Arrie

I don't exactly know how and what the Attention Assist measures but it works. Yesterday late night I had a 4 1/2 hour drive to make and in dark it can make you feel tired/sleepy especially if you had a very long work day on the previous day and rather long yesterday also with limited sleeping time between.

I was driving and was kind of feeling a little tired and was thinking maby stopping at the gas station about 15 miles ahead to fill my Mercedes Benz coffee mug (very nice cup). Just a couple of minutes later the Attention Assist warning came ON!

I was very surprised about this, almost makes me think it reads my mind but I know it doesn't. Somehow it knew I need that coffee to keep going.

I will keep it on because it can really save you if it knew I need my coffeine before I felt really tired. I could have driven by the gas station without stopping but after this warning came ON I did not second guess the need for a stop.

Arrie

Lane change blinker (the three blinks) have been in some foreighn cars for almost 10 years now. I just wish it would blink 4 times instead of 3. I find 4 blinks would serve lane change better than 3 as practically nobody does lane change in such short time, 4 blink would cover it better.

Now, of course, other drivers see your intentions from just 3 blinks but by the law, as long as the car is moving sideways the blinker must be ON, he, he...

I found out that doing the blinker arm flip twice it gives you 4 blinks, probably 5 if you hit it 3 times. Interestingly my rental S350 gave me 5 blinks when I double fliped it.

cfab011

Whoa, whoa, whoa... What? How does it know? I don't think my little C300 is smart enough to have such a feature, and if so, I don't think I'm smart enough to pay attention to it.

Arrie

I don't know how it knows but I think it measures steering wheel input very closely. When you are tired your car can start drifting on the lane and you do corrective steering movements. I guess it can calculate from steering wheel position sensor if you are actually traveling on a straight road but need more than normal steering input to keep it going straight?

Perhaps it also uses Navigation map where the road is programmed and it knows what steering input you should be giving and if you deviate from this too much it knows you are drowsy even on winding roads. The road I was on is full of turns and hills with only few straights.

Don't know what other factors it could measure as all my driving was on 4-lane highway with little traffic and cruise ON at all the time. This road is a about 30 miles long in the middle of nowhere. Did not even need to hit brake pedal once before getting to that gas station for my stop.

vselva

Plus it reads our minds ... Its a beautiful feature, it alerted me quite a few times promptly during my long drives.

RNBRAD

Yea don't be looking at other cars and thinking of any trades while driving the Benz. Might just be your last thought. lol.

golfster

You have now entered, The Twilight Zone.

WGB

According to the manual it records the steering inputs in the first few minutes of a drive and after 45 minutes or so if they change it starts with wheel vibration then the coffee cup fills the speedo.

In our land of long drives it might be a life saver.

Bill

RNBRAD

This car should just make the cup of coffee for you. "Sir, you need a cup of coffee, it is hot & ready in the glove box," lol.

GuyFawkes

I actually almost nodded off one night and it didn't come on though! Yikes.

hyperion667

I usually rely on my inner self ......."get on the road dumbass"

of course then again, I never do drive to the point of exhaustion

K-A

I've driven this car on many long distance trips, and maybe it's because I'm so "used" to driving while tired, but the Attention Assist never came on for me, when I actually felt tired (I have yet to let myself actually start swerving while tired).

However, it's gone off a ton of times when I was wide awake, but futzing around with something in the car, forcing me to swerve around.

BenzE350

It my experience it doesn't work and shouldn't be relied on. Worthless feature.

BenzE350

Glad I don't drive on any roads near you.

GuyFawkes

Is it just mine, or does the rear cabin for your W212's also only have 1 climate control zone. I could have sworn the generation before had 2 rear climate zones.

ALSO, did USA get the option for the dynamic contour/massage seat for the passenger side? Because in Canada you can only get it for the driver seat.

cfab011

And also Keyless-Go in 300's is still only a Canadian feature right?

mm9351

here's a new one I just discovered yesterday...

If you have the adaptive headlight system, standard with P2 (e.g. hi beams auto dim if the camera senses oncoming traffic) ... the system only works if you have the main lighting selector set to A (auto). The system is engaged only if you see the "<<< A" symbol in the center cluster.

I just had my car serviced and apparently my dealer reset the system to "O" --- rendering the adaptive feature totally disabled, even though the cluster menu was confirmed that it was engaged.

Of course this only effects E Class with the older style lighting controls, with both an A and O setting.

Arrie

Well, you might have a bug in your car's system because my 2011 W212 will not lock from door handle or from trunk button if my key fob in either in the car or in the trunk, Just tried it out and it just says "Key detected in car" when I try to lock it either from trunk button or the door handle.

Is it possible that your key fob battery is weak when it allows locking from trunk button and simply does not detect the key as it should?

K-A

golfster

Hi Arrie,

Mine is an "11 as well, with about 500 miles on the clock thus far. I took delivery almost two months ago, and it has been garaged much of the time as I have been at my other home, so doubtful (I hope) the fob battery is low so soon.

With fob in car:

• I can't lock the car from the door as you've indicated.
• From the trunk, only when pressing the right button (with lock icon) will it allow the car to lock.

Perhaps a bug as you suggested. I'll point it out next time I'm able to get the car to the dealer.

Arrie

As I mentioned I cannot lock the car from door handle or trunk button when key is in car or in trunk. Trunk closing button closes the trunk but lock button is dead. It does not do anything.

As you say you cannot lock from door handle while key is in the car it means car is recognizing the key so it should not lock from trunk button either. Really looks like a bug.

El Cid

Attention Assist: Mine works and I am glad it is there.
BTW, safety features are considered when your insurance company determines your policy price, so it helps there also.
As for signal blinking 3 times for lane changes. I tried it, but 3 times is not enough. Need at least 5-7 times considering all the inattentive drivers out there. Also, I like to give others plenty of notice that I am about to change lanes.

vselva

Don't say no to a Good Samaritan who may save your life someday . Attention Assist has around 70 parameters to sense drowsiness without annoying unnecessarily. I hope people wake up immediately when it alerts (rather than waking up somewhere else later). In my opinion, Attention Assist by MB may be one the ingenious safety features that others yet to adopt.

BenzE350

In my limited experience it doesn't work. I currently have 3,000 miles on my E350. My job requires me to frequently drive several hours between cities in the Northeast. One time on the way from Boston to Hartford I had to suddenly swerve to avoid another car. No warning from AA.

Another time coming home from Albany late at night with hardly any traffic, I intentionally drifted from lane to lane trying to similate dozing off. No warning from AA.

YMMV.

petee1997

Maybe the system knows you were trying to trick it.
In my case it came on once near the end of a full day of travel. I have no idea what triggered the system since I didn't notice any difference in my driving. In any event it may not be perfect but it's free and better than nothing.