I was driving in heavy to moderate rain when I received an alert the Distronic functions were limited as well as the front camera. I had experienced this in my 2018 E63S, but only with snow/ice. As soon as the rain moderated, the functions resumed. I thought the MB would have remedied the issue with the facelift design, but apparently not effectively.

How do you figure they would have done that? Rain drops are a bunch of moving objects in front of the car that get picked up by the sensor and if the rain is very heavy, there is so much echo from the rain drops that the sensor has no chance to see the car ahead through all the noise. Same for the camera. If you have so much water hitting the windshield that the camera is effectively blinded then there's nothing that can be done. Physics is physics. Besides, using cruise control in the rain is generally big no-no anyway as if the wheels lose traction (hydroplaning) cruise control will misread that and accelerate the car, because it's losing speed and make the problem much worse.

I wasn't using the cruise control. The camera warning was that the lane interferance function (blind spot) was also disabled.

And I wasn't trying to imply that. More like they don't have much incentive to make DISTRONIC work in really heavy rain. The safety systems, though, will be impaired as well and that's why most companies that work on self-driving cars insist that a LIDAR sensor is a must, because it isn't affected as much by the weather as cameras and radar are. Tesla is the lone wolf, or at least Musk is, who thinks LIDAR is not required, but I have a feeling that he is biased because we have 300+ dry days here in California. He might change his tune after living somewhere that sees stronger weather events.

I've driven my car in some pretty extreme downpours and I have never had an issue like that... snow and crud on the camera will indeed cause issue but rarely.

That's why I posted my experience yesterday. On my previous car I only saw the messages when it was snowing.

I’ve had it happen once or twice in really heavy rain. As soon as the rain lightened up a bit, it went back to working fine. Wasn’t overly concerned about it when it got back to working.

I've had it happen on all MBs I’ve had with the distronic for years and it is always in heavy rain (we don’t get much snow). I’ve even had it happen after it has stopped raining and the sensor is really dirty............except this current GLE, but MB hasn’t given me much time to drive it yet.

I've determined that the issue is external RF interference and not the liquid precipitation. Today the system flashed a warning with only a light drizzle and then reset itself within 30 seconds when the rain got heavier. I live near RDU airport and the outer marker radar extends for miles. I'm going to have the system checked out when I do the 2000 mile differential service.

It's been more than 6 weeks since I experienced this temporary glitch and it's not happened again even when we've had torrential downpours when on the interstate. There may have been other external things that were present, but I really can't piece together anything more. Chalk it up to new car-break in activities.

It's documented in the AMG manual that comes with the E63S as "recommended" at 2000 miles. The 2000 mile differential service is also included in the prepaid maintenance contract. I'm having mine serviced this week.

Thanks, I plan to get the prepaid maintenance as well.

I was also told that beginning with the 2021's, the 2000 mile check is no longer required, even though the device manual recommends it. Interesting.

It's extremely annoying that the manual calls out the requirement for service, but the service dept says that it's not required! Even more confusing Is that the documentation that I received with my pre-paid maintenance contract clearly shows the 2000 mile service included. Even better, when I picked up my car, I was told that I didn't have the prepaid service on the car! It took another 30 minutes to get that fixed as well. It seems that a bunch of contracts never got applied to their respective vehicles. It was only 2 months since my car was delivered and you would think that MBUSA would have noticed their error. Disappointing to say the least. In the end, the dealer told me that they were eating the differential service charges.

The electronic rear differentials have been updated sometime in 2019 and no longer require the service. It's been a point of confusion. The 2019 C63S FL seemed to be the first model that got the updated diff. It was still mentioned in the owners manual as well, but the determining factor is whether you have a sticker on the windshield below the engine breaking-in instructions that states your diff requires the service. If the sticker is absent, then the service is no longer required. My C63S didn't have the sticker, but slightly earlier builds still did. I did European Delivery and actually called AMG Germany and they confirmed that my VIN doesn't need the service anymore, but I ended up doing it anyway once I found a dealership near Frankfurt that could squeeze me in. They happily did it. Piece of mind I suppose. Some people have posted pictures of the oil that came out of their diff that supposedly didn't require the service anymore and it was anything but clean, so up to you if you want to do the service or not.

So, for two years the differential service has not been required, but that the current 2021 manuals state that it IS needed. What rules? The windshield sticker, the 2021 edition A manual, or the prepaid maintenance contract description of services to be performed? Really dull in total.

So the English manuals unfortunately never got updated it seems. I got a hold of the German owners manual for my car and it had been updated. The new language now states that the diff service is required if the sticker is present on the windshield. It seems to be a lost in translation kinda situation.

US website still shows it is due and included in the pre paid maintenance. I will ask the dealer when my car comes in.

It's been clear to me for some time that this is simply a case of the US manuals not being properly updated to reflect the fact that the differential service is not required on our 2021 cars. My car didn't come with a windshield sticker referencing the requirement, the dealer's response to my specific query was that it wasn't required, and, consequently, I won't be doing it.

It's a straight binary proposition: required or not required. The answer is clear.

Since you didn't purchase the prepaid maintenance, then you can ignore it. However, for those of us that have purchased the contracted service, we should receive the oil change specified. There is also now an oil change at 30,000 miles required.

Sure. By all means, have the dealer make you whole on the prepaid maintenance, either by doing the service or crediting its value. Let’s just be clear for the benefit of future searchers that the service itself is no longer necessary.

Agreed! BTW, I examined the drained fluid from the service. It sure didn't look as clear as the new replacement. Thanks for your response.

As long as manual says it is required in USA then it is...

What happens if he has differential issues @ 10,000 miles?
Warranty or not?

Go by manual else you could be liable if you have issues later and still in warranty.
Remember a DEALER is not MBUSA and they do not speak for MBUSA who pays the warranty.

Make em go by the book....
Better safe then sorry

Page 12, 2021 AMG manual:

"Notes on the locking differential: After a breaking-in period of 2000 miles (3000 km) the oil on the locking differential should be changed in a qualified specialist workshop. This oil change prolongs the service life of the locking differential."