2002 Mercedes S-Class Owner's Manual - Page 272

Additional driving hints Warning! Distronic works to maintain the speed selected by the driver unless a moving obstacle proceeding directly ahead of it in the same travel direction is detected (e.g. following another vehicle ahead at a distance set by Distronic). This means that: • your vehicle can pass another vehicle after you change lanes, • while in a sharp turn or if the vehicle in front is in a sharp turn, Distronic could lose sight of a vehicle traveling in front of it, then your vehicle could accelerate to the previously selected speed. Distronic regulates only the distance between your vehicle and those directly ahead, but does not register stationary objects in the roadway, e.g.: • a stopped vehicle in a traffic jam, • a disabled vehicle, • an oncoming vehicle. The driver must always be on the alert and observe all traffic and intercede with steering and braking inputs as necessary. Important! When starting the engine, Distronic goes through an initialization and self-test phase - this can take up to 2 minutes. The most likely cause for a malfunctioning system is a dirty sensor (located behind the hood grille), especially at times of snow and ice or heavy rain. In such a case, Distronic will switch off, and the message "DISTRONIC - CLEAN SENSOR!" appears in the multifunction display. Warning! Distronic should not be used in snowy or icy road conditions. For cleaning and care of the Distronic sensor, see page 386. Restart the engine after cleaning the sensor. The following are some sample situations which may influence the functions of Distronic. Driving systems Instruments and controls Operation Driving 269 Instrument cluster display Practical hints Car care Technical data Index