w124 e220 estate .. whar is best S or E in Auto

[44732]

Hello
forgive our ignorance but this is our 1st automatic !
We have a W124 e220 automatic estate. Should we drive in position "S" or position "E"
thank you !

 

[tom7035]

'S' is Standard, 'E' is Economy. Upchanges occur at slightly lower engine revs. (earlier) in 'E'. Some say in this mode it also starts away in 2nd ratio instead of 1st. Others on the forum insist that this type of gearbox always starts in 2nd unless kickdown is used, but this is not the case. Mine starts away in 1st regardless of the mode selected
I personally prefer 'S' mode and I have used each in turn over several tankfuls of fuel and cannot honestly say I have noticed the slightest difference in fuel consumption!
Someone may come in with more 'techy' stuff, but congratulations anyway on having a W124 estate, one of the best vehicles in the world IMO!

 

[andy_k]

leave it in S unless the road conditions are really poor.

E will give slightly earlier changes but with the 220 engine you'll end up working harder to keep it moving so any gains in economy will be negated

Andy

 

[pongee]

1st Gear

I concur with the others that you should just leave it in S.

The gearbox on your model (E220 multivalve) has been 'correctly' programmed to always start in 1st irrespective.

This is in contrast to older 124s (like mine) which will only start in 1st if you give it some welly or make suitable incantations with the gearshift.

 

[Ramius]

Hi There.

I use the "S" now all the time. I have the 300TE24 and find that the lower changes actually use more fuel. After testing this through several tanks of fuel I find that I am getting an extra 50 mile per tank on "S". I asume theres some variable for a more conservative right foot but im hardly a boy racer!

 

[television]

I think there must be a difference between the pre and post 1992 cars, my 1990 300TE always had to be kicked into first,that was one of the things I loved about that car,flooring it from start it was like a bat out of hell, wonderful.

Malcolm

 

[pongee]

Autobox Changes

Based on what I could glean on the net, the reason that MB chose to start pre-93 4 speed autos in 2nd was due to emissions reasons. Pre-93 cars (M102/103 engines) used electronically assisted mechanical fuel injection.

With the advent the multivalve engines (M104/111?? not sure) from 93 onwards, fully electronic fuel injection systems (complete with self-destructing wiring harnesses were utilised, which were much more emissions friendly, negating the above requirement. Hence, they all (mostly) now start in 1st.

Cheers,

P.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

just out of interest! as most have said use S for the original posters question, what does E do and what benefits would it have?

My , admittedly 2005 7g tronic so it has no comparison, if you use S pulls away in first, but if you use C (Which is kind of like the E) it pulls away in second, the changes are noticably smoother and it changes up early and when you lighten the pressure of the throttle. Can't say it makes any difference to the fuel economy.

 

[television]

E is for use on icy or slippery roads so that a sudden change does not cause the rear wheels to spin or lose mometery contact with the road, that's what MB say,The same gearbox on my 300hp Volvo gives me 3 settings S = for sports mode driving, E = economy or normal to arhieve the best fuel consumption and W = winter for slippery roads. interesting I always drive in Sport mode, whenever it comes back from service its set to the E mode, my first thoughts are Oh its nice and smooth now, then I try and over take 30 cars at the same time, and it will not, so then it is back to S.

Malcolm

 

[Chazchuzzlewitt]

just to add some confusion, my '92 300E (103 engine) started in first. It had very lazy gear changes though being a US car, so I guess was always operating in 'economy' mode. I adjusted the bowden cable to give what I presume would be 'S' mode -changes at around 2500rpm depending on pressure and it was like having a different car. (there was no selector on the gearshift like european cars).

 

[jonnyb1]

What does negate mean.....e or s?

 

[television]

I think he means cancelled out

Malcolm

 

[clive williams]

My 500E definitely starts off in 2nd gear in 'E' and the changes are much earlier. It certainly is more urgent in 'S'. Surprisingly and probably because of the torque and reduced wheel spin, it is quicker at the traffic light GP in 'E' and it floats past the other traffic whist they are all grabbing the next gear.

I've always equated the 'W' setting on the E320CDI with the 'E' setting on the 500E.

Clive

500E
E320CDIT210

 

[simmo300e]

according to the owners manual, S in my 91 230E auto means Standard, E is for Economy, so forget about any sort of sport aspirations y'all might be having

 

[cubicincubi]

I use the standard setting under load when I need more revs to pick up pace, when I'm in a hurry and when I need the extra thump.

otherwise I use economy, generally I'm not in a hurry when driving this car. I find if I do try to push the throttle in the E mode it just eats fuel but does little else.

I think you have to decide when to use it, that's why it's selectable. IMHO driving in standard mode full time and high revving will shave miles off the engines life span and cause higher servicing and maintenance costs, so it all depends why you have the car, what you use it for and how much cash you want to throw at it.

 

[Mustang]

i think s=sports

'S' is Standard, 'E' is Economy. Upchanges occur at slightly lower engine revs. (earlier) in 'E'. Some say in this mode it also starts away in 2nd ratio instead of 1st. Others on the forum insist that this type of gearbox always starts in 2nd unless kickdown is used, but this is not the case. Mine starts away in 1st regardless of the mode selected
I personally prefer 'S' mode and I have used each in turn over several tankfuls of fuel and cannot honestly say I have noticed the slightest difference in fuel consumption!
Someone may come in with more 'techy' stuff, but congratulations anyway on having a W124 estate, one of the best vehicles in the world IMO!

 

[andy_k]

as we are talking about a W124 "S" = standard as tom7035 said

Andy

 

[turnipsock]

My vote is for S as well.

The E/S switch feeds a relay that cuts off the vacuum to the gearbox so that it changes differently.

The 'Economy' setting does little to improve fuel economy.

 

[tom7035]

The E/S switch feeds a relay that cuts off the vacuum to the gearbox so that it changes differently.

Where actually is this relay Turnipsock?

 

[cubicincubi]

The 'Economy' setting does little to improve fuel economy.

it does improve on the twin cam 4 banger but you have to be light on the throttle, otherwise yeah, it eats.

I used to leave it on S in the sixer because it seemed wrong not to, that's what it was for - for pace.