I just picked up my 2015 S550 last night, and waved goodbye to my 2012 Audi A8L which was great. I did a custom order, but that got delayed so I took a car from the dealers inventory. The color is Anthracite Blue/Silk Beige Nappa. Options include premium, drivers assist, Nappa leather, surround view and 19s. The S550 is smooth, comfortable and looks great! I have had 2 W221's, and thankfully most of the features/functions are familiar in the new w222.

I do have a few questions on new items I did not have on the W221

Audible Alerts-
1)I briefly tried distronic, and when my car needed to slow down for another car in front of me (not an abrupt stop) I got an audible alert, and red light on the dash. Does it always do this when you slow down, or is it only in unsafe conditions? If yes is there a way to silence these alerts?

2)Same to with the lane change function. Is there a way to silence the alert and just have the light within the side view mirror as an alert?

Backup Camera (surround view)- 2 questions here
1) Backup Camera screen is very small compared to the huge screen. Is there a way to enlarge the reverse or forward view? I found a way to switch to 360 view which enlarges the screen a bit, but can I have this view as a default rather than hitting the button every time I park?
2) Audible alerts- This is one alert i want to hear! It only beeps when i am very close to an object. Is there a way to play with the settings on this to change the sensitivity?

Traffic Camera- When shopping for this car, I noticed a cool feature that showed the traffic cameras in the area. How do I find this within the menu? I was unsure if I needed an extra option, which connects to the internet or not but I do not have it listed on the window sticker. The only feature I could find was Sirius Weather, and I am unsure if that is using the on board internet/wifi.

One more question! How do I engage the automatic parking feature? I wanted to try this last night, I saw the white diamond but then i did not know what to press to get things started.

Thanks in advance for your help, I will follow up with photos as soon as I find the time.

 

1. It just means you were approaching the car too fast and it is alerting you that YOU might need to intervene and do the braking yourself. I would set the front scan to a greater distance if this keeps happening.

2. I'm not sure if you can turn off the sound but if the alert is going off changing lanes, it means you are cutting someone off. The alert only goes off when someone is in your blindspot during your lane change. The alert goes off and the red triangle blinks.

Backup Camera-

Unfortunately the answer to this question is no to both. I wish it was different too.

 

Thanks for your response. I drive mostly in NYC, so while I was not cutting anyone off, we drive a bit closer than regular drivers.

I am a bit puzzled with the parking system. If I hit reverse first, reverse and then hit drive there is no alert at all. I just tested it when I got home, and I got extremely close and got no audible alert. However if I am in D and just press the camera button (or just use the meter in the speedo area) then yes there is an audible alert.

 

don't have any answers, but congrats all the same: looking forward to the pictures

 

When you say parking system, are you talking about the automated parking system or the sensors to detect how close you are to objects when parking?

For the automated parking system (called Active Parking Assist), after the white diamond appears, you need to put the car in reverse. You'll get a prompt in the main display asking "Start Parking Assist". Hit OK on the steering wheel. The car does the steering for you while you tap the brakes and accelerator. After you back in all the way, you may see a message on the display "Park Assist Active Select D Observe Surroundings" at which point the car will apply the brakes to prevent you from hitting an obstacle. You can choose to put the car into D if you yourself feel you are close enough. Select D and then hit the pedals again. Try it a couple of times to get a feel of the system.

If you were wondering about the parking sensors (Parktronic), then the way those work are that the front sensors are only activated when you are in D. The front *and* rear sensors are active only when you are in R, which makes sense if you think about it. And unfortunately, there is no way to make the system beep unless you get within a specific distance. FYI, the minimum distance is 8 inches for the front and rear of the car and 6 inches to the sides of the front/rear. The front sensor's visual display is on the main instrument gauge display. The rear sensor is a series of lights just above the rear window (yes, ze Germans think it's best you look behind even with all the fancy gizmos ). When you see all seven bars fill up, that means you are within ~8 inches directly in front/rear of an obstacle or ~6 inches on the corners.

I highly recommend you look up the section on Parktronic in the Owner's manual (pg. 220) - there's a diagram showing the approximate sensor coverage that's useful to understand what the car can and can't detect. It'll make a lot more sense. Note: I noticed that it's not good enough to detect whether a curb is low enough for the front over hang to clear.

Finally, for traffic cameras, you need to go to Mercedes-Benz Apps (you can get to it by hitting the "Tel" button repeatedly next to the touch pad). Select that and you'll get a menu, scroll down till you find Traffic Cameras. You do need an active mBrace and Mercedes-Benz Apps subscription. I will say that it's slow thanks to the slow 3G modem they have onboard.

 

Congratulations on your new car, enjoy driving

 

Congrats, happy driving

 

Thanks for your help, and yes I was talking about the Parktronic. I was reversing into a spot, hit Drive and came close to the car in front of me without an audible alert. I was definitely within a few inches of the bumper as I creeped up to see if it would make a noise (and it did not)

This morning i pulled into a parking lot, and while the car was in drive (without reversing) the front sensors did beep when I got close to the curb.

Strange!

However I did figure out the other issues.... and yes finally when trying to parallel park I got the park assist to ask if it should kick in (did not try it as I was in a rush to get somewhere)

Regarding traffic cams, I did not sign up for Mbrace, but I guess I will as that could be a great feature!

Overall a fantastic car, I just wish it had a bit more customization.