First, it's irrelevant whether or not they actually write the s/w, just like it's irrelevant whether they make the steel or buy it from Arcellor Mittal, they are responsible for its performance. I don't care if my iPhone contains a Qualcomm modem or Apple makes their own, I care if the reception is sufficient.

Second, my issues with the s/w are with the UI, not with the software in the motor controller or ABS system.

I want to know what time it is, not how to build the watch. If the watch doesn't tell time reliably, it's a bad watch. If MB has selected an OEM and implementation which is sensitive to calibration, then they need to ensure it will stay calibrated if they are going to provide a reliable vehicle.

You might recall there was an issue with the iPhone 4's antenna's and reception. Steve Jobs famously said "you're holding it wrong". I'm sure he was technically correct and that holding the phone differently would improve the reception. Customers were not impressed.

The location is great, no issue there.

The problem is with the sensitivity of the membranes. The volume control is the worst, requiring enough pressure at the right location to initiate adjustment while not enabling Mute. The Cancel button to disable driving assistance on my car is quite unpredictable and usually requires 2-3 punches before it Cancel's the cruise control.

My BMW has most of the same functions on the steering wheel, but instead of pressure sensitive membranes, they have physical switches. There are momentary contact switches for some functions, like cruise control, rolling switches for volume, and momentary contact with a flap for cruise control spacing. They work every time and there is no ambiguity.

Completely understandable - my beef isn't with your expectations! It's more that there (should) be a simple fix for it, and I'm a bit frustrated that your SA wouldn't take the time to run a recalibration when it's such a simple task.

I'm out of town this month and will take the car to the shop in early October. We'll see what he does.

Thanks!

Boatguy,

I had similar phantom braking out of nowhere. I was in a very congested cloverleaf/flyover/access road area. Conditions were night, dry, light traffic.
Speed limit on the limited access road was 50mph. The access road immediately adjacent and to my right was 25mph.
I remember my HUD switched between the 2 signs, and I got a hard blast of brakes uncommanded.
Sine then there have been a couple of dealer software updates, and the problem hasn’t resurfaced.

Get service to deal with those touch issues while it is in the shop. No issue with the Cancel button on mine. No pressure needed for the volume control, as it is usually just a light flick up or down for +/- and then slide for fine adjustment.

100% agreed with @Boatguy on this one. Volume is terrible to adjust for me. I always end up going not enough or too much on the wheel-mounted controls. I do have *very* dry hands, which lends to the problem, the touchpads just don't pick up my fingers reliably. I end up using the push-in control bar below the main infotainment display, it's just much more reliable than trying to slide my finger. Push for up, push for down, it should've been that simple in the beginning. Deleting the volume wheel on the steering wheel was a big mistake in my mind. I know everyone has done it for cost cutting, but it's so inferior to the scroll wheels. I've gotten used to every other button, but the volume is still hit and miss for me. And yes, on occasion, Distronic won't cancel when I push the button, that's again due to dry fingers. Has happened very few times for me, but it's still a bit unnerving when it happens. Fortunately, cancel with brake pedal works perfectly. The cancel button isn't enough to bother me at present, but the volume should be addressed in future cars.

It will be coming back, the volume knob at least, I seen it on other MB models in spy shots.

I found an image on it, it seems to be on a reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/mercedes_be...py_shot_shows/
I wonder if this steering wheel can be retrofitted on older models like the EQE in this case?

new glc eq have it:

Did the new CLA get it first?

just checked yep you are right it has too

Good to hear they are backtracking and bringing it back.

Had an appointment last monday but forgot the key (i use my phone)....
Came back last Wednesday and forgot my drivers licence (for the rental)....
(stop laughing)

Next appointment this tuesday...

But this did give me the time to test the car even more and i find that drive pilot is catastrophic, especially on the freeway:
when overtaking a car it often stays extremely close to the car it overtakes and it often can't follow slight bends in the road (even during daytime with new asphalt and clear white lines)

I do hope this is something that can be fixed, cos if not it means the system is worse than my previous E-class...

That's really strange. Distronic on my EQEs is light years better than it was on my W213 E class. That system was okay but struggled a lot. I can do an entire highway drive in my EQE, mountain curves and all, and it handles them great. I keep my car on distance setting 2 of 4. If yours isn't behaving well, something is off. This is by far the best system I've used in a Benz and is near the top overall.

Two things to consider: camera calibration, and Distronic calibration. One does cameras, the other does radar alignment to steering input. Both may be needed.

i dont use lane change, found a bit risky but distronic save me 2 times , one i was at fault backing off from building in reverse to pass pedestrian road then join the traffic suddenly a running pedestrian jump behind, it stopped right on time, i didnt have visibility to see otherwise, other one was cross section i had priority but guy from left was coming too fast i didnt even see and i was hammering accelerator to quickly pass, my car again stopped on time, it wasnt life threatining but save me lot of headache, then i got 5 - 6 false positive all during reverse parking mostly someone was trying to pass left or right gap from safe distance car immediatly stopped even pedestrian was far, for those 2 moment car saved me i would take all the false positives but it never stopped on traffic, rather than trying to getting rid of safety features I would address immediatly @Boatguy & op, i am not sure but car might held sensor data for a while due to regulations so if there is an issue they can address, maybe you saw the news tesla had to provide them for a court case, . If it would be only camera a small fly might become a car on right angle but we have radars, so if there is an issue you are not just fixing your car, everyone elses too

Most appointments, turn out to be disappointments.

Um... Sad but true.​​​​​​​

No errors were found (ie there seems nothing wrong...), but they did some updates
Picking up car today and going to the Netherlands this weekend for 2 weeks so have time to thoroughly test
Will report back after my return

Did they do a calibration though? This is the only thing that helps, honestly, if it isn't working as intended. Seems like your service centrr is really trying to avoid a simple procedure.

yes they did they say . they made a minor adjustment....
This morning i drove to work (50km) and did not yet notice a huge difference, though the drive is short
Let's see in the coming week

haven't had any false radar alerts during the 2 weeks,
but do find that the car often hugs the left lane in curves to the right, and is sometimes pretty close to the cars I overtake (IE cars that are on the right side from me)
It's weird, cos most of the time it stays perfectly in the middle of the lane

Good to hear. As far as hugging the lane, how sharp are the curves? There is a torque limitation that it has when going around sharper curves, and that torque limitation may be part of the reason why it's doing that.

definitely not curves that go over the torque limitation . the car will follow the curve just fine, but sometimes will drive almost on the white line