The Active Stop and Go Assist feature says "Enables the GLS to recognize traffic jams at an early stage, activity supporting the driver in stop-and-go traffic up to approx 37 mph"

Does this system allow you to permanently keep your hands off the wheel as long as the speed does not increase to over 37 mph? The BMW X7 does this but it has a camera to make sure the driver is paying attention.

I'm guessing the Merc system requires you to put your hand on the steering wheel every "X" number of seconds. If so, how many seconds is that?

Thanks to anyone who has first hand experience using this system.

 

Not firsthand, but yes, you must keep your hands on the wheel at all times. Also, it only functions on multilane roads. Used to be called Traffic Jam Assist. This is from the GLE manual:

 

Thanks for the info Greg. Although the manual says you must keep your hands on the wheel that is not the case. Various Youtube review videos show the system working without the drivers hands on the wheel. With my Porsche you can leave your hands off the wheel for about 35 seconds before the automated system will stop working and require you to take over. I'm wondering how long Mercedes most recent system allows for this.

 

You get about a minute of hands-off time before the car starts getting worked up at your lack of love.

 

Is that about a minute at speeds under 37 MPH? If so, do you know how long you get at speeds above 37 MPH.

 

My 2019 allows you to keep the hands off in slow traffic virtually forever, and once it starts getting into the upper 20s it does complain if you don’t move the wheel every so often.

 

Just what I was hoping for. Thanks for the info. Do you recall how long you can go hands free at highway speeds?

 

About 45 seconds. As long as you nudge it ever so slightly so the steering wheel angle sensor notices it, you don’t need to put the hands on the wheel.

 

I heard from a friend who drove my gls that in stop and go around 20ish mph you can indeed be fully hands free. While driving on well marked highways he told me that you dont need hands on simply to place arms on arm rest and center console and use your finger to apply a slight pressure to the wheel so it has some resistance as it centers in the lane (much like it would have with hands on) without issue. He also said you can just be hands off and wiggle the wheel slighty every minute or so while banging out an email.