Any experiences of a new E with Distronic Plus

[drocter]

I'm finalising the spec for my E350 CDI Sport Cabriolet and am considering Distronic Plus (+£1350 to my invoice price)

Calcite White
upgrade leather in Natural Beige (tan w/white stitching)/black dash
Piano black trim
Airscarf
'full fat' Comand

The car will do 30k/year mixed use mileage

My mum's 2004 XJ8 has the radar-guided Adaptive cruise. It works well behind HGVs and tall vans, but I'm always having to intervene with most other normal vehicles, where it's irratic fast-then brake hard.

I was a passenger in a 1st gen Distronic'd E270 which seemed to take an age to pick up after the obstacles had moved aside.

The dealer has advised against it, saying it's worthwhile on top end E and S Class saloons where future buyers will do the miles to warrant it, but it will only be worth £200 (MB residual calculator) on my cab

I'm willing to take the hit if the system is invaluable and works as it should at all speeds

What are your experiences of the system??

 

[Toodeep]

Distronic Plus is not something I'd pay for on its own. It works as described but, as you've observed, it can be slow to react leading to cars jumping into the gap. If you're the type of driver that gets annoyed by this, it may not be for you. However, PreSafe Brake relies on Distronic Plus being fitted so you'll lose all the collision mitigation/avoidance braking assistance. I'm city based, so I already knew I'd have too few opportunities to use Distronic Plus to make it worthwhile but packaging it with PreSafe Brake meant it made my list and would again.

 

[C43AMG]

I find it very good on my S-Class, as you mentioned, even on this new system it's a little slow to react when the vehicle in front moves away, that's my only criticism.

 

[drocter]

Thank you

Didn't know about PreSafe Brake inclusion...this may be similar to the Forward Assist system on the Jag

 

[st4]

No offence, but I cannot see the need for this sort of thing on a car. You have eyes, ears, and a sense to anticipate hazards, use those.

It will be such a nice car to drive, I cannot see the want/need to spend money to take a part of the joy of driving the car away from you.

 

[mbenz76]

I have Distronic Plus on my E350. I specifically wanted it as I had already had cruise on previous cars, so for me it was an upgrade. I had to buy the Driving Assistance Package (including Distronic Plus, Lane Keeping Assist and Blind Spot Assist) - not sure if this is still the case.

It is very good, but like all these systems is not perfect and no substitute for your own senses.

Very good on the motorway - set it at 70 and away you go. It does react late (or what I think is late) to heavy braking or someone cutting in close, and I have hit the brakes myself a couple of times in panic but it was doing it's thing and I am in no doubt that everything would have been fine if I hadn't interferred.

My complaint is that if someone cuts in doing say 50, the car starts braking. You are then going to slow to switch lanes if the gap is not huge, so I end up switching it off and powering round myself before reactivating it. If you are able to plan ahead to changing traffic (rather than someone cutting you up) then it's perfectly capable of not hindering you at all and works perfectly.

There are so many cameras around now trying to screw us over that you can be confident of not getting caught accidentally drifting over the limit - especially in the SPECS zones. And more importantly over standard cruise, you won't have to keep adjusting when traffic speed changes.

I used to use standard cruise in my last car around town a lot (long 30 stretches and 40 dual carriageways) after a bad experience with a camera van made me speed limit perfect. This is no use whatsoever round town though as it does not work well in stop start traffic.

If you will do a lot of motorway miles then you will love it and will wonder how you lived without it after a while.

Would I buy it again? I definitely would.

Was it worth the money? I would say so.

 

[elisetype25]

I would recommend Distronic evey time.

I have this on my S212 Estate. If you use cruise but are frustrated by its limitations in start/stop/slow/fast motorway traffic then Distronic is a must.

If you're not into cruise then Distronic will not be for you.

Personally, I find the system works very well, you can adjust the distance between you and car in front to give the system more time to react. It also waits for the car in front to completely leave the lane before accelerating to cruising speed.

This makes for a more sedate journey and on busy rush hour motorways gets you to your destination with significantly reduced stress levels.

With a car like the E class I wouldn't consider not speccing it without Distronic, it was these cars are best at. However, I do reserve the right to buy my sports cars with no electronic assistance whatsoever.

Regards, Neil

 

[timskemp]

If money's no object add every driver aid possible. They can always be turned off but if they save you from one, even a low speed, collision then they've paid for themselves. Like ABS and ESP, seatbelts and airbags now, pre-safe brake systems and anti-tailgaiting systems will likely be standard in 5-10 years.

 

[Alps]

ive got the normal distronic on my w211, love it, although it does make for lazy driving you still have to keep your wits about you and keep alert as like others say its not perfect and reaction sometime slower than i would be.

 

[Mackhack]

If money's no object add every driver aid possible. They can always be turned off but if they save you from one, even a low speed, collision then they've paid for themselves. Like ABS and ESP, seatbelts and airbags now, pre-safe brake systems and anti-tailgaiting systems will likely be standard in 5-10 years.

What is an anti-tailgating system?

 

[James Rothwell]

Sounds like a lovely car, don't suppose you want a driver with that do you?

 

[Vennwood]

Just reading through this post and a couple of things spring to mind.

During my search for a used R class I could not find any cars with distronic fitted - of any model. (I wanted to test one out for myself) The dealers all advised me to stay away from distronic but couldn't say why.

Has anyone ever fitted Distronic as a retrofit?