MBS63AMG

I usually get stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on a stretch of interstate as I head home on Fridays. As usual, I keep my distronic on and usually keep it set at around 50mph or so and let the radar keep me moving along with the car in front of me, tapping the pedal to resume if coming to a complete stop. I had a big scare today though as the car in front of me that I was trailing decided to switch over to a lane to the right causing me to suddenly have a car-length gap in front of me. When the driver suddenly moved over, my car then surged forward very quickly to catch up to the next car in front of me but it HAD NO INTENTIONS OF STOPPING!!!! I had to slam on the brakes or else I would have creamed into the rear end of the next car in line. Why is it that the radar didn't detect the next car???? Things to consider: I had my distance setting at the most closest range (100 feet). Did having my cruise set at a high speed cause this? I also can't remember if the car I was about to hit was stopped or not. Despite that, shouldn't the car attempt to stop from hitting an object whether or not it is moving ? I've seen those Mercedes ads/videos where they push a stationary object out in front of an S class and the car detects it and stops. But perhaps an object that , according to the radar, is totally stationary it won't detect and stop for. Words of wisdom: Don't take your eyes off the road while using the distronic cruise in slow traffic.

Nice Ride

Had similar issue happen. It will NOT detect a stopped car ahead of you. However, within a fraction of a second of hitting a fixed object, the car will (at the very, and I mean very last moment) go into full on braking, Mercedes received poor ratings for emergency braking and did hit object in front of it. Moving objects are treated differently. My issue was a car stopped way ahead at a red light, 40mph and no slowing down.... You have to pay attention at ALL times when using these features.
Don't know if you have ever tried this, instead of tapping the gas to go again after a stop with D+, just pull back on the stalk, I find this much easier and a smoother pull away after a complete stop.

JayinToronto

wilfie

This speeding up and seeming like it's going to crash into something in the now more open lane has happened many times in my travels. I use the distronic even in medium speed traffic so lots of opportunities for this. If your cruise is set for say 70 and you get into slow traffic then encounter this situation it tries to get back to 70 quick. It's scared me and got a comment or 2 from the wife. Like "what are you doing!" "Didn't you see he's stopped" If you totally rely on this it will try to kill you. (At least by heart attack or your wife will shoot you)
Tesla's auto pilot lets the driver not hold the wheel and thus this kind of anomaly has caused several serious accidents where it accelerates into a barrier or the back of a stopped fire truck or stopped police cruiser etc.
What saves MB drivers is you MUST pay attention in 15 sec intervals.
IMHO here is the problem. The computer/program is so busy and focused on the change view of what the sensors are seeing that it is processing that and the difference in car speed vs set speed and compensating for that (by speeding up) and has not "got around" to seeing and calculating any new objects in the new lane and the closing speed.
More dedicated faster computers needed!
ANY 2018 driver comments?

Streamliner

visualguy

Seems like it would be better to just disable it... Isn't it more of a headache to babysit it and worry about it doing something stupid than to drive yourself? Also, you may not always be able to save yourself.

Streamliner

Jan AMG

visualguy

It's not "eyes"; it actually does things that may get you into serious trouble. How do you save yourself if it steers you into a concrete barrier at highway speeds (as happened recently on a Tesla) or some such thing? There may not be enough time to react and stop or perform an evasive maneuver to avoid collision.

Socalsteve

Socalsteve

visualguy

I'll take your word for it since apparently you studied very diligently the software and found out that it won't steer you toward an obstacle, and you are also an expert on the sensors and their failure modes.

Socalsteve

AppleFan1

I thought I read that the 2018 S Class Distronic+ will even work with a stopped car ahead of it. Isn't that true? Additionally, it will work without hands on the wheel for about a minute or so instead of 12-15 seconds prior to the refresh model. And if you are stopped for less than about 60 seconds, the car will accelerate to the set speed or accelerate to the speed the traffic ahead is moving. Please correct me if I am mistaken, Streamliner.

MBS63AMG

When I test drove the 2018 S560 two days ago, I was trying to play around with setting the cruise. On previous models that go way back on Mercedes vehicles, you don't have to turn on the "system" , then set the cruise. Has that now been changed? It appears there is a "system" on/off button and then a set /decel switch. I have always loved the fact that I don't have to do 2 separate moves to set a cruise speed but has the newer models been changed to where you have to turn on the system and then set a speed??? And on the subject of autonomous cars, the only way that will ever work is that EVERY car on the road would have to be autonomous and talk to each other via their computer systems. Trucks included. But then you would have to be worried about a hacker getting into your car , finding out where you're going, who you are, etc, etc.... If every car was auton. then cars would be going down the highway very close together (tailgating), traveling at 90 mph as if they were hooked like train cars in the left lanes to make good time, then slower vehicles in the right lanes to exit. I think the energy of inventing little private Jetson saucers would be more attractive than autonomous cars.

Streamliner

BSDTWD

My previous vehicle (2013 Audi A7), had the stop n go adaptive that was worthy of the title. I could exit and NOT touch the brake pedal and it would slow down at a normal pace and come to a complete stop. It would then resume moving at preset gap. Whereas, the MB adaptive is not so intuitive. I do not trust it in true stop n go situations. It has habit of surging at rather high speed until it "sees" vehicle ahead. Great car overall. I'd give Audi the Blue Ribbon for a true stop n go adaptive that doesn't cause surging, jerky and unpredictable behavior. You do have to monitor the MBenz adaptive.

stever500

For me personally, I'll take my chances on driving it myself. I'm not comfortable at all relying on technology nannies running my car. To me, it's not safer using all this stuff, it's less safe since for me and my ADD, it all just drives me crazy. The corrections, the beeps, the noises, ... forget it. I would never use this stuff ever again other than to show it off to my friends now and then for a minute or so.

I really like driving my car like I have my whole life before this technology was introduced. I don't consider it less safe than relying on all this crazy new technology to "avoid accidents".

No.... it's just not going to work for me. Give me "old school" regular driving any day without all the crazy distractions of making sure the technology built into my car to save me isn't going to kill me or cause an accident.

Just ... sayin.

AppleFan1

That's awesome to know that it does all this, Streamliner.

DHCMB

I have a 2015 S550 4MATIC and use the D+ frequently. Overall I am very pleased with the feature. One thing that annoys me is that the car often indicates that my hands are not on the steering wheel. They are. This usually happens when the highway is straight. Do you get the warning? Is there anyway to prevent it? I cannot imagine driving the car using D+ in NV or TX and getting the warning light all the time. Of course, if I slightly move the steering wheel the warning goes away.

Thanks,

wilfie

I get this warning quite a bit. Complained to dealer several times and several dealers as well. Everything is OK. You have to move the steering wheel or have a weighted hand on one side that the system senses and corrects. That's why tying a full pop can to one side of the steering wheel fakes out the warning sensors. Sort of hard to park with it on I think. And hardly elegant

Do 2018 drivers have this issue?

greasykid

I no longer have an S Class--but I did have another Mercedes with Dist+. I was driving on a 4 lane highway that was undergoing adding more lanes etc and there was a diversion of lanes with multiple lane paintings. The system became confused and tried to steer me into a big tanker truck beside me. We were moving along 40-50 mph. I had to manually override the system quickly to avoid a serious collision.
Lesson. Pay attention to lane markings. I have no idea what would have happened if this had been night rather than daylight.

BSDTWD

I'll still give Audi better marks on distronic functionality than the MB Dist +.

Both Audi and MB had better keep an eye on Cadillacs Super Cruise. It's much more advanced, no annoying take control warnings nor the usual ping ponging found on both Audi and MB. Their tech will find it's way to Audi and MB. If Cadillac produced a better looking vehicle with an interior to match, I'd give them a try. Mary Barra of GM has to get this Brand to once again be the Standard of the World. New leaders in NY is great, but their huge DRL's are getting tired and the CTS is hard to distinguish from a CT6

jenz

All these systems have the same fatal flaw even the might Tesla

https://jalopnik.com/this-test-shows...pen-1826810902

Streamliner