E350rulz

Hey I got the Distronic Plus with Steering Assist on my 2014 E350 on order.. Was wondering about Stop and Go Pilot is that part of Distronic Plus or our E's dont get that .. I heard about it .. but is that only on the S?
BTW I'm in Canada.. if that helps cus I know the content of whats offered is location dependant.. (eg we get ever so famous folding mirrors )

Dema

What exactly this option does? It seems a separate option, although I am not sure.

GregTR

The Distronic Plus on the 2014 E-class will follow the car in front of it up to 35 mph and steer, stop and go with traffic. If the car comes to a complete stop it will start moving forward without interaction from the driver if the stop is less than 3 seconds. If it's longer than 3 seconds the driver either has to push the button on the steering wheel or the accelerator to initiate movement of the car again.

PeterUbers

It's pretty cool and a bit scary at the same time... I've had it "chauffeur" me multiple times in stop and go traffic .. sometimes as it's approaching a car in front it stops rather abruptly... almost to the point where I'm about to jump on the brakes... I can see it wearing out the brakes this way...

Dema

Important to do not fall asleep in slow traffic, since here is nothing to do for a driver. Actually MB has some nice feature monitoring if you fall asleep. I didn't think it really work until I could observe it. I had lot driving during day and drove home late night, I think I was fine, but suddenly MB awaked me with noise and illumination. Certainly I was sleepy, so I opened window and continued driving without a problem.

rovinrail

I've also got in in my new E250. I end up using it a lot on secondary roads, when following slow cars or trucks (where overtaking isn't possible). Just put it on, and you can pay more attention to just about everything else for a bit.

Arrie

It also steers!!!???

GregTR

Yeah, That is new for 2014 and trickle down technology from the S-class. It was actually introduced in the E-class first but developed for the S.

PeterUbers

it's pretty crazy watching this thing steer itself (my hands centimeters from the steering wheel but not touching) down a well painted/striped highway... I can see the future

Dema

What it will do if all cars in front suddenly disappear? Does it know allowed speed?

PeterUbers

You set the speed with a control stalk. When the car in front disappears... it reverts to the control speed, whether that means speed up or stay the same speed.

What's scary is when a car changes lanes into yours and the E goes heavy on the brakes... it's interesting to see how computer code cannot (at this price of the game) work like a human mind... i'm sure more money gets more advancement in this arena, but at this level, you gotta pay lots of attention to the road -- AS YOU SHOULD!

samkimg

actually, it works well over 125 mph according to the manual. I always use mine and have had it working to 90mph+ with no issues. I've also had it work with zero hands under 18 mph for many miles at a time (commute), absolutely fantastic.

GregTR

Of course it works well over the legal speed limit in most states. What I meant was that at speeds higher than 35mph it will only look for lane markers and not cars in front of you. At slower speeds it will just follow the car which is pretty impressive.

tgseaver

What I don't understand is why this feature is not selling,very few e350s come over with it,This is one of the only reasons that I am upgrading from my 2008 ( with only 39000 miles),and I have to special order it.

Arrie

Your explanation is a bit confusing.

I think you mean to say that at speeds higher than 35 mph the steering function does not work any more but it still looks at the cars in front and adjust speed accordingly.

And I don't think the distronic is looking at the lane markers, it is the lane keep asist that will give you the warning. Or does it now also do the corrective steering if it sees the car drifting of the lane?

marvinlee

Distronic may not be selling better than it is because of the cost. I've ordered in on an E550 and was quite impressed by the cost magnitude. I've not seen numbers on the percentage of E-class cars ordered with the feature.

GregTR

There was nothing confusing about my description. Distronic Plus does steer the vehicle from 0-120mph and keeps it in the lane automatically through gentle turns in the road. You have to keep your hands on the steering wheel but you can feel the steering happening. I'm still waiting for my car so it's all based on hearsay, reading the user's manual and watching YouTube videos.

Lane tracking only intervenes when you're about to get out of your lane without signaling and there is no hard steering from the user or there is an object in the blind spot that would be hit otherwise.

The Distronic system will use a combination of lane markings and the vehicle in front of the car to keep on track at lower speeds and only lane markings at higher speeds. This way the system just follows the car in front in stop and go traffic, even when lane markings are partial or blocked.

Re: popularity of the system or lack thereof simply comes down to price. $2,800 is 4-5% of the cost of the car which is a hefty sum that most choose not to pay without trying it. It is also an expensive enough option that dealers seldom stock so it's a double whammy or catch 22. People don't buy it because it is a special order item and can't try it or can't find it on the lot for instant gratification and dealers don't stock it because most buyers don't buy it.

My dealer had a e-wagon on the lot that was pretty much almost what I wanted but no distronic. I chose to order one instead. The one on the lot is still there with its $72+k msrp. My e-wagon will probably be the most expensive one short of an AMG that is built but I can't wait to have distronic!

Arrie

So, in stop and go traffic below 35 mph speeds the system steers based on the car in front of it also keeping the distance and stops when needed. At faster speeds the steering is based on road markings only but the car still looks at the cars in front of it and slows down as needed behind them, right? If it didn't it would not be a "DISTRONIC".

In your earlier post you said it does not look at the cars in fron of it at higher speeds and this kind of says it would not adjust the speed when coming close to another car. I now understand that you meant that it does not look at the other cars for steering input but still does for distance control.

GregTR

Correct. Reading back my original reply, I can see the confusion. I was strictly talking about the new for 2014 feature, I assumed the basic operation of distronic was a given.