He’s in New Jersey…says so on his profile. The marks are the range that you get the best economy, pretty sure but I could be wrong. The other possibility is that it marks old historical speed limits…35 city, 55 highway. They really serve no purpose.
Google says-“These marks are speed limit reminders. Depending on the car it may have marks at one or all of 30, 50 and 130 km/h. 30 km/h is a common speed limit in residential areas in Europe, 50 km/h is a common 'default' speed limit in cities and towns around the world.”
The other possibility is that it marks old historical speed limits…35 city, 55 highway. They really serve no purpose. Google says-“These marks are speed limit reminders.”
The only thing I can say with certainty is that both my Mercedes have the 35/55 marks. I've delved into this question before without a satisfactorily solid answer. Usually, if I dig long enough, I can find some obscure Mercedes documentation somewhere, but not for this.
Apparently, if your speedo is coded for kilometers, then the red lines show up at 30/50 KPH, which means they cannot represent static speeds in the context of fuel economy, gear shifting, etc.
I can tell you that several of my previous Mercedes have NOT had the 35/55 marks: W124, W210, W220, W251, W212, W166. So I'm not sure why Mercedes is adding these markings more so lately, if it truly hearkens back to some bygone speed limit reminders.
Distance Pilot DISTRONIC displays in the
speedometer
When Distance Pilot DISTRONIC is activated,
one or two segments ; in the stored speed
range light up.
If Distance Pilot DISTRONIC detects a vehicle in
front, segments ; between speed of the vehicle
in front = and stored speed : light up.
i For design reasons, the speed displayed in
the speedometer may differ slightly from the
speed stored for Distance Pilot DISTRONIC.
Distance Pilot DISTRONIC displays in the
speedometer
When Distance Pilot DISTRONIC is activated,
one or two segments ; in the stored speed
range light up.
If Distance Pilot DISTRONIC detects a vehicle in
front, segments ; between speed of the vehicle
in front = and stored speed : light up.
i For design reasons, the speed displayed in
the speedometer may differ slightly from the
speed stored for Distance Pilot DISTRONIC.
I have that feature on mine, but it doesn’t look like OP’s photo (although he does have it in sport and not classic). In classic with driver’s assist on, when you set the speed a blue carrot appears around the edge of the speedometer at the set speed . When a vehicle is detected in your path that is slower, a second blue carrot appears on the ring around the speedometer (below your set speed) that notes speed of the vehicle in your lane, and a blue arch appears that connects the tip of the speedometer needle to the second carrot to show closing speed. The second carrot is dynamic and changes based on the speed of the vehicle in front. I really like this feature, but OP’s is different - it may be because he’s not in classic view, so no speedometer needled. If this is correct, it would mean his CC is set at 55 mph, the vehicle in his lane is doing 30 MPH and his current speed is only 24 MPH. That could happen in traffic with DA on, and the vehicle had to slow down and now everyone is accelerating again. This photo would represent an instant in time.
I messaged Nick O'Leary (his YouTube channel here) and he mentioned this:
"Aha yeah I’ve got those! Basically they are common speeds for some other countries. Although they don’t mean much here in the UK they do in other places. Would be pretty good if it was changed for the UK but sadly all cars I’ve driven (UK, German and USA) they’re all the same and have similar red lines on the Speedo for common speeds.
Hope that helps! And everyone in the forum can relax! I asked Mercedes that a couple of years ago 😅 (feel free to copy and paste)"
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
