2010 Mercedes E-Class Owner's Manual - Page 141

Driving systems The DISTRONIC PLUS regulates only the distance between your vehicle and those directly ahead of it. It may not register stationary objects in the road, e.g.: Ra Ra 139 stopped vehicle in a traffic jam disabled vehicle oncoming vehicle X Increasing distance: Turn distance setting switch : in direction of arrow ;. Increasing the distance setting tells the DISTRONIC PLUS to maintain a greater following distance to the preceding vehicle. Decreasing distance: Turn distance setting switch : in direction of arrow =. Decreasing the distance setting tells the DISTRONIC PLUS to maintain a shorter following distance to the preceding vehicle. The driver must always be alert, observe all traffic and intercede as required by means of steering or braking the vehicle. G Warning! The DISTRONIC PLUS should not be used in snowy or icy road conditions. X Driving with DISTRONIC PLUS This section describes a number of driving situations where special precaution is required on the part of the driver. Be prepared to brake in such situations. Braking will deactivate the DISTRONIC PLUS system. The most likely cause for a malfunctioning system is a dirty sensor (located in the hood grille and in the bumper), especially at times of snow and ice or heavy rain. In such a case, the DISTRONIC PLUS will switch off, and the message DISTRONIC PLUS Currently Unavailable See Operator's Manual appears in the multifunction display. For cleaning and care of the sensors, see (Y page 225). G Warning! The DISTRONIC PLUS 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 of you at your set distance). This means that: RYour vehicle can pass another vehicle after you have changed lanes. RWhile i If the message DISTRONIC PLUS Currently Unavailable See Operator's Manual disappears during driving and the last speed stored flashes for approximately 5 seconds, the dirt (e.g. slush) has dissolved; the DISTRONIC PLUS is available again. Another cause might be that the radar sensors have been manually switched off in the instrument cluster control system. Please verify that the radar sensors are switched on (Y page 126). in a sharp turn or if the preceding vehicle is in a sharp turn, the DISTRONIC PLUS could lose sight of the preceding vehicle. Your vehicle could then accelerate to the previously selected speed. Z Controls in detail Ran