Distronic or Lighting Package
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Member
Joined: Mar 2012
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From: SARASOTA FL
2001 CLK320
Distronic or Lighting Package
Ok guys im looking at 3 white cars 2015 and 2016 E350. Each has one or the other Distronic or Lighting Package.. Which way would you go,,Thanks for your opinions
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2006 E320 CDI 2014 C63 507 Coupe 2012 E550 4M 2016 E63s Wagon
Tough decision. The distronic is more impressive, but depending on how much night driving you do the lighting may be more practical. I like my distronic more, but use the lighting more frequently (auto high beams, and active curve illumination are nice). What are the standard lights on 2015, 2016? Hold out for both.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 154
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From: SARASOTA FL
2001 CLK320
Holding out for both could be a long way off cause they just arent out there. I been looking for 2 months. I want white with black interior 2015 or 2016, pano roof, keylessgo lighting,distronic etc.. The cars i found have one or the other when it comes to the distronic and lighting.
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Joined: Apr 2016
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2016 Mercedes-Benz E250 W212
LED lighting package for sure. I have distronic+ & the lighting package on my 2016.I find that I use the distronic strictly on highway drives at night when not too many cars are on the road.
Its a personal preference but if I had to pick...it would be the lighting package. Either way, its an amazing car.
Its a personal preference but if I had to pick...it would be the lighting package. Either way, its an amazing car.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 154
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From: SARASOTA FL
2001 CLK320
wow this is a tough decision,,,everyone makes good points. i cant believe i cant find one with both. Theres a 2014 car that does but it has over 22k miles which isnt bad but its soon to go out of warranty and he is also at 2105 price on it so i kinda ruled that out.
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From: Savannah, GA
2010 W212 E550 4matic
If you're doing a lot of highway driving Distronic is the way to go, otherwise I'd go with the lighting package. Sometimes, Distronic is annoying even on the highway, it's very cautious and leaves a big gap which other drivers usually take advantage of. Works well on the highways in the Midwest, but as soon as you get close to a city with more than 10k inhabitants it gets frustrating. It should have an italian mode setting to be efficient in real life scenarios.
Last edited by Oda112; Jan 25, 2018 at 12:27 PM.
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^ I use it all the time in stop and go traffic in Chicago, so your city comment is flat out wrong. The thing is self-driving. It comes to a complete stop and accelerates all on it's own while traffic inches ahead. It is Tayler made for this situation. I agree on the open road it can leave a gap if you have the distance setting actuated further away.
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Joined: Jul 2017
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From: Savannah, GA
2010 W212 E550 4matic
^ I use it all the time in stop and go traffic in Chicago, so your city comment is flat out wrong. The thing is self-driving. It comes to a complete stop and accelerates all on it's own while traffic inches ahead. It is Tayler made for this situation. I agree on the open road it can leave a gap if you have the distance setting actuated further away.
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From: Bay Area
14 550 sedan
Haha when I was choosing my car it was either lighting package or distronic. I chose Lighting because I don't do very much highway runs which is where i think distronic will shine more.
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In my previous comment I was referring to crowded roads, a situation which is common on the highways surrounding bigger cities. If there are more than 20 cars around you on a 100yard axis (roughly 50 in front, 50 in the back) on a 4 or even 6 lane road, I find Distronic Plus ( on my 2010 W212) to be lacking,even on the closest following distance setting it takes too long to get up to speed if it brakes for whatever reason( someone merging in front of you, changing lanes rapidly, etc.). Maybe yours is better since it's newer, but mine won't start moving the car once it comes to a full stop, it needs an acceleration input(light tap of the throttle pedal). I don't know how you guys drive around in Chicago, but I've driven in and around St Louis a couple times and it's annoying when using DTR, people just jump in front of you because of the gap it leaves and that makes it brake and it's a vicious cycle unless you like driving in the slow lane. I did like it while cruising on the almost empty I64W/E and I75S/N but that's because people wouldn't be butting in front of you suddenly. I had it on my E60 BMW and it was the same general feel, again, for the older version. I find it useless in stop and go traffic, even uncomfortable, in my opinion it's too violent when applying the brakes in bumper to bumper traffic.
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Joined: Dec 2015
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From: Charlotte, NC
2014 E350 4M Diamond Silver
3 years/75k miles.
But 2016 distronic is more advanced than 2014 I guess. Please dig some more on that.
BTW, points to be noted:
2016: free map updates for one more year I guess.
Will be under factory warranty for two more years atleast.
Seats/comfort might be different than 2014.
Last edited by raja777m; Jan 25, 2018 at 04:03 PM.
Super Member
Joined: Mar 2011
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From: VA
W212 E-class, W211 E-class, F10 5-Series
If you're doing a lot of highway driving Distronic is the way to go, otherwise I'd go with the lighting package. Sometimes, Distronic is annoying even on the highway, it's very cautious and leaves a big gap which other drivers usually take advantage of. Works well on the highways in the Midwest, but as soon as you get close to a city with more than 10k inhabitants it gets frustrating. It should have an italian mode setting to be efficient in real life scenarios.
In my previous comment I was referring to crowded roads, a situation which is common on the highways surrounding bigger cities. If there are more than 20 cars around you on a 100yard axis (roughly 50 in front, 50 in the back) on a 4 or even 6 lane road, I find Distronic Plus ( on my 2010 W212) to be lacking,even on the closest following distance setting it takes too long to get up to speed if it brakes for whatever reason( someone merging in front of you, changing lanes rapidly, etc.). Maybe yours is better since it's newer, but mine won't start moving the car once it comes to a full stop, it needs an acceleration input(light tap of the throttle pedal). I don't know how you guys drive around in Chicago, but I've driven in and around St Louis a couple times and it's annoying when using DTR, people just jump in front of you because of the gap it leaves and that makes it brake and it's a vicious cycle unless you like driving in the slow lane. I did like it while cruising on the almost empty I64W/E and I75S/N but that's because people wouldn't be butting in front of you suddenly. I had it on my E60 BMW and it was the same general feel, again, for the older version. I find it useless in stop and go traffic, even uncomfortable, in my opinion it's too violent when applying the brakes in bumper to bumper traffic.
22k miles still isn't bad for a 2014. If you really have your heart set on BOTH options, then perhaps that one can re-enter as a valid contender. The warranty, I wouldn't be too concerned about. I can refer you to a guy who sells amazingly priced Fidelity warranties that are even better than the MB CPO warranty.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 154
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From: SARASOTA FL
2001 CLK320
Well i think the guy who had that 2014 was overpriced so i decided to just go with the car that has most options including the lighting package but no distronic...Just working out details now
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2012
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From: SARASOTA FL
2001 CLK320
well i choose the lighting package. I picked up my new car last evening 2015 e350 white/black with 15k miles. I drove it back to pittsburgh and i have to say those adaptive lights are amazing. I do wanna thank everyone for all the feedback and especially Treason who helped with many phone calls and actually looked at the car for me. I met him before i left, great guy. Good thing i drove it home last night cause pittsburgh got snow this morning
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From: VA
W212 E-class, W211 E-class, F10 5-Series
You are very welcome man!
Good choice you made there, and what a flawless beauty she is!! Welcome to world of white W212's.
Good meeting you too. Let me know if you decide to take it out in the snow and test out that 4Matic...lol.
Good choice you made there, and what a flawless beauty she is!! Welcome to world of white W212's.
Good meeting you too. Let me know if you decide to take it out in the snow and test out that 4Matic...lol.
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2006 E320 CDI 2014 C63 507 Coupe 2012 E550 4M 2016 E63s Wagon
well i choose the lighting package. I picked up my new car last evening 2015 e350 white/black with 15k miles. I drove it back to pittsburgh and i have to say those adaptive lights are amazing. I do wanna thank everyone for all the feedback and especially Treason who helped with many phone calls and actually looked at the car for me. I met him before i left, great guy. Good thing i drove it home last night cause pittsburgh got snow this morning
Congrats on the new car. Enjoy!
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Joined: Dec 2015
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From: Charlotte, NC
2014 E350 4M Diamond Silver
Congrats on the new ride.
Time to get ready with ELW information.
Get the lower package one 75kmiles/3 years instead of 100k one, since yours is low on mileage already. When is your factory warranty expiring?
Time to get ready with ELW information.
Get the lower package one 75kmiles/3 years instead of 100k one, since yours is low on mileage already. When is your factory warranty expiring?
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 154
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From: SARASOTA FL
2001 CLK320
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From: MA
2008 E350 4Matic, 2011 E350 4matic
Well in the extended warranty subforum, there are vendors that will sell you an extended factory warranty for either 7/75 or 7/100k. They do discount it but I'm not sure if they will do it for FL residents as I think that state has a law that prohibits discounting warranties. I suppose you could have bought it when you bought the car when you were out of state.
