Eco-Start.

From the Horses mouth so to speak, I cannot explain it better because I do not fully understand the system nor do I profess to.
Sufficient for me to say that I'm impressed with the performance, and yes I agree with what is written in the Daimler document below. .

I'm also surprised at how long the engine is off for or should I say how long it takes traffic lights to change .
I was extremely concerned when I first discovered that the car I had already bought had ECO-START, only finding the second battery in the right hand rear locker highlighted that the car had something extra some where. What was the big question , a question answered by Mercedes-Benz UK

My first concern was for the starter motor, as the previous model A class w168 has suffered from starter problems which is a major job to change due to its location( Between the underside of the vehicle floor and the top side of the engine,) in the same place on the w169, albeit there is a little more room on the w169 and the starter can be seen, sufficiently to see that yes, the starter is different in design.
I just hope that the modifications made to the starter motor and the Daimler's comments prove to be right. 'last the life time of the car' well I may be taking Daimler up on that point if it does not!!

Certainly having now used the system for several weeks I have nothing bad to say about it only good , saves on fuel, saves on engine wear, and saves on pollution, all good as far as I'm concerned .



This Daimler Chrysler/Mercedes-Benz document is almost certainly 'copy write' and so I cannot duplicate on this page. BUT if you have purchased a Mercedes Benz vehicle with this feature fitted then you are entitled to know how it works The document is worth reading and may explain why Eco-start does not kick in when you expect it to.

Daimler.com 'Eco start' information

I have now used the system for three years and so far no problems at all.
You do have to gain confidence in the system, I being worried if the car will restart but no fears the car not only starts very quickly but also enables you to pull away as fast as cars along side who have had the engines running.
There have been a number of occasions where the facility has not made itself available, indicated by the symbol on the instrument cluster no showing. These include during the very cold weather. However once warm the engine stops as soon as the neutral position is selected and the foot brake firmly on.
I have found that there is a tendency to pull away with the hand brake on, which is immediately notified to the driver by a red block symbol in the instrument cluster and audible warning.
Certainly fuel is saved by this system, I for one am quite surprised at how long one waits at traffic lights etc, on occasions this amounts to minutes at a time.

On my first decent run the car's computer has indicated that 47.3 miles per gallon is being achieved. Interesting to note however that the manufacturers choose to show the fuel consumption in gallons which sound much better than 10.6 miles to the litre.
Around the town and short runs approx 34-37 to the gallon is being achieved.

When stationary and car taken out of gear, foot brake depressed, the engine stops.
This is accompanied by the symbol in the instrument cluster which shows that Eco-start is activated. Note that the rev counter is on zero. The moment the foot brake is released the engine restarts on its own, there is no noise associated with the starter starting the engine.
One would think that this would delay pulling away from junctions etc, no so my tests have shown that I can pull away as fast as other cars in the outside lane even though my engine was not running while stopped.

My initial fear was that 'Eco-Start' would place a lot more demand on the batteries and Starter motor, I have not found this to be the case even the services remain on while the engine is stopped.
It is also interesting to note that if the engine is stopped by Eco-Start the engine will automatically restart during the waiting period, I assume this is due to the engine reaching a pre set minimum temperature.

If you have doubts about using ECO-Start then you can turn it off, so it does not have to be used this is done with a switch on the lower dash.
Eco-start is ON when the indicator lamp is Green.
If you prefer not to us it then you have to switch off each time you start the engine as it defaults to ON each time the engine is started.






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