ECO issue - fault or normal?

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MissVix

Active Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
64
Location
The Moon
Car
E220 CDI coupe
Since getting me E220 on Monday, I've sometimes turned ECO off as I was nervous that the engine wouldn't fire up again. I did it again yesterday before having a word with myself and turning it back on again but that's when I realised the engine was still running whenever I'd stop at traffic lights. At first I thought this was normal due to my fuel being low and the engine trying to preserve what was left by avoiding firing up the engine. However after about several stops without engine cut out. the ECO mode kicked in and cut the engine at a set of lights before failing to do so at the next set of lights. If the engine was trying to preserve fuel then it would stop ECO altogether not just most of the time.

I put fuel in the car but still the engine ticked over whenever I came to a stop - no sign of ECO despite it being stated as such on both the dashboard (ECO is in yellow) and the row of buttons (which light up green).

I've had the car in for a gearbox service today and ECO has kicked in every time since picking it up - have I got a problem?
 
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If Eco is showing up yellow, it means that the car is not meeting all the conditions required for the stop start to kick in. This simply means that there may be too much electrical drain on the engine (or it's charging up after drain), the climate control may be working too hard etc, etc. There's a full list of all the things that can stop it working in the manual. It nearly always works for about a day after a service!

Several people I know have commented that their stop start has stopped working recently - it's very probably connected to the change in the types and number of journeys being made during lockdown.
 
Test your battery is its before 12.6v after sitting for 8-12h. If so get it replaced
 
I wouldn't worry about it at all! If anything the best thing to do is turn off stop start when you get in the car.. you won't actually save much fuel with it working constantly anyway..
 
..I've sometimes turned ECO off as I was nervous that the engine wouldn't fire up again...

That's not going to happen. Setting aside the merit (or lack of) of the Stop/Start system in general... the engine will always fire-up again - this shouldn't be a worry.
 
...ECO has kicked in every time since picking it up - have I got a problem?

The Stop/Start system has a mind if it's own... I've yet to see the full list of prerequisites for it to work. If it works sometimes, then it's probably OK. That's the only practical diagnosis that can be applied to it.
 
What would cause the battery to lose charge over the week I've had it? All I've done is plug my phone in when driving so I can listen to my music and with the engine on the battery should recharge and not drop below what it was at the start of the week when I got it.
 
What would cause the battery to lose charge over the week I've had it? All I've done is plug my phone in when driving so I can listen to my music and with the engine on the battery should recharge and not drop below what it was at the start of the week when I got it.
might be the age of the battery if its the original one it doesn't have to be that much undercharge to make the stop start in op,i had a fault with mine over christmas where my car would start up fine but the eco symbol on the dash would dissapear that was purely down to the main battery but if i didnt notice the eco light going out i would have been none the wiser as the behaved like any normal car,i wouldn't worry too much you know it works as it did briefly and now appears to work,but there are so many conditions to be met for it to work properly alot of it is outside temp etc on mine when the temps are a bit low mine wont turn green until the coolant temp hits 60 degrees but when its a bit warmer weather it goes green almost instantly,once mine goes green i turn it off i just use it as a battery charge indicator really as i am worried that it could contribute to early timing chain wear.
 
What would cause the battery to lose charge over the week I've had it? All I've done is plug my phone in when driving so I can listen to my music and with the engine on the battery should recharge and not drop below what it was at the start of the week when I got it.

As jasons said, the battery might be old or faulty, but equally it might be simply that the battery never gets charged properly if all you do is infrequent short journeys (common problem during lockdown).
 
Funnily enough, it started working again today. Then it didn't. Then it did again. I'm not too bothered after your fantastic replies - my main concern was that it was a serious fault. HOLD still wouldn't work but it's not a major issue for me.

My USB cable is permanently plugged into one of the sockets - maybe this is causing slight battery drain?

I tried Googling how to charge an MB battery but it appears the different method depending on the model of car you've got. Couldn't find one for my C207.

On another note:

1. Is there any reason why why I can't one-touch close my rear windows despite the buttons indicating I can?

2. Am I right in thinking that the car should automatically indicate when a various services need to be done?

3. And any reason why so many DAB radio stations - big names like Heart and Kerrang - are listed but cannot be listened to (no signal)?
 
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1. Try a window reset :
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2. It should.
3.Try rescanning for stations: if your car was from a different geographical area, then the stations stored may not be available where you are.
 
A firmware update to the COMAND/Audio20 and the DAB unit may or may not resolve the reception issue.... ask the dealer about the firmware update if the car is due a service.
 
As for the ECO Start/Stop function... if it works intermittently than it's probably OK, but the HOLD not working is suspicious - I would get that checked.
 
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1. Try a window reset :
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2. It should.
3.Try rescanning for stations: if your car was from a different geographical area, then the stations stored may not be available where you are.
Thanks for the video. Will the car make it obvious that work is needed - such as popping up on screen?
I don't know how to scan for stations - whilst some had multiple listings others didn't so I''m not sure how to rescan

As for the ECO Start/Stop function... if it works intermittently than it's probably OK, but the HOLD not working is suspicious - I would get that checked.
Thanks.

Additional questions here we come!

1) does the inbuilt navigation update in real time about accidents and road closures like Waze?
2) Apparently I have a 10gb HDD - how do I access it?
3) Should I be able to answer a telephone call just by pressing the answer button on the steering wheel?
I presume so but it didn't work, although the reject button did.
 
1. Try a window reset :
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2. It should.
3.Try rescanning for stations: if your car was from a different geographical area, then the stations stored may not be available where you are.
1. The window fix didn't work. I pressed each of the rear window buttons to halfway until the windows fully opened, held for 5 seconds at this halfway point, then pulled up to the halfway point until they closed, holding for another 5 seconds.

2. Will the car make it obvious that work is needed - such as popping up on screen?

3. I don't know how to scan for stations - I can either select a station and/or save it to my presets, but I can't locate the scan option.
 
As for the ECO Start/Stop function... if it works intermittently than it's probably OK, but the HOLD not working is suspicious - I would get that checked.

I figured it out and HOLD now works - all I had to do was do a short, sharp press on the brake rather than the long press that I was doing.
 
..1) does the inbuilt navigation update in real time about accidents and road closures like Waze?
2) Apparently I have a 10gb HDD - how do I access it?
3) Should I be able to answer a telephone call just by pressing the answer button on the steering wheel?
I presume so but it didn't work, although the reject button did.

1. Your COMAND navigation system will have the TomTom Live Traffic service, however it is subscription-based - the car came with 3 years free subscription from new, after that the subscription needs to be renewed. Assuming you have opened a Mercedes me account online, the TomTom Live Traffic service will show in your online account in the list of services available for your car, and you can purchase from there either 1, 2, or 3 years os subscription.

2. Your COMAND unit will have an internal hard disk drive, which is either 80gb or 100gb in size. Of this capacity, 10gb is allocated for the Music Register (the rest is used for storing the navigation maps and the COMAND operating system and software). You can copy mp3 files (audio files) from a USB flash drive or from an SD-Card or from a burnt CD/DVD to the Music Register. The Music Register is accessible by pressing several times on the Media (or DISC) button, or from the Media menu on screen.

3. Yes you should be able to answer a telephone call just by pressing the answer button on the steering wheel. Try pressing the answer (green) button on the actual COMAND unit - does it work from there? If it works from the COMAND unit button but not from the steering wheel button, then the steering wheel button might be faulty.
 
1. The window fix didn't work. I pressed each of the rear window buttons to halfway until the windows fully opened, held for 5 seconds at this halfway point, then pulled up to the halfway point until they closed, holding for another 5 seconds.
You need to hold the button all the way up not half way.
 
I do hold it all the way up/down but I depress the button to the halfway point (the manual option vs the one-touch of depressing it fully).

Since then I have tried depressing the button fully but I still can't get the rear windows to one-touch up even though I can one-touch them down.
 
I do hold it all the way up/down but I depress the button to the halfway point (the manual option vs the one-touch of depressing it fully).

Since then I have tried depressing the button fully but I still can't get the rear windows to one-touch up even though I can one-touch them down.
That is interesting. Is this on both rear windows or only on one side?
 

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