After visiting several dealerships (BMW, Audi, Porsche, Lexus) I finally found the best fit replacement for my unreliable 03 Launch Edition sl500: a 2006 sl500. I just hope MB cleaned up its act with this model. On a side note, what would happen if an object such as a dark plastic bag gets stuck on the front grill obstructing the Distronic sensor?

 

I am quite sure it would deactivate the feature, similiar to what happens in a bad rain storm.

 

good luck man i hope i can upgrade to a SL one of these days

 

What? I was planning to get distronics on my next car because of the bad rain storms. So I am hearing that distronics will not work in the rain?

 

I have had my 2006 SL 500 for two months now and I've been extremely pleased. It is such a pleasure to drive.

 

i'm with ya.. i've owned many cars in my short life thusfar, all over $80k, and the new r230 sl can't be beat.. i'm almost spoiled by the interior, the ride, the handling, everything.. regardless of all the gripes we hear, we should ALL be fortunate to be driving one of the most prestigious and most wanted and desired vehicles ever created.. i only drive my porsche maybe once a month now.. the sl has spoiled be rotten

 

Let me restate my distronic question. If you are driving 70 MPH with distronic activated and a flying plastic bag blocks the sensor, would it cause the car to stop in a panic mode? I have enjoyed the distronic, however, it is a bit jerky when you change lanes. Never had a problem with it, I supposed because it is a safety issue. Worth $3,000 +?, not to me.

 

I have distronic on my BMW 750i and notice that the rain can hamper operation. The system simply disengages just as if you has stepped on the brakes and an error message comes on that the distronic is not available.

 

I don't think a plast bag would do it...not enough radar signature on that. Even a motorcycle is touch and go. No trouble in fog though, can't vouch for heavy rain...haven't had any here since June when I got the car.

 

Distronic is worth every dime. I have it on the CL and the SL. There have been occasions when I've been distracted and distronic saves the day. I don't think the system for '05 is designed to stop the car. It warns you if you're about to crash and it disengages below 20 mph or so.

 

I've tried to teach the girlfriend how to work it numerous times... It's just a lost cause In my case, it was a waste of money.

 

Agreed. The MB star in encased in plastic to enable distronic to "see" through it. A plastic bag will be invisible to the system. The odds of a plastic bag getting stuck at 60 mph are slim to none. Another thing is that the system will only apply 20% of the availabe braking power.
On another note; with distronic on and cruise control off, flooring the pedal on an empty highway will trigger the distronic alarm. The first few times that it happened I thought it was my radar decetor.