W213 driver assistance pack

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horse

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
36
Car
E300 hybrid estate
Anyone used this?

Toying with the idea of ordering a new e-class, given the shortage of used cars.

Really want the adaptive cruise control you get with the driver assistance package but have read a few negatives about lane assist, e.g. violently swerving you back into lane if you are passing a cyclist etc.

Still trying to work out if….

1. Is lane assist only on when using cruise control, or all the time?
2. Can you turn lane assistance off and if so do you have to do this every journey or can it be set off permanently?

Anyone have an my insights into the above?
Thanks!
 
Yes.
 
What follows is based on my knowledge of the driving assistance package on a 2019 E class. There have certainly been changes and some loss of features in lower models, but not I think the E, but it would be worth checking in detail. I think that the feature you are describing is Active Lane Keeping Assist, and the short answer is that you can turn it off (although I am not sure whether it will default to on again at the start of each journey). Active lane keeping assist is I believe present on the standard car but has additional functionality with the DAP. As standard, above about 40 mph it will detect when a lane marking is crossed and give a warning vibration. If a solid white line is being crossed, there will in addition be a corrective one-sided brake application which can be disconcerting when first encountered. So it can produce the effect you describe when crossing the centre line to pass a cyclist. However, this won't happen if you indicate, and once you remember to do that it is not really a problem. It can always be overriden anyway. The additional functionality the DAP gives is that it will intervene if it detects adjacent vehicles as well. The DAP in addition includes Active Steering Assist which keeps the vehicle in the centre of the lane. It used to perform automatic lane changes as well, but I am not sure if this is still included.
 
I have it on my car (of which I am not the first owner) but never use it. Too much tech on cars for me nowadays - all I want to do is drive!

MB Poole have a 15 min video on YouTube describing the main features here.
 
Thanks for the inputs. I’m happy to have the active lane assist on a motorway, just concerned it might be dangerous or a pain on a/b roads.

I understand if you indicate it won’t steer you back to your lane, but what happens if you have to swerve to avoid a pot hole or bit of debris and you don’t have time to indicate. Also there are some twisty roads going through fields with no hedgerows near me that you can cut the corners on if there is no traffic, I guess you’d be forever indicating if you wanted to avoid the lane assist swerving you back into your side.
 
Also there are some twisty roads going through fields with no hedgerows near me that you can cut the corners on if there is no traffic, I guess you’d be forever indicating if you wanted to avoid the lane assist swerving you back into your side.
You could just disable it for the time that you intend to alternate between both the right and wrong side of the road, or just drive in your lane.
 
Thanks for the inputs. I’m happy to have the active lane assist on a motorway, just concerned it might be dangerous or a pain on a/b roads.

I understand if you indicate it won’t steer you back to your lane, but what happens if you have to swerve to avoid a pot hole or bit of debris and you don’t have time to indicate. Also there are some twisty roads going through fields with no hedgerows near me that you can cut the corners on if there is no traffic, I guess you’d be forever indicating if you wanted to avoid the lane assist swerving you back into your side.
According to the manual it doesn't intervene if you "clearly actively steer, accelerate or brake" or are driving in a "sporty manner". I haven't been able to calibrate what this means in practice. But part of my point was that, whether or not you like or want the feature, it is not a factor in selecting the driving assistance package. I think you would find that the active distance control and lane following that come with the DAP make a big difference on motorways.
 
@barian
So is the DAP something you would order again?
 
I have this on my (MY19) car. My thoughts are this:

Unlike some VAG brands with Adaptive Cruise Control the cruise control is only adaptive (can't choose passive or active)
The active cruise control is very binary (not that smooth in operation) - say you are cruising at 70mph and the truck in front is doing 55mph but you can't pull out to go around it because you are waiting for the next lane to be free. The car will keep going at 70 until the distance breaking point is reached and then slam on the brakes (all or nothing). It can't work out you are approaching something and stop accelerating and slow down gradually. For that reason i find it quite frustrating, other than when towing the caravan at 60 mph, when the closing speed to trucks is much less. Generally i find the speed limiter function a much smoother control of speed than cruise control on anything other than an empty motorway.

That said the ability to bring the car to a stop and drive off again in stop start traffic is very cool and helps releaves a bit of stress when stuck in slow moving stop/start motorway traffic jams.

With respect to active lane control. When I first picked up the car it had everything switched on. Within 10 mins quite a bit was switched off! So i was on an A road in UK at 3 into 2 lanes with the inside line filtering into the middle lane (active cruise on and active steering on). The road was busy but the space was clear for me to move right. The car thought otherwise and quite literally flung me into the what was now the hard shoulder (very scary) and i fought to get it into the correct lane. Since then the active part has been switched off (no lit steering wheel button on the dashboard above the headlight switch) and the Lane Departure warning system is firmly switched off. That said, the LDW without active steering (Drive Pilot i think it is called) is OK, with the usual haptic feedback if you cross a line is OK.

Knowing what i know now, i think i wouldn't have bothered spending the money, but i certainly wouldn't reject a used car if it had it.

Bottom line, is it works but for me (personal opinion) it is too binary in its operation and doesn't make driving as smooth as the slick MB videos would make out.
 
Since then the active part has been switched off
Thanks for the info. Do you need to switch it off every time you get in the car, or did you just have to turn it off the once.

The active cruise control is very binary (not that smooth in operation) - say you are cruising at 70mph and the truck in front is doing 55mph but you can't pull out to go around it because you are waiting for the next lane to be free. The car will keep going at 70 until the distance breaking point is reached and then slam on the brakes (all or nothing). It can't work out you are approaching something and stop accelerating and slow down gradually.

I’ve got adaptive cruise on a vw camper van and you can set between eco/normal/sport etc. I use eco which is gentler braking and acceleration, is that not possible with the merc?
 
Always good to get a range of views, and you make a fair criticism of the way the adaptive cruise works in the scenario you describe. I suppose the system does not have the same level of situational awareness as you will as the driver, so will not always perform as well. So there is a trade-off between the benefit of reduced workload and acceptance of its imperfections. This will be a personal choice. For what it is worth, in the situation you described of closing a much slower vehicle in front I will sometimes flick the adaptive cruise off to let the car coast up and then resume when approaching the normal following distance. I wouldn't say that, left to its own devices, it will slam the brakes on, but it can be a quite firm braking. All a matter of personal interpretation, I accept.
 
I’ve got the full driving assistance plus package on my W213 estate and love it, amazing bit of kit.

The steering pilot and the active lane keeping are separate functions with separate buttons. I usually leave active lane keeping off but use the steering pilot which only engages once you set the autonomous cruise on.
 
I’ve got the full driving assistance plus package on my W213 estate and love it, amazing bit of kit.

The steering pilot and the active lane keeping are separate functions with separate buttons. I usually leave active lane keeping off but use the steering pilot which only engages once you set the autonomous cruise on.
Do you need to turn active lane keeping off every time you start the car or does it stay off permanently once set?
 
Do you need to turn active lane keeping off every time you start the car or does it stay off permanently once set?
Stays off permanently in my car. You can also dial down the severity of the interventions if you want it slightly on and it remembers the setting.

Unlike the stop start which you have to turn off each time.
 
Always good to get a range of views, and you make a fair criticism of the way the adaptive cruise works in the scenario you describe. I suppose the system does not have the same level of situational awareness as you will as the driver, so will not always perform as well. So there is a trade-off between the benefit of reduced workload and acceptance of its imperfections. This will be a personal choice. For what it is worth, in the situation you described of closing a much slower vehicle in front I will sometimes flick the adaptive cruise off to let the car coast up and then resume when approaching the normal following distance. I wouldn't say that, left to its own devices, it will slam the brakes on, but it can be a quite firm braking. All a matter of personal interpretation, I accept.

I think you are touching on a bigger issue.

Computer systems do not emulate human behaviour.

Driver aid systems will never be as observant or perceptive as a human driver, but they will react many times faster, and with consistency as they don't get tired or distracted.

The overall effect is safer driving, but different. Again, computers do not emulate human behaviour, instead they try to achieve a better result, but using different methods.
 
I think you are touching on a bigger issue.

Computer systems do not emulate human behaviour.

Driver aid systems will never be as observant or perceptive as a human driver, but they will react many times faster, and with consistency as they don't get tired or distracted.

The overall effect is safer driving, but different. Again, computers do not emulate human behaviour, instead they try to achieve a better result, but using different methods.
Interesting philosophical point, thank you. I think I would argue that automated driving systems are trying to emulate (desirable) human behaviour, but they are not there yet. I would also suggest that there is no reason why, in time, driver aid systems might not have better awareness than any human driver, given the potential to assimilate off-board information for example, but we are quite some way from that. But I very much agree that the current systems enhance safety, which is why I would not want to be without them. Put simply, I am very confident that when using adaptive cruise control I am less likely to run in to the back of the car in front than without it. The safety benefit makes me willing to accept their occasional irritations.
 
Thanks for the info. Do you need to switch it off every time you get in the car, or did you just have to turn it off the once.



I’ve got adaptive cruise on a vw camper van and you can set between eco/normal/sport etc. I use eco which is gentler braking and acceleration, is that not possible with the merc?
On my MY2019 (new type of steering wheel controls) once off or on its stays in that setting, but i think (stress think) new cars (or very soon will be) must have these enabled for you to switch off every time (as part of NCAP ratings etc). Although i reckon with Xentry you could code this out.
 

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