fkong777

Im interested in trading my SL55 to a 2016 C450 or 2017 C43. Those car would be in my budget. Also Mainly because of the available driver assistance package.
I live in LA area. Traffic is a pain.

so my 2 questions are
- How well will Distronic Plus and Active Lane Keep assist handle stop and go traffic.
-
While Im here. How is the C450.C43 power compare to a M113k car? since they are very different animals.
TIA

Matthew Cohen

I'm not sure how the power of the two cars would compare but in an OE stage 1 c450, I pull pretty hard on most cars on the road. This car smoked an Audi s4 no problem. Saw a ⁶mustang gt floor it going like 40 the other day, switched to Sport mode and floored it and came up and passed him going around 85. Have kept up with an RS5 without issue. Lots of times people see you pull off of a traffic light and try to follow you and can't. The car stock I felt was actually a bit lacking...it left me wanting for more.

Onto the option package.
The adaptive cruise is actually quite good. It will come to a full stop for you, and with a single touch of the gas it will resume from a dead stop. Pretty good in stop and go, you just have to be willing to touch the pedal to start it moving again, it will handle the rest. Only had one situation where the brakes werent applied...car was actually still on the throttle when the collision avoidance chime would've normally sounded. I stepped in at that point, wasnt going to find out the hard way.

The lane keep assist isnt that great, you can feel it working, but it's definitely an assist and not self driving. I dont find it that useful, I only use it if I'm "too lazy to move my arms that much"...the steering wheel gives you a helpful push into a turn. You could use it in conjunction with your knee if the road isnt too curved. The absolute best part about this system is that you can keep your hands off the wheel for a VERY long time compared to other cars I've been in. Two fingers on the wheel for 2 seconds every minute is all it seems to need.

Hope this was some help.

superswiss

The driving assistance features have been getting better with every generation. I have no experience with the C450, which has a relative older system. The 2017 C43 should be more modern, but the 2019+ is where it is at the moment. Those models have the latest system, although I believe the A/CLA class has yet a more improved system.

I have the driver assistance package in my 2019 C63S coupe and I love it. The latest DISTRONIC actually drives off itself in stop & go traffic for up to 30 seconds on divided roads such as highways, so you don't have to kick it off if the traffic starts moving again and it drives the car very naturally like a human being. My critic of other adaptive cruise control systems is that many drive the car in a very robotic manner. On surface streets where pedestrians could be, it drives off automatically for up to 3 seconds and after that you have to kick it off with the throttle or hit Resume.

As for the steering. Again not sure about the C450, but MB has two different steering assist systems that are activated and operated independently. Lane keep assist does not help you steer the car. It purely steps in only if you are about to cross over the lane markers. It vibrates the steering wheel if you come too close to the lane markers and if you don't react, it uses the brakes on the opposite side to pull the car back into its lane. That also serves as a somewhat frighting wake up call to the driver, because the car slows down abruptly and gets pulled back into the lane. It's really more meant as the last resort to nudge the driver back to paying attention.

The second system is called Mercedes Active Steering Assist. I believe the 2017 C43 should have that as well. This is a semi-autonomous steering system that keeps the car in the lane and automatically steers it. The latest system in the 2019+ can handle larger radius turns than the previous generation, but this system is what will make the car follow traffic on its own in conjunction with DISTRONIC in stop&go traffic and also at highway speeds. I believe the system works up to 120 mph, at least the latest generation. Also the latest generation again allows for up to 30 seconds of complete hands free driving.

I use these all the time in traffic, although I don't find myself in traffic much, but also on long highway journeys the car practically drives itself on the highway. The system deliberately doesn't drive dead on center in the lane and actually swerves a bit from time to time. Based on my research that's on purpose, because MB has found that it keeps the driver alert as opposed to those Tesla drivers we see on YouTube once in a while taking a nap behind the wheel while Autopilot drives the car. Interestingly the MB system works quite well. I don't get sleepy and bored, but at the same time I'm much less fatigue at the end of a long journey. I find MB really thinks these systems through and if you look into the details its quite impressive to learn why they do certain things.

Tuner

First gen Distronic and Active Steering Assist (2017 C43's) worked all right. Was kinda sketchy as to how accurate the stopping and steering control was, And if the steering assist is following the vehicle in front of you instead of using the lane markers, it WILL curb your wheels if the other vehicle gets really close to the sidewalk when driving. Just due to the slight inaccuracy of the steering assist system. But it still worked fairly well in that chassis though. If you can find a C43 with the intelligent drive package, I would go for it. Definitely helps in heavy traffic, just keep your wits about you.

GWSHARK

I have it and it works great in Toronto traffic. Like another post said, you only have to periodically touch the wheel so the car knows you’re still there. I find it very effective going across the 401 on those days when I’ve had enough. I think it’s a worthwhile option, especially given you’re in LA .

fkong777

Thanks that was helpful. Great response from everyone. The Driver assistance packaged c43/c450 is pretty hard to find tho. My 2004 SL55 already have distronic. but it is primitive stops working under 20mph useless in traffic. . Moving traffic is pretty cool tho it does keep distance and slow down & speed up. impressive for 2004 tech

MartinC2S

Bringing this back from the dead.

I'm in the market for a C43 Wagon up in Canada and I'm trying to figure out how I can tell if a car has the Intelligent Drive Package. According to MB material in the C43 that includes:
• Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC (Includes Active Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Function)
• Advanced Driving Assistance Package (Includes PRE-SAFE PLUS, Active Lane Keeping Assist and Active Blind Spot Assist)
• Active Steering Assist (Includes Active Emergency Stop Assist and Evasive Steering Assist)
• Traffic Sign Assist
• Active Lane Change Assist
• Route-Based Speed Adaptation

Additionally I would love to know what each of these buttons is?

superswiss

I don't know how things are packaged in Canada and the picture you have here is not from a C43, so starting from left to right, the two buttons all the way to the right you won't find in a C43. I don't know what they are. But the first 4 buttons are as follows, starting from the left:

• Active Steering Assist on/off. That's the system mentioned above that will semi-autosteer the car in its lane. You will only have this with the full driver assistance package.
• Lane Keep Assist on/off. As said this will only kick in if you are straddling the lane marker or crossing it. I actually have this turned off, and I like the fact that it is separate from the Active Steering Assist.
• Parking sensors off. This allows to temporarily turn the parking sensors off. Useful in a car wash or if it goes off in traffic constantly due to the proximity to other cars. Turns back on next time the car is started
• HUD on/off. Only there if you have the HUD obviously, but it turns the HUD on or off.

The first two, particularly the first button from the left is your giveaway for the driver assistance package. If it's there then you have the full shebang. With the driver assistance package you will also have further settings in COMAND to turn other systems on/off such as the Active Lane Change Assist for example.

Tuner

Look at the star in the front grill. if it looks like a glossy flat circular plate, then it has the intelligent drive pkg.
Those buttons are (from left to right) active steering assist / lane keeping-change assist / parking assist sensors off / heads-up display on-off/ rear headrests flip/slide down / raise suspension (if the car has air suspension)

MartinC2S

Thank you very much guys. This is exactly the info I was looking for!

MartinC2S

Looking throuhg a few of the cars available now and I'm not sure the glossy flat circular plate is a good indicator of whether or not the car has the IDP. Here's an example of a car with the glossy emblem plate but not IDP:

https://www.autotrader.ca/a/mercedes...x=-1&modalXS=1

superswiss

You got misled with that information. It's not the glossy part. It's whether the star is 3D or painted on the emblem. The one you linked above has a 3D star which you can clearly see on the first picture from the side. Was trying to find a good picture of mine. I think you can see it here. The star is painted on the emblem if you have the driver assistance package, because the radar sensor for DISTRONIC is behind it and the 3D star would interfere.

W205C43PFL

As others mentioned, it is easy to be confused.

If you compare cars prior to 2019 that doesn't have distronic, the MB star is 3D and hollow-ish, while the 2019 cars you still get somewhat a 3D star but it still sticks out and not flush. Cars with distronic just like the pre-2019 cars will have it completely flush.

Sorry if things are confusing, hopefully images will help illustrate:
DISTRONIC star
https://www.logolynx.com/images/logo...f8dc62fd4.jpeg
Pre-2019 non-DISTRONIC star
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/EOcAA...~9C/s-l300.jpg
Post-2019 non-DISTRONIC star
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/TZkAA...4Ju/s-l400.jpg

pliukait

Do you have the VIN? You could plug it into one of the VIN checkers and look for this in the results:

233 Adaptive cruise control Plus (DISTRONIC PLUS)
266 DISTRONIC PLUS with Cross-Traffic Assist (DTR+Q)

https://www.lastvin.com
https://www.mbdecoder.com
https://carinfo.kiev.ua/cars/vin/mercedes/vin_check

MartinC2S

Thank you all gents. I think I finally have this nailed. Now it's a patience game to find the car I want.

On a side note I'm quite surprised with how few cars are equipped with the HUD, was it that cost prohibitive? It seems like a no brainer for me.

superswiss

The HUD is actually not a popular option. One problem is if you wear polarized sunglasses like I do, then the HUD is pretty much useless. I also don't particularly like something floating in my line of vision. The information it shows is not important enough to constantly be in my face, so I skipped it for my car. With the digital dash, the HUD is largely redundant. The only interesting thing it offers is with Track Pace it shows the braking zones. That would have been cool on the Nürburgring, but not enough for something I'd turn off most of the time. I've never warmed up to HUDs. I find them fundamentally flawed, because the rely on windshield reflection. The same reflection that is annoying glare for everything else and why I wear polarized sunglasses to filter it out.

W205C43PFL

Totally agree in regards to wearing polarized sunglasses.

Edit: Don't remember for the C 63s but for the C 43, the HUD's redline is not accurate from what I heard or at least when you shift at red line the car will bog down before you can shift so you should be shifting earlier than what it tells you. Plus from what I heard that shifting at redline yields lower power anyways as peak torque on the C 43 is at 5000 RPM after all. Forum member Superswiss please kindly correct me if I am wrong and share your knowledge on this, thanks a bunch!

That being said, Canada constantly had backordered issues with HUD even before everything that is going on, this applies to most C-Class and many E-Class I seen.

user33

HUD was about $1,500 CAD when I ordered our 2017 C43 sedan. I'd heard that HUD was something people seem to like or not, not much in between. As such, I explicitly arranged for a test drive on a HUD-equipped car and drove it before sunset, then waited, and drove it in the dark.

For me, I _really_ like the HUD -- but you can't see it with polarized glasses, as others have noticed. I particularly like HUD with the Nav system in operation. OTOH, I also never found it useful on the track. Overall, the bit I drive the GTR on the street, I much miss the fact that it has no HUD (not an option for it).

Silverbird

Agree that the HUD will be difficult to find as it was one of the few standalone options that weren't cosmetic. Also tricky looking for a C43 Wagon as they weren't nearly as popular as the sedan in Canada (and unobtanium in the USA) - I would be curious to see how it compared to the Coupe sales wise.

I know when I was looking in 2019, there were only ~3 or 4 C43 wagons in all the GTA dealer lots - I ended up getting a build slot and ordered the spec I was looking for. Still a shame they never brought in the C63 Wagon.

Good luck on the search!

MartinC2S

This is very helpful and yes I'm definitely realizing that I'm looking for a bit of a unicorn but I have time so hopefully something will come up in the next 12-18 months. Nothing like starting early.

One more question, was a heated steering wheel ever available on the C43 wagons?

Silverbird

I'm not aware of it being available. It definitely wasn't in 2019. I think at the time it was consistent with Audi on the "S" models, where the flat bottoms wheels weren't offered with heating

pliukait

It wasn't available on my 2021 C43 either. An annoyance to be sure.

MartinC2S

Crap. My old '06 Touareg and '16 Cayenne both had it and that spoiled me, although my RS4 didn't. Now my GL350 doesn't have it and if I do get a C43 it won't either. You'd think that this would be a standard item for a Canadian car.

W205C43PFL

MB doesn't like to put heated elements in flat bottom steering wheel for the C-Class, for example if you get the flat bottom steering wheel in the C 300, you cannot equip it with heated steering wheel either.

NorVA_AMG

It’s not available on any vehicle with an AMG badge.