Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on a very in-depth YouTube project covering the options and equipment of the W221 S-Class. Most of my research is based on German market price lists, which are a great source of detailed information.

While going through them, I noticed something confusing regarding pre-facelift models. It seems that cars equipped with DISTRONIC PLUS (code 233) do not have PARKTRONIC (code 220), and the price lists explicitly state that these two options cannot be combined.

However, I’ve also seen that:

• there is still a button for parking sensors in the interior
  
• and even the parking display in the headliner appears to be present
  

This raises a few questions.

For example, on V12 models PARKTRONIC was standard — so if a customer selected DISTRONIC PLUS back in 2007, did that effectively remove PARKTRONIC? Or is there some kind of alternative or integrated sensor setup used with DISTRONIC PLUS on pre-facelift cars?

In other words, did pre-facelift W221 models with DISTRONIC PLUS truly come without parking sensors, or is there more to the system than meets the eye? I’m aware that on facelift models both systems can be combined, but I’m specifically trying to understand how it worked before the facelift.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

 

My 2007 S550 4Matic has 233 Distronic Plus option and 229 Parking Assist. There are no round holes in the bumper covers. Radar units provide parking sensor duty, 4 in the front bumper and 2 or 4 (Blind Spot Assist option) in the rear.

 

I will come back to your question in a moment... but there's a very good reason for this option restriction.

My late 2006 SWB S500, W221071, 386 Flint Grey, Grey over Black interior, was optioned with the following in addition to the standard S500 specification. Listed in order as per the price list.

R31 18" 5 spoke 8.5J front/rear (255/45/18 tyres) with full size matching spare.
Passion Leather
731 Dark Walnut Trim
401 Comfort Ventilated Front Seats
873 Front Seats Heated
275 Front Seats/Mirrors Memory
409 Multicontour Front Seats
876 Ambient Lighting
436 Comfort Front Headrests
310 Double front Cupholder
220 Parktronic
682 Fire Extinguisher
475 Tyre Pressure Monitoring
810 Harman Kardon
386 Telephone pre wiring
Y90 Black Velour Roof Lining

I have additionally retrofitted the following options, again listed in price list order:

550 Towbar Manually folding (plus Cooling fan uprated to 750W)
289 Wood/Leather Steering Wheel
402 Comfort Ventilated Rear Seats
432 Dynamic Massage Front Seats
872 Rear Seats Heated
223 Rear Seats Electric Outer
276 Rear Seat Memory
406 Multi Contour Rear Seats with Massage
437 Comfort Rear Headrests, outer
219 Distronic
229 Parking Assist
443 Multifunction Steering Wheel, Heated
308 Refrigerator (wiring fitted, just need the actual fridge)
881 Remote Trunk Closing
218 Reversing Camera
282 Ski Bag with Through Loading (looking for the ski bag)
297 Sunblinds for rear side windows, electric
573 Isofix points in rear
610 Night Vision
Luggage Compartment Net
Glovebox AV aux input

Now, to answer your question, 233 Distronic Plus gives the exact same functionality as 219 Distronic AND 220 Parktronic with ONE exception. 233 will brake the car to a stop in traffic and accelerate away with the traffic. 219 brakes the car down to ~20 mph/32 kph and then switches off.

From an installation perspective, the Distronic part consists of the following items and is identical for both 219 Distronic (Japan only) and 233 Distronic Plus (Not Japan):

Centrally mounted forward looking radar sensor/ECU
Wiring harness to front SAM
Distronic stalk (part of the Steering Column Module with gear selector)

The "Plus" part of 233 consists of the following items, and provides Blind Spot Assist functionality on facelift W221s:

Wiring harness from front/rear bumpers to trunk and rear SAM
Two proximity sensors below the headlights in the front bumper
Four proximity sensors in the rear bumper... One each side behind the rear wheels, two in the rear face of the rear bumper.
Cluster displayed front warnings and rear roof mounted rear warnings
ECU mounted in the trunk in the same bracket as the ECUs for 550 and 881.

In contrast, 220 Parktronic has:
6 bumper mounted ultrasonic sensors front and rear.
Similar wiring
Same warning displays as 233
ECU mounted in the same bracket in the trunk.

So to answer your question, 233 occupies all the same physical spaces that 220 does and fundamentally serves exactly the same purpose for low speed proximity situations.

220 Parktronic was standard on V221/ LWB regardless of engine, optional on all SWB.

233 was optional across the range regardless of engine or wheelbase.

229 is Park Assist and gives steering input guidance in addition to the 218 Reversing Camera guidance and the proximity functionality of 220/233.

229 is a tick box in the Comand programming. I have this ticked on my car, but rarely use it as UK parking spaces are too tight for it to cope with... it complains about excessive steering input but does work with 220. Mercedes obviously chose to add it to 233 to sell it, and perhaps the performance of the 233 sensors is better suited than the 220 ultrasonic sensors 🤔

 

I'm not convinced we have the info correct above

Mine has the ones with the x
And pretty sure PTS means ONLY the ultra sonic ones...


218 REAR-VIEW CAMERA x
219 ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL (DISTRONIC) - std cruise control with Braking on hills
220 PARKTRONIC SYSTEM (PTS) - std visible ultrasonic parking sensors from 2007
229 PARK ASSIST x guidance on screen for J or Parallel parking (option with early rear view camera )
230 PARKING GUIDANCE -
231 GARAGE DOOR OPENER x Europe
232 GARAGE DOOR OPENER WITH 284 - 390 MHZ FREQUENCY - USA ?
233 AUTONOMOUS INT. CRUISE CONT. PLUS (DISTRONIC PLUS) x radar cruise control - that will manage set speed all the way to walking pace or bring the car to rest
234 BLIND SPOT ASSISTANT - later options
237 ACTIVE BLIND SPOT ASSIST - later options
238 ACTIVE LANE KEEPING ASSIST (FAP) - later options
??? COLLISION MITIGATION SYSTEM 2 - later option, is this AEB automatic emergency braking ?

 

code 220 uses ultrasonic sensors
code 233 uses radar sensors and does not need the ultrasonics to provide parktronic.
So with 233 you can/do get parktronic, but with the radar sensors, not the ultrasonic sensors.

 

Mine has some Collision Mitigation capability in passive mode... visual and aural warning. Distronic set, and it will brake hard enough to stop the car over and above normal traffic following with both the above warnings.

(I suspect that with suitable mirrors, Blindspot Assist could be retrofitted to 233 equipped cars with the minimum of fuss.
Advanced Blindspot Assist and Lane Keeping both require electric power steering and with an additional camera, serve as the foundation for self driving ability on newer models.)

229 is specified as an integral part of 233. The 2006 UK brochure/pricelist doesn't specify that 218 is a prerequisite of 229. Likewise, for 220+229.

Basically order 233 and you get 229 for free. I don't have the price list in front of me, but can't recall if 229 was available as an individual option. I know my car has it because it pops up at the bottom of the camera display when reverse is selected... You have to scroll right to access parallel/reverse parking modes

220 Parktronic PTS is the visible ultrasonic sensors. These are replaced by the "Plus" part of 233 Distronic Plus.

 

yes, is it not part of Distronic Plus ? - BAS Plus - I expect is Collision Mitigation 1 - it senses via radar you are at severe risk of crashing - if the driver then hits the brake pedal - closes sunroof, closes windows, adjust drivers seat to best crash position, inflates seat bolsters, snatches seat belts tight, makes silly beeping noises and smashes ABS to full on (and remains in that state so long as you leave some pressure on the brake pedal). - it does everything AEB does except for no sensible reason doesn't auto brake - I suspect back then they didn't have the bottle to enable it - but the car always had the capability....


yes, which makes me think this is the radar based parking sensor set up that early cars get


you have to have the camera 218 for 229 to function
my understanding is 229 is an option as some cars don’t have it, but they do have the camera ?
later cars changed the camera control module - and I thought they lost the active guidelines so they likely lost 229?


233 did not replace option 220 - radar parking was an early mistake - but SGR radars were left in pay for Distronic Plus duties - then in 2007 Ultrasonic sensors superseded the radar rubbish parking help for all models


if you run the wrong later facelift software on the CGW ending 1427 - instead of 1327

Collision Mitigation 2 is an option but does nothing
220 PARKTRONIC SYSTEM (PTS) will not work

 

They're all separate systems that work together.

Brake Assist gives maximum braking if you suddenly stamp on the brakes.
Pre Safe is that little pull you feel against your shoulder if you brake and turn suddenly and uses the ESP/BAS sensors as a trigger.

The brochure includes BAS Plus as a feature of Distronic Plus. Presumably this is the braking element between 20mph and zero.

My car only has Distronic. When set it behaves much like Distronic on the W220 and will brake to about 80% brake effort if the car ahead stops suddenly. This gives you a head start for emergency braking compared to not having it and it beeps and flashes a message when it disconnects as the speed drops below 20 mph.

In passive mode it gives a visual warning if it thinks it's too close to the vehicle ahead. It beeps and will apply the brakes if it thinks a collision is imminent but does release the brakes the instant the threat passes. Beyond the occasional close call on a busy roundabout, I haven't stress tested this and wouldn't rely on it under normal circumstances, but I suspect that it will get the job done in a pinch, if only to make the impact less severe... Which is what it's there for.

Also my car does have the full function rear camera rather than the later one, lines and Park Assist. I have the later one on my '07 ML and it is just a camera, no lines or space guidance

According to the 2006 price list, 218 is ONLY available with EITHER 220 OR 233. But no mention of having to have 218 if you specified 233... So it's possible to have a 233 equipped car without 218. If that car still has 229 is anyone's guess🤷 as neither the brochure or pricelist mention it. Likewise, no mention of 218/220 having 229.

Because 229 is only mentioned as a part of 233, it begs the question as to if it's actually available on factory 220 specified cars? It is activated on mine because I ticked the box in Comand to activate it and it works as it should, (and as poorly as the 233/229 system as discussed earlier &#128514.

My car is possibly a bad example because, whilst very well optioned it's not a factory specification, so some of my functionality may differ from a factory car.

That said, everything I have fitted to it functions as I would expect it to as it's all correct for the build date and not a hybrid of pre and post facelift there's no functionality issues between any of the systems (both passive and active).

For later cars, things like the switch to electric power steering and forward cameras allow for better passive scanning and also automated intervention such as lane keeping and emergency steering inputs along with blind spot monitoring using the Plus from 233.

I doubt that a later W221 will particularly outperform an early one in any given situation, but it will have better information to work with because of the extra sensors/functionality.

 

Attached are the 2006 options:

 

its in the manual, it describes all these below as BAS Plus, in the way I've understood reading it many times

it senses via radar you are at severe risk of crashing - if the driver then hits the brake pedal - closes sunroof, closes windows, adjust drivers seat to best crash position, inflates seat bolsters, snatches seat belts tight, makes silly beeping noises and smashes ABS to full on (and remains in that state so long as you leave some pressure on the brake pedal). - it does everything AEB does except for no sensible reason doesn't auto brake - its only does anything other than beeping if the driver touches the Brake pedal - otherwise it will hit at the same speed it noticed there was an issue - I suspect back then they didn't have the bottle to enable it - but the car always had the capability....


The braking it does using Distronic Plus is ONLY 40% of what possible

My BMW had active cruise but not with round town braking - below 15 it beeps and gives up - its stupid and dangerous - it would be better to bring to a halt then insist in not working till back above X (say at least 30mph)

Outside radar cruise (and the up to 40% max braking to maintain a gap) it doesn’t active activate braking at any point ever


Passive as in not using Cruise control ? - if so, nope only helps if you instigate (any form of) braking

My car came with Distronic Plus and the BAS plus stuff at build - but no rear camera

I had the original active guideline setup retrofitted using 100% Merc std loom, module, camera and coding - Fitted by local Merc toys specialist who had online Xentry - all the options he retrofitted now show up on the data card.
Not sure it that’s a thing for Merc - in BMW land the VO equiv of Merc datacard ONLY shows up in VIN decoder tools if a dealer does the paper work and codes online

I was sure the parking J and Parallel bit are optional - mates CL doesn't get it last of the pre facelift version with NTG3.0 - but maybe that’s coz he's not got the not active guideline version ?

 

BAS Plus isn't a stand alone item, it's a feature of Distronic Plus.

For the Active Braking when using Distronic if the car in front stops, it will brake harder than just maintaining distance.

It's possible that the actual braking effort is a moot point, because unless you are asleep you're going to be braking as much as experience dictates in any given situation.

How much of PreSafe is noticeable will depend on the situation and the configuration of the car at that time. For example I rarely drive with a window open and the sunroof gets used just enough to keep it moving. How far the seat and wheel move depends on where they are set. Dynamic Seats inflate the side bolsters as a reaction to speed and steering input... To do this on anticipation of an accident is not a surprise, the extent may be unnoticed. And unlike pretensioners, PreSafe is repeatable, so through the car through the Twisties on a a fast A or B road, such as the road between Fittleworth and Petworth and you feel the belt pull as you crest that hairpin at the top of the rise.

Now I have gotten used to it, I don't mind that Distronic cuts off at 20 mph, set it at 21 for 20 mph average speed zones (in light traffic obviously), but also generally, it doesn't ease up the braking as it approaches 20 mph, it stops applying them at 20 as Distronics switches off, so there's actually enough braking inertia to get the car down to ~15 mph depending on the incline etc.

The only obvious benefit of 233 is in stop start traffic, but that can make you lazy.

Having driven about 8,000 miles in the US in the last 4 years in new cars of various shapes and sizes, I like the level of the safety systems in my S500... It's enough to keep you from killing yourself, but not so interfering as to be intrusive or worse. Driving a new car on a poorly maintained freeway where the road markings, tram lines and repairs all intertwine is exhausting as you constantly have to fight the steering inputs.

I got nowhere trying to even get 218 activated, let alone added to VeDoc, which is partly why I went so mad with the options... "You can't do that" being a common complaint... No? Well hold my beer and watch this...

When it's finished, I'll take it into MB Chichester for a health check as an 'I told you so'.

It would be interesting to pick up the various brochures and price lists to compare the various nuances of each model year. I wonder what would happen on your mates CL if you tick the 229 box🤔

Just to add to this, had a little play. You're right, the proximity alert is indeed just that as stops working when the speed drops enough to activate Parktronic. Automatic braking only works when Distronic is set.

 

if BAS plus / Pre safe is activated you'll know about it - passengers scream their heads off - I never have the dim witted active cushion cornering joke enabled - its so irritating, as so late to the party, it pumps the sides up when 70% of the corner is already finished - and just makes everything fail 5 times as fast

its a common misconception, most motorists never brake hard enough and we have 50% more crashes out there than we ever needed too - indeed once ABS vibrates the brake pedal many get scared and let up - which is why they invented the, well we'll smash them on full then regardless. It reacts due to the speed you jump off the throttle and activate the brake light switch - do it faster than x threshold and full ABS is activated - its a flipping nuisance on my father's e class - it is very easy to trigger it just driving briskly, and then the car gets unstable and you get a totally unwarranted wobble on - I'd go as far as to say its dangerous the way they did it on the 211 - when pressing on, sometimes to get the car to behave you have to let off the brakes (when you want to slow down) - just because you left braking to the right point and came off the throttle and it stupidly smashes the ABS on - when you just wanted to brush a smidge of speed off as you turn in to a corner....

 

there's a place at light water surrey - small place but only do retrofits as per the factory https://www.commandonline.co.uk/

last time I saw Richard he'd spend about 3k on bits just to add rear AC in his Merc 4 x 4 tank - no UK spec one ever had it - yet his children have grown up and fled the nest - he was doing just coz in his mind it should have it

 

Can't argue with the thought process 👍

Scratches chin wondering if it's worth fitting that to my S500... On balance I like my centre console storage😉
Spoke to them a couple of years ago and they said no, they wouldn't be able to help although they were friendly enough to have trouble shooting conversations with.

Even my Indy was unable to get a tame dealer to add 218 and 443 to the car let alone the rest of it. And MB Chichester point blank refused to confirm the 218 installation even if I paid them to do an inspection of it even though it was documented in WIS. The parts manager at the time was a total cockwomble and was such a Karen to deal with, I simply stopped buying parts from them. MB Guildford, by contrast, couldn't be more helpful in identifying and sourcing parts and they're on my commute, so reasonably convenient. Likewise MB Newcastle, where I get all my service kits from.

Being able to DIY the work is a massive saving. I dread to think what the labour cost would have been for everything I have added so far... Parts alone is around £6k and that's still about £3.5k ahead of the factory option costs.

 

Thank you all for help! It's all clear now. I didn't expect that level of involvement. I'm truly speechless!

 

recoding my CGW, presented me with these "facts" today

 

That reiterates a couple of things.
1. As a system 220 is not compatible with the SGR part of 229/233.
2. 219 is technically available on the W221 even if most Distronic built cars actually had 233.

I say reiterate because I know that 219 works perfectly well on mine as a standalone system.

 

it was std fit for Japanese spec W221s