Upgrade Distronic Plus after purchase for E300 2017?
Any one who regret to add these feature wondering the same thing?
Just like Tesla can upgrade enhance autopilot after puechase... is it possible?
With Mercedes, if you buy a car equipped with Distronic, you've got the latest and greatest allowed in your jurisdiction. There are no additional software buy-ups. It's all or nothing.
As far as retrofitting, it's possible, but it'll cost you a fortune to buy the parts needed & labor required to retrofit the car. There was someone on the forum with one of the older Mercedes models who managed to retrofit their car, but it was a much simpler version of Distronic, just a single radar unit for that car.
Compared to a Distronic-equipped car, you're missing quite a few sensors. Tesla's system is quite simplistic compared to Mercedes'. IIRC, most of the Tesla AutoPilot system is inside the windshield-mounted camera unit. Merc's Distronic uses multiple cameras, multiple radars (including multi-band radars), multiple computers. Even if you managed to get all of that installed, you'd need to find someone who can code the car to have all of the modules be recognized and talk with each other. If there's extra software involved, you might not be able to get it. Lastly, you're not going to get software updates for it since the MB dealerships' systems go by VIN#s and OEM equipment lists.
Cost-wise, it's going to be cheaper to trade the car for a Distronic-equipped car. Good luck finding one. Distronic-equipped E-Classes on the used market are extremely rare. I tried for a whole year to get a used W212 with Distronic on it. I only ever found one and it didn't qualify for CPO, so I didn't take the chance on it and ordered a custom W212 w/Distronic. Distronic is somewhat more common on W213s, but still rare considering it alone adds 22% to the price of the car.
You might want to try looking for a used S-Class. A fully-loaded E-Class is well into in used S-Class territory, and Distronic is far more common on the W222. The local dealership's asking $62k for a 2014 S550 w/Surround cameras & Distronic and 22k miles. I'd consider buying it if I could get away with driving an S-Class. With my work, an S-Class would convey a very bad impression, and would be too conspicuous for other aspects of my life. The E-Class is too showy for what I do as it is.








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