the answer is yes.its no secret to anybody but mercedes benz that shutting down the system will extend the life of the components.however if you have a wagon this will also shut down the hyraulic rear suspension.with the motor running flip the switch to test and back again.this will generate a fault code in the 4matic computer effectively shutting it down.you can verify this by the 4 matic dash light always being lit.to reset when you are ready to resume operation simply remove battery power for 30 secs.this will reset the 4matic "brains"