When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Consensus on Steering Assist & Lane Change Assist?
I had grown a bit concerned that I had never once noticed any assistance whatsoever, but I've only just now learned that Active Distance Assist must first be engaged. And being only halfway through my break-in period, my understanding is that I shouldn't yet touch that button, so I haven't. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, I find the manual to be horrible in explaining these things -- seems like it was written mainly by lawyers.)
But I'm eager to hear how everyone else likes Driver's Assistance. The safety features seem like they'd be worth their weight in gold if used even once to their fullest, but do you guys find the Lane Keeping, or Lane Changing features useful? Do you find the Driver's Assistance Package generally to have been worth the cost?
Yep, I love it in stop&go traffic and on long journeys. You have individual control over the three functions. Lane Keep Assist is always active if you have it turned on, but MB's implementation is a last resort kinda thing. It will vibrate the steering wheel if you come close to lane markers and if you keep drifting it will violently apply the brakes on the other side of the car to steer the car back into its lane. The first time it happens you will go "WTF just happened!?". It won't smoothly steer you back into your lane. Having said that though, it only really intervenes if you are carelessly drifting out of your lane. It uses the Attention Assistant and your driving style to determine if you are deliberately crossing the lane markers or if you are not paying attention. There's also a minimum speed you have to be going. Below it, it will never intervene. I forgot what it is, but i think it's somewhere around 40 mph. I've never had it intervene if I'm deliberately crossing lane markers. I can even leave it on in the canyons and it recognizes that I'm driving dynamically and won't intervene if I'm crossing the center lane marker.
The second one is Active Steering Assist, which is only active if DISTRONIC is active and you have it turned on. This is essentially level 2 semi-autonomous steering. It will actively steer the car to follow the flow of the road. It uses the lane markers, barriers and other cars to figure out where it needs to steer the car. Works pretty well, but you still have to help it along in bigger bends. It's done deliberately to make sure the driver keeps paying attention. It works great in stop&go traffic and generally on mostly straight highways with an occasional bend.
Yes, you shouldn't really use DISTRONIC during the brake in as you are not supposed to keep the engine at a constant rpm. I actually avoided highways for the most part during the break-in and only drove on surface roads as to vary speed etc.
Last edited by superswiss; 12-05-2020 at 03:38 AM.
Amazing info as always, SuperSwiss! I can't wait for the break-in to be over, so I can start using all of the car. Distronic and steering assist would have been amazingly helpful on a recent terrifying drive through 20 miles of construction barriers, narrow lanes, and lots of fast crazy traffic and trucks. I was literally sweating and could've used all the help I could get.
I turn off the Lane Keep Assist, as it employs the brakes to pull you back into the lane, and will greatly accelerate brake wear. That, and I rarely go out of lane accidentally; it's usually often, and on purpose lol. I do leave it on on my wife's Benz, however, for safety reasons.
As for the Active Steering Assist, it's worth it's weight in gold IMO. Aside from Teslas, I think MB has the best active steering assist out there. Very useful if you drive long distances, or if you simply need to do something really quickly and need the car to help keep you in the lane for a moment (I'm not advocating distracted driving, but in the real world, sometimes you do need to take care of something immediately, and pulling over to do so may not be as practical). My ONLY gripe is that it only allows you to be hands-free for somewhere between 15-20 seconds, vs the S-Class where that limit is pushed out to 60 seconds.
I turn off the Lane Keep Assist, as it employs the brakes to pull you back into the lane, and will greatly accelerate brake wear. That, and I rarely go out of lane accidentally; it's usually often, and on purpose lol. I do leave it on on my wife's Benz, however, for safety reasons.
As for the Active Steering Assist, it's worth it's weight in gold IMO. Aside from Teslas, I think MB has the best active steering assist out there. Very useful if you drive long distances, or if you simply need to do something really quickly and need the car to help keep you in the lane for a moment (I'm not advocating distracted driving, but in the real world, sometimes you do need to take care of something immediately, and pulling over to do so may not be as practical). My ONLY gripe is that it only allows you to be hands-free for somewhere between 15-20 seconds, vs the S-Class where that limit is pushed out to 60 seconds.
Just to clarify, the FL has the same hands-free limits as the S Class. It got the updated system from the S Class. It's 30 seconds before it warns visually, and then I think you have another 30 seconds before it initiates emergency braking. I never pushed it to that point, though. The limit actually adjusts based on the type of road, speed and traffic. In really slow stop&go traffic you can take your hands completely off the steering wheel and it won't force you to hold it at all. If traffic comes to a full stop it automatically resumes for up to 30 seconds. Only if it's stopped for longer than 30 seconds does the driver have to kick it off again by tapping the accelerator or Resume. This is all under a new option code K33 - Extended Restart in Stop & Go Traffic. This option is standard on 2019+ US spec cars with the driver assistance package. The newer system is significantly improved.
Last edited by superswiss; 12-06-2020 at 03:26 PM.
Might be FL-specific. It's definitely not 30 seconds while you're in motion at highway speeds for my 2018. And the 60 seconds was info I read online from MB press releases advertising the new S-Class.
Might be FL-specific. It's definitely not 30 seconds while you're in motion at highway speeds for my 2018. And the 60 seconds was info I read online from MB press releases advertising the new S-Class.
Yes, as I said, only FL. PFL has an older less capable system. What you read about the S Class is also only for the FL S Class. PFL had the same older system as your 2018. S Class got facelifted for 2018 if I remember correctly. It introduced the latest system that was then rolled out to all other facelifts.
EDIT: Also, the all-new S Class that was just revealed has yet a further improved system, so if you are talking about that one, then yes it might have the 30 seconds extended to now 60 seconds. The all-new S Class is actually level 3 and not level 2.
Last edited by superswiss; 12-06-2020 at 03:37 PM.
Is this a hardware or software improvement? Ie can I upgrade?
At the core it's essentially more capable software, but the FL has a different radar sensor. Not sure if it has improved stereo cameras as well, but I'm also pretty sure it has a faster ECU with higher computational power that goes along with the more complex software. So very likely that it would require new faster hardware to run the more capable and demanding software.
As a side note, as far as the new S Class is concerned, many of the advertised features won't be available initially and likely not for years in North America, because the legislation that regulates level 3 autonomous driving isn't in place yet. Audi for example has put their efforts on ice for now in the A8, even in Germany, because it has proven too difficult to get the legislation in place. In the USA, all states would have to agree on a common legal framework before this stuff can be rolled out. Tesla is currently pushing the envelope with their full self-driving beta, but they are essential skirting the laws and might get shut down. As far as I know, even Tesla Autopilot is less capable in Europe, because the EU isn't as forgiving when you start skirting the laws. It'll be interesting to see if Tesla manages to get a legal framework in place or how far they can go w/o one before the states start shutting them down. The Europeans are much more risk averse when it comes to rolling this stuff out w/o the support of the law.
I was disappointed to see that I missed out on the 2019 vs 2020 change where the 2019 models don't have automatic merge if you use your blinkers whereas the 2020+ do . I wonder if it's just software/firmware that I could get upgraded to because I wouldn't think the hardware would've changed
I was disappointed to see that I missed out on the 2019 vs 2020 change where the 2019 models don't have automatic merge if you use your blinkers whereas the 2020+ do . I wonder if it's just software/firmware that I could get upgraded to because I wouldn't think the hardware would've changed
There was no change from 2019 to 2020 as far as I know. My 2019 changes lanes when I use the blinker. I assume that's what you mean. It's called Active Lane Change Assist and explained starting on page 178 in the owners manual. Needs to be turned on in the driver assistance settings, though.
Yep, I love it in stop&go traffic and on long journeys. You have individual control over the three functions. Lane Keep Assist is always active if you have it turned on, but MB's implementation is a last resort kinda thing. It will vibrate the steering wheel if you come close to lane markers and if you keep drifting it will violently apply the brakes on the other side of the car to steer the car back into its lane. The first time it happens you will go "WTF just happened!?". It won't smoothly steer you back into your lane. Having said that though, it only really intervenes if you are carelessly drifting out of your lane. It uses the Attention Assistant and your driving style to determine if you are deliberately crossing the lane markers or if you are not paying attention. There's also a minimum speed you have to be going. Below it, it will never intervene. I forgot what it is, but i think it's somewhere around 40 mph. I've never had it intervene if I'm deliberately crossing lane markers. I can even leave it on in the canyons and it recognizes that I'm driving dynamically and won't intervene if I'm crossing the center lane marker.
The second one is Active Steering Assist, which is only active if DISTRONIC is active and you have it turned on. This is essentially level 2 semi-autonomous steering. It will actively steer the car to follow the flow of the road. It uses the lane markers, barriers and other cars to figure out where it needs to steer the car. Works pretty well, but you still have to help it along in bigger bends. It's done deliberately to make sure the driver keeps paying attention. It works great in stop&go traffic and generally on mostly straight highways with an occasional bend.
Yes, you shouldn't really use DISTRONIC during the brake in as you are not supposed to keep the engine at a constant rpm. I actually avoided highways for the most part during the break-in and only drove on surface roads as to vary speed etc.
Yep, pretty much agree with all of that! I have an earlier model (2016) with all of the options ticked and in general it works well for me.
I am a big fan of cruise on longer freeway / interstate trips and the radar control stuff (Distronic) works very well. My wife had a 2016 Malibu (latest shape one) with the same tech and its clear that the MB version is much better. Its smoother, easier to use and clearly better calibrated. Simple functions like changing lanes to pass a slower vehicle work much smoother and are actually very easy to use. Just let the car pass, indicate and gently move out - all seamless and by far the best system I have driven with. It just makes the longer trips easier.
As for the lane keep stuff - in general I like it. Its a nice safety net as a last resort. Freeways and larger multi-lane roads are good, but I have found that its a little inconsistent on country roads. Most of the time it doesnt interfere, but I have found that occasionally on some roads, where you might get a little close to the right hand white line, it gets all aggressive. Only to allow you to do the same thing on the next curve. Odd, but its pretty rare happening maybe once in say 30 miles of country roads. Certainly not big enough of an issue for me to turn it off. Braking the opposite wheels does work and it will nicely bring you back into lane though. Its a safety thing though and for that it works.
I also have the active steering thing too. I live in the country and I am a good 25 miles from the nearest freeway / interstate. So I dont get to use it as much as I would like. You can have it automatically engage with radar cruise, so it will attempt to steer, but you can also have them separate - just press the buttons for on/off. For the first year or so that I had the car, it was broadly useless for me. Country roads are less than ideal for these systems in general, so not worried. But, when they repainted the lines across the county, oh man its waaay better. Yes, it still gets a little confused on some intersections and tighter turns are a no-go for it. But it actually works well and is pretty smooth. My wife hates it though, so its a personal preference. I fund that it tries to center to the lane too much. We naturally will allow the car to drift in lane when going around corners etc, to smooth out the corner etc. However, it feels odd when you are centered in the lane. Just a little weird. Oh, and mines the older system, so you get a green symbol on the dash when its active, but it will just disengage when its not going to work. Just turns off and turns white. Not great. And one final comment, the steering in comfort for the C63S was never the best, feeling a little overassisted for my liking. Add in the active cornering, and you get these weird flat spots - over assisted and you can turn it slightly when its on, but then it suddenly feels stiffer. Very unnatural feeling and not a fan in certain situations. Just be aware.
And finally, I have used the radar cruise in traffic a few times and its great. Will keep a reasonable distance (easily adjusted) and when the traffic is somewhat flowing it works great. Stop-start is a different story though. Yes, it will bring you to a complete halt, which is nice, but you do need to press on the gas to start again. And if the stop / start system kicks in, you end up with the whole 'AMG bark' thing again and again.... yeah, not a good look if you want to disappear in traffic. It will start off though, but I find that its not really reactive enough. I am sure that on the design / testing phase, its how it should be. But we all know that stuck in rush hour traffic, you do really need to keep up with the car in front and not leave a big gap. I have seen newer systems in other cars and it works much better and is a lot more aggressive on keeping up with traffic. But hey, cant complain, it works reasonably well.
Sorry, forgot, I think its standard, but the auto emergency brake stuff works well too. I have had it shout at me a few times, but nothing major. Again, system seems to be much more accurate and reliable than the Chevrolet one. So thats nice. But I will admit that I have never had it auto-brake for me. I understand it will work, but this is the last ditch attempt to stop you crashing, so its not something that I will test out. Maybe someone else can comment about how good, or not, it is? I know that the Volvo system works well, but doesnt guarantee that you wont hit the object in front.
And finally, I have used the radar cruise in traffic a few times and its great. Will keep a reasonable distance (easily adjusted) and when the traffic is somewhat flowing it works great. Stop-start is a different story though. Yes, it will bring you to a complete halt, which is nice, but you do need to press on the gas to start again. And if the stop / start system kicks in, you end up with the whole 'AMG bark' thing again and again.... yeah, not a good look if you want to disappear in traffic. It will start off though, but I find that its not really reactive enough. I am sure that on the design / testing phase, its how it should be. But we all know that stuck in rush hour traffic, you do really need to keep up with the car in front and not leave a big gap. I have seen newer systems in other cars and it works much better and is a lot more aggressive on keeping up with traffic. But hey, cant complain, it works reasonably well.
The 2019+ system definitely works much better in traffic. After bringing the car to a complete stop and if the traffic starts moving again within 30 seconds, it will automatically resume. The DISTRONIC symbol keeps pulsating in the instrument cluster while it is in ready mode. If traffic is stopped for more than 30 seconds, it will disengage, but you can simply reengage it by pressing Resume and then it stays ready again for 30 seconds, or step on the accelerator once traffic moves again. I keep Auto Start/Stop turned off pretty much at all times, but if I do have it on because traffic is really bad, it's now also tied to the radar sensor and/or cameras. It starts the engine as soon as it detects movement ahead, so it's fully ready by the time it needs to move again. I also get the impression that it looks several cars ahead using the cameras instead of just relying on the radar sensor, because it often proactively slows down before the car directly ahead reacts to the slowing traffic ahead. They really have improved the system in recent years. I drive a lot smoother and more like a human. One of my complaints in the past was that adaptive cruise adopts the bad habits of the driver ahead, so if they react late when traffic stops, then adaptive cruise has to make a panic stop. The MB system as said appears to be locking ahead like a good driver should.
Last edited by superswiss; 12-08-2020 at 03:08 PM.
Oh man! I just realized on my build sheet that I have distronic plus, but it doesn't call out lane change assist. I also notice on my button panel I don't have the button to activate lane change assist. I didn't know you could option out distronic plus with lane keeping and not get lane changing!
Oh man! I just realized on my build sheet that I have distronic plus, but it doesn't call out lane change assist. I also notice on my button panel I don't have the button to activate lane change assist. I didn't know you could option out distronic plus with lane keeping and not get lane changing!
It's all part of the driver assistance package. There's no button. You have to go into the vehicle assistance settings and make sure you have it enabled. I don't recall, but it's probably disabled from the factory. Several of the assistance features can be enabled/disabled in the settings, so if you haven't been in there you might wanna make sure you have everything configured how you want it.
Odd... I don't have it. I have the drivers assistance package and see on my build sheet the distronic plus item. Is it the difference between 2019 coupe and sedan? I bring this up because the 2020 AMG C43 sedan that I was loaned recently had lane change assist
Originally Posted by superswiss
It's all part of the driver assistance package. There's no button. You have to go into the vehicle assistance settings and make sure you have it enabled. I don't recall, but it's probably disabled from the factory. Several of the assistance features can be enabled/disabled in the settings, so if you haven't been in there you might wanna make sure you have everything configured how you want it.
Last edited by Stunna02; 12-08-2020 at 08:40 PM.
Reason: adding additional comment
Odd... I don't have it. I have the drivers assistance package and see on my build sheet the distronic plus item. Is it the difference between 2019 coupe and sedan? I bring this up because the 2020 AMG C43 sedan that I was loaned recently had lane change assist
You are actually missing a bunch of things. Yes, we have DISTRONIC PLUS. Does your car have navigation? It seems you don't have navigation, because these advanced features need the map data to work. Things like speed adjustment, lane change assist etc. needs to know where you are and the road you are driving on. Lane change assist only works if you are driving on a divided highway for example and speed adjustment needs to know when you are approaching intersections, curves, roundabouts and exits, so w/o map data these things are not available. I'm guessing the loaner you were driving had navigation.
Oh! I don't have navigation... just the SD-Card Navigation pre-wiring...
That explains it. While you have the other packages, you only get a subset of the functions w/o navigation. You must have the Multimedia package. The SD navigation is an entirely standalone system that doesn't integrate with any of this. I've been trying to explain this to others as well. Navigation these days is not just for routing anymore. More and more features in the car rely on the map data. So even if you are not using it to navigate, it needs to be there if you want all the features you paid for in the driver assistance package etc.
BTW, this is also what enables the up to 30 seconds of hands free driving. It needs to know if you are driving on a divided highway to allow for longer hands free driving, so again, w/o the map data it doesn't know what kind of road you are driving on.
Last edited by superswiss; 12-08-2020 at 09:38 PM.
Oh god... If this was explained to me that I'd lose the lane changing assist, I would've added the navigation... Ughhh... Oh well.. I still do lane keep assist, but it's not near 30 seconds...
Doubt there's anything mod related so that I could get lane assist. That was a nice feature in the loaner car
Originally Posted by superswiss
That explains it. While you have the other packages, you only get a subset of the functions w/o navigation. You must have the Multimedia package. The SD navigation is an entirely standalone system that doesn't integrate with any of this. I've been trying to explain this to others as well. Navigation these days is not just for routing anymore. More and more features in the car rely on the map data. So even if you are not using it to navigate, it needs to be there if you want all the features you paid for in the driver assistance package etc.
BTW, this is also what enables the up to 30 seconds of hands free driving. It needs to know if you are driving on a divided highway to allow for longer hands free driving.
Oh god... If this was explained to me that I'd lose the lane changing assist, I would've added the navigation... Ughhh... Oh well.. I still do lane keep assist, but it's not near 30 seconds...
Doubt there's anything mod related so that I could get lane assist. That was a nice feature in the loaner car
Unfortunately, there is no place where the dependencies between the different systems are explained. If I remember correctly, with the PFL it made you add the Multimedia package if you added the Driver Assistance package, so that avoided getting into situation where only part of the functionality is available. The FL is more flexible in terms of options, but it nowhere explains that w/o the Multimedia package, the other packages don't offer the full functionality. You have to either understand how these systems are tightly integrated these days, or happen to talk to a sales guy who actually knows what they are talking about. I know they are hard to find. Even calling MBUSA often is fruitless, because their staff doesn't really know what they are talking about, either. Best bet are the AMG Specialists.
The 2019+ system definitely works much better in traffic. After bringing the car to a complete stop and if the traffic starts moving again within 30 seconds, it will automatically resume. The DISTRONIC symbol keeps pulsating in the instrument cluster while it is in ready mode. If traffic is stopped for more than 30 seconds, it will disengage, but you can simply reengage it by pressing Resume and then it stays ready again for 30 seconds, or step on the accelerator once traffic moves again. I keep Auto Start/Stop turned off pretty much at all times, but if I do have it on because traffic is really bad, it's now also tied to the radar sensor and/or cameras. It starts the engine as soon as it detects movement ahead, so it's fully ready by the time it needs to move again. I also get the impression that it looks several cars ahead using the cameras instead of just relying on the radar sensor, because it often proactively slows down before the car directly ahead reacts to the slowing traffic ahead. They really have improved the system in recent years. I drive a lot smoother and more like a human. One of my complaints in the past was that adaptive cruise adopts the bad habits of the driver ahead, so if they react late when traffic stops, then adaptive cruise has to make a panic stop. The MB system as said appears to be locking ahead like a good driver should.
12-04-2020, 10:15 PM
. I wonder if it's just software/firmware that I could get upgraded to because I wouldn't think the hardware would've changed
