’s weight, the throttle is a bit lazier if you will. Sport plus has terrific get up and go, the best pops and crackles from the exhaust but shifts a bit harsh and holds the gears too long. Sport seems to be the most balanced IMO. Also on our awful city roads I find myself pushing the suspension buttons to comfort when I’m in the sportier modes as the ride would be unbearable.

So I’m thinking perhaps the best option is to customize the individual mode, I mean that’s what it’s there for right? Us finicky folk. I’m still adjusting the settings everyday and testing it to and from work. Currently I have it as follows:

Engine: Dynamic
Transmission: M
Suspension: Comfort
Exhaust: Powerful
ESP: On

Obviously it’s all subjective. I just thought I’d try to see what most owners prefer to drive the car in. I’m attaching the individual settings for reference.

Cheers!

 

Sport w/ exhaust flaps open on city roads / around town, Sport+ on highway.

They shouldn't even have a comfort mode in this vehicle.

 

I'm not sure that it really exists. Seems more like a marketing statement for the suspension. 😀

 

Do you find Sport+ holding on to gears a bit much on the freeway? Or do you drive in manual? Since if I’m cruising at 80 mph I don’t mind being in top gear.

 

Hello,
I have been driving my 2019 since November 2018. Comfort during breakin. Afterwards, you are spot on with an Individual configuration. My E63 is my daily driver, the best balance is Individual with Comfort suspension, sport performance engine and trans shift points ~2000 rpm. Exhaust flaps open for sure. Press that “A” button to shut that auto-start Sh!@#t off. I do however shut the ESP off by holding in the button for a few seconds to shut it off.....well, almost off. It never really shuts off, however when you shut ESP off, it allows for much more unrestricted power to all 4 wheels. You get some slip and slide 4 wheel action in turns so be carefull. If you leave the “sport ESP” engaged, you still get quite a bit of nanny braking/power reduction when accelerating hard. Try these settings, and enjoy. Let us know what you think.
Cheers,

 

Most of my commutes are off-peak so I am not dealing with a whole bunch of traffic fortunately. In these situations I will just typically leave normal Sport+ engaged and have fun because I am lazy, I hate shifting. In closer quarters though I will definitely use manual with Sport+ because the lunging and lagging can get annoying and in my situation, everyone and their mother on the road wants to F*** with you when they see the E63.

 

Ahahaha. So true

I usually ride in comfort mode or sport. Any other option gets harsh ride. Sport plus is really aggressive in changing gears. Too much noise in local traffic with the sport exhaust on and lower gears getting extended to 5k rpm.

All nannies switched on because this car is a beast.

I tend however to switch off the lane keep assist. That thing is annoying and not trustful. You let the car walk over a continuous line just by a bit and it breaks. Then you go in cruise control on at 150km and the car gets scary close to the right side of the lane when there is a car on that lane. Insanious close. A few times I was thinking I can't believe this thing is going to bump the other car if I do not regain manual control. Seriously badly build. Turn that off for sure on kanyon driving or more narrow roads.

 

I can't do the automatic gear box if I'm trying to drive aggressively. The rev hang is too silly.

I do Sports+ suspension (which is dumb on the highway but hey, pay for pretend race car, use it like pretend race car), exhaust open, race mode throttle, manual shifting, and traction control on because I'm a whimp.

 

Comfort mode when in cruise control mode and just lolling along. Same when driving manually. Reason is that the cylinder deactivation and glide modes are active in Comfort mode but not in the other modes as far as I know.

If I get into any traffic where I might be doing some lane changes or accelerating for a gap in traffic, then I go to sport +. Have rarely driven the car in sport mode.

 

Most driving I have in sport mode with comfort suspension and loud mode with ESP on. It's a good compromise. For spiriting driving, my individual mode is race drivetrain, comfort suspension which I'll change with the button if on curves, ESP sport, manual shifting.

 

Agreed. Comfort suspension here for my city all the time. I do turn the exhaust on whatever mode I’m in but noticed the sound is a lot more pronounced on Sport+ with nice pops and crackles you don’t hear in Sport or Comfort even when the exhaust button is pushed. Haven’t tried the ESP thing yet. Must. Find. Courage haha. I’m sure I will eventually as I get a little more comfortable with the car.


I haven’t noticed my car attracting a lot of attention tbh with you. Not nearly as much as my corvette. It is a white station wagon after all. The 4matic+ badges had to come off for the clear bra so that also helps with the stealth loom perhaps. I do love in a small town though where most affluent people drive a Subaru Outback or an F150 and once in a blue moon you might see a C300. So maybe they just wouldn’t know what it is even if I told them.

I have the older version of this tech in my wife’s ‘17 GLE63s. I can tell you the it has evolved dramatically. The old tech would ping pong you between the right and left edge of your lane on and on. The new one is serviceable but I never personally have it on. I just have a hard time trusting the machine for some reason. Plus the computer in my wife’s car almost killed me last year when we were driving in downtown Minneapolis in construction and the freeway was rerouted so you’re driving over the white lane marker into new temporary lanes at 60 mph in decent traffic. Well car thought I was crossing the lane inadvertently since I wasn’t signaling and jerked me to the right where there was another car right there going with me. I had to literally wrestle the car back into my lane so I wouldn’t crash. Scary.

Haha I’m a wimp too!

For some reason I’ve never managed to get the car to go into glide mode even during the gentle break in when I was driving in Comfort all the time.

Any major difference you notice between Race and dynamic?

 

> be careful with ESP in sport/off

what’s the worst you can do, spin out?

what do you mean you can never turn ESP all the way off?

 

Or you could "hit a deer" like one member's buddy did - though I suspect that was likely full on drift mode . . .

 

In "sport" tc mode, the car allows for a little bit of slip, but still straightens you out. I think it would be possible but not easy to spin out on that mode.

 

Hey what is "glide modes"?

 

S+ always

 

I think it’s when the transmission decouples from the engine and the car is “coasting”. RPMs drop and you’re saving fuel. I’ve had this kick in a lot on my GLE63 with the old 5.5 unit but never in my new E63. You get a sailboat icon in the dash. At least I think that’s glide mode.

 

In Comfort mode the engine will switch between 8 and 4 cylinders depending upon load, but under the right conditions it will go one step further and put the drive train in a coasting mode whereby it is either in neutral or the clutches have been disengaged, I don't know which - but I suspect the clutch route.

Depending upon your instrument configuration the words Gliding Mode will appear or you'll see a little sailboat down in the lower right side of the display where the start/stop icon and 4/8 cyl icons are located.

 

Noted today that in the progressive display mode the little sailboat is in the center of the tach/speedo above the drive mode and above and to the left of the gear display.
I typically have the fuel economy bar showing on the left hand side of the display. The bar gets replaced with Glide Mode.

If you accelerate up to the desired speed then quickly lift your foot off the gas, that seems to trigger the glide mode pretty well.

 

Hello
The ESP doesn’t turn off completely. Just like normal and sport. Sport allows for more slip. Off allows for even more. But you still have some ESP.
Confirmed my MB. However driving in Dyno mode? No don’t do it.
Cheers

 

Never saw the glide/sail mode. The only thing I get is 4 cyl. Is this a North American thing?

 

No I’m in NA and I’ve never seen it in my E63. I’ve seen in the GLE63 frequently in comfort mode. It won’t come if you’re in cruise control or on the brakes in the SUV. Yeah I’m a bit perplexed why it never kicks in in my wagon granted now that I’m no longer in break in I seldom drive it in comfort.

 

i drive a lot in highways, and tried making a smooth ride in some times, taking off the foot of the gas pedal and just letting the car glide over a lengthy straight and even with a small decline. never i get the glide mode. the 4-cyl icon goes for on for 1 or 2 minutes but nothing. and just a small press on the gas pedal and it is off. i find it really a gimmick.

 

Same. I’ve seen the 4 cylinder icon a lot. And the transition to and from 8 cylinders I think is quite refined and almost imperceptible. My corvette there’s a slight judder when it goes in and out of 4 cylinder mode.

But yeah no glide mode. Maybe the stars have to align just right, engine temp, ambient temp...etc for the computer to decide when to do it? I don’t know. In the GLE you really notice since the RPMs just suddenly drop to below 1,000, the engine sound changes abruptly and the car on a downhill accelerates freely. Again it won’t do it in cruise control, or if you’re either on the gas or the brake in that car. Don’t know if the programming is different in the W213.

It doesn’t matter. It never helped me get good gas mileage on the GLE. We’re all getting real friendly with our local gas stations anyway right? As long as nothing is wrong with the cars that aren’t going into glide I don’t think most of us care.

 

Sorry to pull this OT -
Dunga, Does your C7 have the mag ride? Interested in how a C7 Mag ride compares to the E63 for ride.