Just curious if anyone here can compare the 2021 e series autopilot feature vs the previous one. I heard they updated the technology a bit. Has anyone driven both systems? I am considering a e53 but that's an important feature for me.

 

it's more precise, but the technology is the same, level 2 auto pilot.
I enjoyed mine in a 7 e43, works very well on road trips.

 

Cool. Just curious, have you ever driven at Tesla?

 

i've driven a Tesla. and during the 30 minute drive it braked twice for no reason at all.
believe me, it's not as great as they say, and definitely not ready for full autonomous driving.
plus they are badly built, but that's another discussion...

 

Thanks. I actually have one. I think I can predict a bunch of your thoughts on the build quality. There's a lot I like about the car, but a lot I don't too...I do like the autopilot. Once you figure out how to use it. It's great on long rides when there's little traffic or in bumper to bumper traffic. But, it sucks on regular roads or when there's moderate traffic. But, if the Mercedes can get close to it now, I would trade it in. So, I was curios if it improved "a lot" or just "a little".

I guess I'll need to test drive one.

 

I don't know if they further updated the system between 2018/2019 and now and if so by how much, but they updated the system for the S Class facelift and then the updated system made it to the other models as part of the facelifts. I have the updated system in my 2019 C63S and it is very good. I have never experienced the previous one, but have read about some of its limitations. The updated system handles bigger turns and it has no issues in any amount of traffic. On divided highways it allows up to 30 seconds of handsfree driving before it warns visually first and then eventually starts beeping and if the driver still doesn't respond it initiates an emergency stop and automatically calls emergency services. On surface roads it allows less handsfree time. It does automatic lane changes, however, it doesn't initiate them on its own like Tesla. You have to use the indicator and then it changes lanes if the adjacent lane is free. On the other hand it has never been confused by forking highway lanes. It also has predictive features such as slowing down for roundabouts and intersections and highway exits based on your current route, or the driver indicating that they are taking the next exit. One new addition with the E Class is a capacitive steering wheel, so it properly senses if your hands are on the wheel simply by holding it. I occasionally have to slightly move my steering wheel or change my grip for it to recognize that I'm holding the steering wheel, or actually what I do most is just tap one of the touch sensors on the steering wheel. That tells it that I'm paying attention. I do that a lot when just cruising on the highway largely with my hands off the wheel, and when it warns in the dash I just quickly tap the touch sensor and its good again for 30 seconds. I don't really use the system on surface roads. One thing that you might initially perceive as imprecise is that it doesn't always follow turns dead on or stay exactly in the middle of the lane. Turns out this is deliberate to keep the driver's attention and force them to steer along as is technically required with Level 2. One criticism of Tesla Autopilot is that it is almost too much dead on to the point where the driver's attention starts drifting or as shown in some videos even napping behind the wheel. MB's approach works surprisingly well to keep me on my toes, but because of this I generally don't use it on surface roads. I feel like I'm constantly fighting the active steering, but the good thing is the active steering can be activated or deactivated independent of lane keep assist and DISTRONIC, so you can choose to have full control over the steering while DISTRONIC still does its thing following the car ahead. BTW, one thing I love is that in stop&go traffic on the highway as opposed to many other systems it stays ready for 30 seconds if traffic comes to a full stop and auto resumes once the traffic is moving again. The older system only stayed ready for like 3 seconds I believe and then you had to manually kick it off again. With all that said, I love the system. Use it all the time in traffic or on long highway journeys. It makes for a super relaxing drive during times when the driving would otherwise be mundane or frustrating.

 

i did not find the tesla autopilot all that better than MB to be honest.
of course as you also point out, anyone that wants to rely on it as a fully autonomous system will be frustrated with the performance

tesla is definitely not a mercedes.
you pay about the same for both (arnd 60k eur here in france);
for the mercedes you get what you pay for, but for the tesla it mainly goes into the battery.
What's left is a car that (imo) compares to a 35k euro petrol car..