300DTurbo

Anyone have anything NEGATIVE to say about DISTRONIC?

About to pull the trigger on the ML BLUTEC debating on the DISTRONIC.

listerone

Nope...can't think of a single thing to say against it.IMO...if you've got the money,GET IT.If you don't have the money,GET IT ANYWAY!

lboudreau

I got it on my order. I had it on my S class although it wasn't distronic plus it was just the regular distronic. Still worked very well. The system in the ML will bring you to a full stop and also use up to 40% brakeing power to stop you if it detects an imminent collision. If you can spare the money for the option, get it... probably one of the most usefull features on long trips.

listerone

My understanding is that it will *initally* apply 40% braking and if you don't respond within "x" seconds of the initial warning it will apply 100% braking.I certainly may have misunderstood what I've read,however.

Distronic Plus was a *huge* selling point for me...I absolutely insisted on it when looking for a particular vehicle (I didn't order from the factory).

LaicepsYdobon

I only have one very minor complaint that might not even be an issue with where you live. Whenever I have DISTRONIC PLUS enabled and have the following distance dialed down to the absolute minimum the gap between my car and the car in front is about 1/2 to 2 car lengths and people in Jersey take this as an invitation to pull in between the two cars which in turn forces the DISTRONIC PLUS system to brake hard to avoid the car that just cut between me and the car I was following. Outside of New York and New Jersey this is never an issue. Other then this I would not get another car without it. Just fantastic cruising on the highway and especially great in foggy situations when visibility is significantly reduced.

LaicepsYdobon

You are correct. When it detects you are closing in too fast on something in front of you it will preload the brakes. If you still don't break it will beep at you and apply breaks up to 40% of the breaks to lessen the impact. It doesn't do 100% in case the driver tries to swerve out of the way. If during the beeping the driver puts his foot on the break pedal the car assumes that swerving was out of the question and takes over the braking duties. The gas pedal drops to the floor and has no resistance while the car applies 100% of the brakes. At this point PRE-SAFE also kicks in tightening your seat belt, closing the windows and sun roof and trying to position the driver into a position that give the most changes to survive the impact. Once the collision has been avoided (if possible at all) the breaking is handed back to the driver and the PRE-SAFE system disengages. I have this happen to me twice when avoiding a collision and it scares the crap out of you when you feel your foot going to the floor as the break pedal looses all feel but when the car stops and you gain control back you have a huge smile on your face as you wipe the sweat off your forehead and swear never to have another car without DISTRONIC again.

lboudreau

Sorry. I left out the 100% brake when almost hitting the car. I remember seeing that in the promo video for Distro +

listerone

Yikes! Twice? Care to give details of just what the situation was at the time it kicked in? Of course we accept your right to take the 5th.

LaicepsYdobon

The first time it happened I just turned onto the highway getting up to cruising speed making my way to the middle lane when traffic suddenly slowed down because of rubber necking. I jumped on the breaks and started to slow down but at this point I was on a draw bridge that has a metal grate like surface and it was really slippery because it was also raining. Apparently the car didn't think I could stop in time so it helped me out by taking control of breaking for about a 0.5 second and then giving me control back and coming to a stop. Pretty sure I turned white as a ghost but was eternally grateful that it didn't end ugly.

The second time, same highway ironically, an ahole cut the car off in front of me and the slammed on his breaks. The person before me (the innocent person who got cut off) slammed on the breaks to avoid the collision but couldn't and slid right into the ahole who cut him/her off. My Benz took control and prevent me from sliding into the car in front. This time I'm sure I didn't turn white but I did have a smile on my face.

Both of the times the roads were wet. I could be wrong on this but I think the car takes this into consideration. Meaning if the wipers are engaged (ie. the rain sensor senses rain) it alerts the DISTRONIC system to compensate for the increased breaking distances. I could be dead wrong about this and maybe its my imagination but it sure felt like that to me at the time. Either way the DISTRONIC package is worth the money. Both the DISTRONIC and the Blind Spot assistance systems have paid for themselves over and over again. You seriously can not go wrong with these system. I'd rather have these technologies in my car than leather seats or a bigger engine if I was on a budget.

EVOII_Racer

this is just mo but i don't like the look of the mb logo with distronic! For that only reason i won't get it on my ml 63 !

2012MLBlue

As posted above the only downside for me is when I am cruising along on the highway and someone cuts in front of me close enough that it causes the system to brake slightly even if the vehicle in front is going faster than me. Its pretty smart and doesn't freak out and nail the brakes but if I had normal cruise in that situation I wouldn't have done anything at all.

Other than that its a 10/10.

Any you can turn the distronic off and then your cruise works just like normal cruise so if you are driving on some busy multi lane highways and annoyed by people cutting in front of you - just turn off distronic!

katiesdad7

The only CON I can think of it that it puts you to sleep because it does everything for you. Its a must have in my book. :-)

dougiebear

UR kidding right????
I thought it actually looked great with the bixenon pk and the chrome logo pops better but I did wonder if I would like the look. Funny in the E class