Is there a way to get distronic plus to react to speed limit signs?

[carsnstuff]

I have distronic plus and lane assist in my 2012 w212... what do I need to get my car to react to speed limits?

 

[Tonye]

Go to Specsavers.

 

[MSG2004]

I have distronic plus and lane assist in my 2012 w212... what do I need to get my car to react to speed limits?

I'm not sure but I'll bump the thread for you in the hope someone can answer your question.

 

[st13phil]

I have distronic plus and lane assist in my 2012 w212... what do I need to get my car to react to speed limits?

If you mean display the speed limit on the dash or COMAND screen, it does that if your car has the Speed Limit Assist function.

If you mean you want the car to automatically set the Distronic speed to the speed limit for the road you are driving on, that's not possible.

 

[ChrisPDuck]

If you mean display the speed limit on the dash or COMAND screen, it does that if your car has the Speed Limit Assist function.

Is that all it does? Google Maps provides that functionality, although I think I'm right that the speed limit only shows if you are following a route. There must be a good reason that it doesn't show at other times, but it's not obvious to me!

 

[st13phil]

Is that all it does?

Pretty much.

The one slight difference is that sat-nav based systems such as Google Maps rely on the cartography attributes to identify the speed limit, whereas the Speed Limit Assist feature uses a camera to “read” speed limit signs too, which means it will pick up temporary and variable limits that a purely sat-nav based solution doesn’t.

 

[BTB 500]

I think some later (current?) MBs can be set to automatically update the cruise control speed to the current limit for the road, but doubt this could be retro-fitted to a 2012 car. You can do it manually on our 2019 W205 by double clicking the CC button. Not sure I'd want it to be automatic as the sign recognition isn't perfect - it sometimes picks up speed limit signs on the back of HGVs etc. On continental motorways there is often a much lower speed limit that applies for an exit slip which is signposted before the turnoff - you really wouldn't want the car to see that and suddenly drop your speed if you weren't turning off.

Pretty sure the map data also holds a speed limit for many (most?) roads - certainly the case with our TomTom - but that's often out of date.

 

[BTB 500]

Found via a quick Google - think this is for the EQS:

 

[st13phil]

Found via a quick Google - think this is for the EQS

That describes Active Speed Limit Assist which was never available on the W/S212 and is (AFAIK) limited to only a few current models.

As an aside, ISTR @richard mentioning that Mercedes-Benz have closed off the coding option that was necessary to enable any of the active driving safety systems meaning that retrofits are no longer possible.

 

[BTB 500]

never available on the W/S212 and is (AFAIK) limited to only a few current models.

Yup that's pretty much what I said above. This sort of functionality sounds like a product liability nightmare to me!

 

[BTB 500]

This is the kind of signage I've seen on European motorway exits (France?) ... surely a risk of having your cruise control suddenly set to 30 kph if you're driving in the right hand (slow) lane?! Even 70 kph would be bad enough.

 

[tode]

The slip road limit signs are very common in France, but the Speed Limit Assist can tell the difference between those and the main road limits.

 

[MSG2004]

This is the kind of signage I've seen on European motorway exits (France?) ... surely a risk of having your cruise control suddenly set to 30 kph if you're driving in the right hand (slow) lane?! Even 70 kph would be bad enough.

View attachment 165250

Agreed.
My car has that basic speed sign reader that displays the on the dash etc. At times where there is a bend/etc, it does pick up the speed sign for the side road or one veering off the road you are on,

 

[BTB 500]

As mentioned I've had mine pick up '50' limit signs on the back of trucks etc.

It's a useful function, but far from infallible.

 

[FiveAlive]

My newish (non-Mercedes) car has Speed Limit Recognition and a little bong that chimes if I am 10mph/10kmh over the limit. Cruising along the autoroutes on our summer holiday I grew rather tired of it bonging every time we passed an exit, it saw the first of the slip-road signs and briefly thought that I was speeding. Having that system tied to the cruise control would be a nightmare.

On that holiday we used Google Maps via Android Auto, plus the car's speed limit detection on the head-up display. Inevitably they disagreed fairly often. At one point Google thought the limit was 50, the car thought it was 90 and I was pretty sure it was actually 70.

 

[John N]

As mentioned I've had mine pick up '50' limit signs on the back of trucks etc.

It's a useful function, but far from infallible.

You were "Lucky" Mine only appears to zone in on 40 MPH Truck Signs!

 

[MSG2004]

As mentioned I've had mine pick up '50' limit signs on the back of trucks etc.

It's a useful function, but far from infallible.

A bit like the sat nav, it is the drivers' responsibility to ensure they are within the speed limits
I find mine very helpful on new roads to me and on country roads where speeds often change and
I use this drivers aid in addition to my superb driving skills and knowledge.