I do not think these radar based cruise control are proprietary. Practically all manufacturers offer a similar version. It could be developed by an outside firm and sold to many car manufacturers.

 

 

Mercedes-Benz offered the first version of what has become Drive Pilot in the late 1990s. Distronic was introduced on the W220 S-class in 1999. They had been prototyping radar-based systems for years before then. So, MB has been developing this system for a very long time.

As a side note, Distronic was not available on the E-class until the mid-2000s, and was a rare option. The progress they've made with millimeter-wave RADAR is pretty incredible. It's reliable, safe, intuitive, and feels quite natural.

 

 

I don't know who made it first. All I know that the Distronic for 2019 is a must have option. It works fantastically well, yet makes sure you're at least paying attention....as all auto drive systems should.

The lane changing mode is equally effective, as well as a great safety feature.

 

I believe it was available on the W211 when they came out in 2003. But it was a very rare option, very few cars had it. Same with the W212, not as rare, but still not seen often.

 

Quite right, I've only seen one W211 with Distronic lately, and it was an E55 AMG. W212 had it much more often, by comparison.

 

Every MB I've owned did not work in medium to heavy rain. But my current crappy BMW has never even flashed a warning in the rain. I guess that's one thing BMW got right.

 

 

 

The rain causes RADAR reflections. If the rain is heavy enough, the system registers too much noise, not enough usable signal. Because MB's systems use three RADAR units up front, it's a better, safer system, but can have trouble in some edge cases. On early Distronic models (early non-Plus versions), moderate rain or spray could easily cause it to shut off. However, on Plus and Drive Pilot versions, I've only had it cut out rarely, even in heavy precipitation on the highway.