darbysan

I'm thinking of retrofitting Distronic to my Cl500, but before I go through the expense and hassle, I wanted to find out if Owners liked the way it works. I'm interested in a cruise that can automatically adjust as I'm driving down two and 4 lane roads . I'm used to doing this manually, but I've driven a few newer cars that had this feature ( not Mercedes) and liked how it worked.

Do you like it? Would you recommend it??

Thanks

tim687

What year is your car from?
I've got a '00 CL600 with distronic and I find it very primitive.

When there is an truck or car further ahead in the lane next to you and you approach a corner, the system will apply the brakes because the car is 'in front of you'.
This can give some tailgaters the feeling that you're brake testing them, resulting in much aggression 😂

Furthermore, more modern systems interfere with this ancient system, causing the distronic to cancel itself regularly (once per minute if you are unlucky)

To me, driving with the variable speed limiter is the way to have 'cruise control'.

If time ever allows, I'll dig into the firmware of the control unit to see if I can apply something to fix the latter

toledotom

I have owned a 2010 E350 4-Matic with both Premium packages on it and Distronic Plus. I LOVE IT! Being 67 years old and on a longer trip especially on a 2 lane road where traffic back-up is prevalent I don't have to touch anything and let the car drive itself! I have problems with lower leg cramps and this is a GOD Send! My legs and feet hate holding the accelerator at speed when People are constantly cutting in front of you on the freeway. I plan on owning my 2010 for quite a few more years for I am a pretty good Mechanic and going through all the necessary maintenance items along with new tires, motor mounts, transmission fluid change and flush, changed plugs and all filters. car has 128,000 miles and it is ready for another 125,000. I also pulled off front bumper cover and sanded out and primed and repainted. Car looks brand new.

darbysan

Thanks for the inputs. Tim, my car is an '04 Cl500. Sorry I didn't mention that. It has the separate controller for the radar under the passenger floor. I always wondered if using one of the newer Radar modules with the enclosed electronics would work ( still sends a signal to the CAN bus- just not sure if the rest of the software can accommodate it).

All being said, it appears that I might be disappointed with the earlier Distronic, and no way to upgrade to the Distronic Plus, so it would be a very expensive project that might end in frustration ( or worse). Guess I'll pass on it for now. Might have to look into something newer,if I can find something I like as well as the W215........