Mercedes Sport Mode Always On – Correct Settings

Up to 2010, your Mercedes stayed in the transmission mode you selected. So, if you chose Sport mode, it would stay in that mode even after you turn the car off and then on again. The only thing that could set it back to Comfort was when you disconnected the battery or manually switched to Comfort before turning the car off.

And people loved that! Because some engines of the Mercedes-Benz are not as cool as others (obviously more expensive ones) and the Sport mode makes them at least seem to be more powerful.

Unfortunately, you can't set the Sport mode permanently in your post-2010 Mercedes-Benz vehicle because it violates the EPA requirements and the car should always start in Eco mode. But there are some ways you can try and make your life easier. I discourage you from trying them if your Mercedes-Benz is still under warranty. Also, be careful when choosing the repair shop and the actual mechanic who will do that for you!

Let's get started!

Why is Mercedes Sport mode so desired?

About a half of Mercedes owners that I had a chance to speak to, constantly drive in Sport mode. They say "I bought this luxury car for a whole load of money and now I want to get pleasure of it without thinking of economizing two drops of fuel a day!" And they have a point in this argument.

I personally like driving all my cars in normal modes but after I drove a Mercedes C-Class with the cheapest engine once, I understood why it was so important to keep it in Sport mode.

So, here's what the Sport mode actually does to your vehicle:

• it keeps the transmission on lower gears longer letting the car accelerate faster;
• it allows you to listen to the engine and get pleasure from the sound;
• it affects the gas mileage but the difference is not that crucial;
• your transmission becomes more flexible and changes shifting patterns according to your behavior;
• it really helps when overtaking someone on highways.

Well, a lot of perks and only one disadvantage - a little worse gas mileage. It makes me think that everyone who ever tries the Sport mode in a Mercedes vehicle will want to keep it on permanently.

But for this, you will need to press that Sport button (it may also be the C/S for Comfort-Sport or E/S for Eco-Sport) every time you start the car. Many new Mercedes will also keep the start-stop active even in the Sport mode, so you will also need to deactivate the Eco Start Stop function with another button. Too many steps and too many buttons to press to just start driving!

Can you keep the Sport mode always on in the MB?

If your Mercedes is older than 2010, you can. Just choose the proper mode and your car will remember it. It's as simple as that - absolutely nothing else to set or control. Only after the battery is disconnected, the car will get back to Comfort mode.

But it doesn't work like that in newer vehicles. The thing is that these cars were made to comfort EPA, not the owner. And Mercedes reprogrammed them to keep starting with the Eco mode always. Then, if you want to drive in the Sport mode, you will need to turn it on manually by pressing the Sport or the E/S button.

This is annoying because now you need to press the engine start button, the Eco Start-Stop deactivation button, and also the Sport button to just start driving in your favorite mode.

Mercedes got hundreds of emails telling them that this wasn't comfortable for owners but they made no changes in the new vehicles. They all work like that. And if the owner of an AMG trim won't even notice that the Eco mode is on, the owner of the cheapest-trim C-Class will obviously have to struggle to press those buttons.

Unfortunately, there is no legal and white way to deal with it. I personally spoke to a manager in one of Mercedes dealerships and he claimed there is absolutely no way to change this. But then I also spoke to a guy who worked as a mechanic in one of the independent repair shops. And he told me a little more about the ways to deal with the problem.

The only way to make your Mercedes remember transmission settings

You can go to an independent shop and ask them to reprogram your Mercedes. I warn you that this is extremely dangerous and you should only go to really trusted professionals! This is one of the coolest ways to keep your Mercedes-Benz in the Sport mode at all times.

Actually, this is the only way you can do that as far as I know.

But there are risks of course because this reprogramming will change the settings in the ECU and it may affect some other functions. You may not notice it right away and if you notice this in a month, you will never prove that this is because of the reprogramming.

If you ever decide to do that, you should ask your mechanic to save the initial ECU settings so that you can ask them to use the backup files and get it all back.

Also, if you appreciate your Mercedes for being German-made and completely original, you don't want to go to the repair shop and have someone digging in the brains of your car to just allow you to not push that Sport button each time you start driving. Given there are some risks, I wouldn't do that at all.

Final thoughts

Although Mercedes cars are still cool and great to drive, some things started changing not for the driver but for the emission control bodies. I hate this because it affects the comfort of your driving and makes you do some extra movements before you start driving which is completely annoying. But things won't change and if you want a gas-powered Mercedes vehicle, you will just put up with this thing.

If you know any other way to keep your Mercedes on Sport all the time, please let everyone know in the comments below!