steaua1986

I have a 2013 GL350 and for the longest time distronic cruise control showed the current set cruise speed as well as the front car's speed (if I would close up faster) with the red dots around the speedometer (around the speed indicator). It stopped doing that at some point and I don't know if that's something that I disabled accidentally or if it is an issue. The actual cruise control works just fine and it does follow the car in front

DaveW68

I love Distronic Plus and use it all the time. D+ will not tell you the speed of the car in front of you. But it will tell you the speed that you set it at for a very short period of time after you activate it. If you are not seeing those red lights come on as the truck approaches a slower moving vehicle, then you've likely turned something off in the settings menu using the steering wheel controls.

steaua1986

That's what I thought but can't find anywhere in setting where I can enable/disable the red light. I can only enable disable D+ but that's not my issue here.

DaveW68

Hopefully this will help.

DC-BENZ

Yeah Distro is the best in rush hour traffic.

steaua1986

Thanks but These settings are not activating/de-activating the red lights around the speedometer. There's no setting that I can see in that menu that would turn on/off those lights.

DC-BENZ

Just noticed that I now have the same problem. Any remedies?

BlownV8

This!

SaniDel

Please tell us more, DC-BENZ!

Every time I've tried to use Distronic Plus it has terrified me ... not to mention my passenger. It seems to run up on traffic, suddenly slowing at the last instant, then taking off like a rocket as soon as traffic clears. If I drove like that I should be arrested for aggressive driving!

It seems that the only time it works is when there is NO traffic, i.e., an empty road. I can't imagine how it could work in rush hour traffic as you claim. Would it slow and stop as traffic slows and stops? What should you set the speed for if traffic moving slow ... the speed limit? Will it start by itself if traffic stops?

Feel free to tell me the problem is me or my driving or that I'm using it wrong.

Jpkcpa

If you are experiencing running up on traffic, you may have the distance to forward objects set to close. Back it off a bit. I use mine, literally every time I drive, both highway and local. (Local has saved me a few over limit tickets). And yes, it will come to a complete stop if traffic stops and start again when traffic begins to flow. I do admit though, I brake the final 20MPH as traffic is nearing a stop. Hope this helps.

BlownV8

Mine works great. Just use the steering wheel.and an occasional tap on the accelerator when stopped for.more then a few seconds to get it going again.

DC-BENZ

Mine doesn't have that effect. It drives the same way the person in front of me drives, so if they slam on brakes Distro does too. My only problem is that in the DC area if you leave too much space (as Distro does) people tend to jump in front of you.
Now I want to be clear I'm not using it in downtown DC traffic (too much going on) but on my way to and from DC I use it on the slow moving (25-40 mph) single and two lane PKWY's or behind some slow poke on a backroad at least once or twice a week.

Now to answer more specifically, Yes, it will slow to a stop and if the traffic moves again within 3 seconds or so it will start back up on its own. I set the speed to the speed I'm going at the time I decide to use Distro. Example, "boy I'm tired of all this traffic today" then I hit the Distro cruise stalk at that speed. Sometimes the traffic goes a little faster than my initial setting so I'll bump it up. Once the traffic starts breaking up, lets say around 45 mph or so, I take over. I've also used it in Myrtle Beach summer traffic. There I have a full vehicle of people, they don't even know its on after years of this. And I can be a bit more engaged in the conversation in the vehicle but I'm usually following behind someone I know with their car load of people.

Personally I think you are either behind jackrabbit starters or you have your speed setting at HWY speeds so it accelerates accordingly. Also, my spacing range is at the closes range so not to leave such a big gap in traffic.

But, you must always keep one eye on the road, if two vehicles or more leave your lane (say for example their right exit lane opens up) and there's only 1 car left in your lane at a red light (especially if your setting is at 40+ mph) I highly suggest you take over. To me Distro doesn't seem to recover well from those situations. I swear it seems like it will try to get to 40 mph before thinking about slowing down to 0 mph of the vehicle at the light (could be my short range setting).

DC-BENZ

But why don't the red lights on the speedo work anymore. I can not figure it out.

2014gl550

I have the same problem. Any solutions?

SaniDel

Had the opportunity to test D+ on the New Jersey Turnpike northbound from the Delaware Memorial Bridge to Marlton for lunch and return. Set the D+ to 70MPH, rolled the "following distance" to the maximum and D+ worked much better. The two "red dots" illuminated on either side of the speedometer needle unless I manually accelerated. The upper dot would extinguish and the display would indicate the D+ had disengaged. When I took my foot off the accelerator D+ would re-engage at the set point and both red dots would re-illuminate.

It's obvious what I was doing wrong ... setting the D+ to highway speeds in rush-hour traffic. The GL550 interprets any break in traffic as a "green light" to accelerate to highway speeds ... and it would if I let it!

mrmotoguzzi00

gotta say i love the distronic cruise, saves me knee on long cruises... but i had to shut off the steering and lane assist... red dots ? hhhhmmm gonna have to look for those, never noticed...

DC-BENZ

As someone mentioned some time ago, removing the battery cable from the battery terminal for a few minutes will restore the red dots/dashes. I recently had a new battery installed on my GL and right after the installation the red dots came back. You may loose some other settings you had programmed in though.... for example: I lost the mirrors retracting when alarm is armed but this is can be simply restored in the system settings.

Maybe its the first sign of needing a new battery?

SaniDel

Our dealership is running a special on batteries so our 2015 GL 550 is in for that service plus detailing and wheel polishing. Will take note if replacing the battery changes anything and report here.

Dave ML350

I have an ML 350 2012 W166. I have the same problem when I have the car serviced. The cruise control segments (white on mine) no longer light up, however the cruise control works perfectly. I took to a dealer for fix and they said they didnt understand it but would do a battery disconnect as a last resort. Works perfectly but always goes off after service. I now ask my guys to do a battery reset after service. Problem of course is that I lose my old settings.
I have been told that the cruise control being on much of the time wears the back brakes.
It is the best cruise control system Ive had.

Mohamed Aly

Hello everyone,
Did anyone find a solution for the red lights segments of the Distronic plus. They were gone and I would love to have them back

Ricardoa1

Disconnecting the battery brought it back for me. Not sure what caused it to disappear, battery is under the passenger seat, pull the plastic cover surrounding the floor vents.

And I actually didn’t lose my settings either.