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Driving and operating183lever to park position P and switch
off the ignition before leaving the
vehicle.
Setting the following distance
When adaptive cruise control detects a slower moving vehicle in the drivingpath, it will adjust the vehicle speed to
maintain the following distance
selected by the driver.
The following distance can be set to
near, medium or far.
Press E, the current setting is shown
in the Driver Information Centre.
Press E again to change the
following distance. The setting is also
displayed in the Driver Information
Centre.
The selected following distance is
indicated by filled distance bars in the
adaptive cruise control page.
Note that the following distance
setting is shared with the sensitivity
setting of forward collision alert
3 187.
Example: If setting 3 (far) is selected,
then the driver is warned sooner
before a possible collision, also if
adaptive cruise control is inactive or
switched off.
9 Warning
The driver accepts full
responsibility for the appropriate
following distance based on traffic, weather and visibility conditions.
Following distance must be
adjusted or the system switched
off when required by the prevailing
conditions.
Detecting the vehicle ahead
The green illuminated vehicle ahead
control indicator A is displayed when
the system detects a vehicle in the driving path.
Forward collision alert 3 187.
If this symbol does not display, or displays briefly, adaptive cruise
control will not respond to vehicles
ahead.
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184Driving and operating
Deactivation
Adaptive cruise control is deactivated by the driver when:
■ y is pressed.
■ Brake pedal is applied.
■ Clutch pedal is depressed for more
than four seconds.
■ Gear selector lever of automatic transmission is moved to N.
The system is also automatically
deactivated when:
■ Vehicle speed accelerates above 120 mph or slows down below9 mph (on vehicles with automatic
transmission it slows down to a stop
without deactivating within
two minutes).
■ The Traction Control system is operating.
■ The Electronic Stability Control is operating.
■ There is no traffic and nothing detected on the road sides for
several minutes. In this case there
are no radar echoes and the sensor may report that it is blocked.■ The collision imminent braking system is applying the brakes.
■ The radar sensor is blocked by an ice or water film.
■ A fault is detected in the radar, engine or brake system.
Additionally the system is
automatically deactivated on vehicles
with automatic transmission (full
speed range adaptive cruise control)
when:
■ The electric parking brake is applied.
■ The vehicle is being held to a stop by the system for more than
two minutes.
■ The vehicle stops, the driver safety
belt is released and the driver's
door is opened.
When adaptive cruise control is
deactivated automatically, the control indicator m or C illuminates white
and a warning message is displayed
as a pop-up in the Driver Information
Centre.
The stored speed is maintained.9 Warning
When adaptive cruise control is
deactivated, the driver must take
over full brake and engine control.
Switching off
Press C to switch off adaptive cruise
control. The control indicator m or C
extinguishes. The stored speed is
deleted.
Switching off the ignition also
switches off adaptive cruise control
and deletes the stored speed.
Driver's attention ■ Use adaptive cruise control carefully on bends or mountain
roads, as it can lose the vehicle
ahead and need time to detect it
again.
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Driving and operating185
■ Do not use the system on slipperyroads as it can create rapid
changes in tyre traction (wheel spinning), so that you could lose
control of the vehicle.
■ Do not use adaptive cruise control during rain, snow or heavy dirt, as
the radar sensor can be covered by
a water film, dust, ice or snow. This
reduces or suppresses completely
the visibility. In case of sensor
blockage, clean the sensor cover.
System limits ■ The system's automatic brake force
does not permit hard braking and
the braking level may not be
sufficient to avoid a collision.
■ After a sudden lane change, the system needs a certain time to
detect the next preceding vehicle.
So if a new vehicle is detected, the
system may accelerate instead of
braking.
■ Adaptive cruise control does ignore
the oncoming traffic.■ Adaptive cruise control does not brake for pedestrians, animals,
very slow speed driving or stopped
vehicles.
■ Don't use adaptive cruise control when towing a trailer.
Bends
The adaptive cruise control calculates
a predicted path based on the
centrifugal force. This predicted path
considers the current bend
characteristic, but cannot consider a
future bend change. The system may lose the current vehicle ahead or
consider a vehicle which is not in the
actual lane. This can happen when
entering or exiting a bend or if the
bend gets stronger or weaker. If it no
longer detects any vehicle ahead,
then control indicator A will
extinguish.
If the centrifugal force is too high in a bend, the system slows down the vehicle slightly. This braking level is
not designed to avoid spinning-off the
bend. The driver is responsible for
reducing the selected speed before
entering a bend and in general to
adapt the speed to the road type and
to existing speed limits.
Motorways
On motorways, adapt the set speed
to the situation and the weather.
Always consider that adaptive cruise
control has a limited visibility range, a
limited braking level and a certain
reaction time to verify if a vehicle is on
the driving path or not. Adaptive
cruise control may not be able to
brake the vehicle in time to avoid a
collision with a much slower vehicle or after a lane change. This is
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186Driving and operating
particularly true if driving fast or if the
visibility is reduced due to weather
conditions.
While entering or exiting a motorway, adaptive cruise control may lose the
vehicle ahead and accelerate up to
the set speed. For this reason,
decrease the set speed before the
exit or before the entry.
Vehicle path changes
If another vehicle enters your driving
path, adaptive cruise control will first
consider the vehicle when it is
completely in your path. Be ready to
take action and press the brake
pedal, if you need to brake more
quickly.
Hill and trailer considerations
System performance on hills depends
on vehicle speed, vehicle load, traffic
conditions and the road gradient. It
may not detect a vehicle in your path
while driving on hills. On steep hills,
you may have to use the accelerator
pedal to maintain your vehicle speed.
When going downhill you may have to brake to maintain or reduce your
speed.
Note that applying the brake
deactivates the system. It is not
recommended to use adaptive cruise
control on steep hills.
Radar unit
The radar unit is mounted behind the
radiator grille below the brand
emblem.
9 Warning
The radar unit was aligned
carefully during manufacture.
Therefore, after a frontal accident, do not use the system. The front
bumper may appear to be intact,
however the sensor behind can be
out of position and react
incorrectly. After an accident,
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Driving and operating187consult a workshop to verify and
correct the adaptive cruise control sensor position.
Settings
Settings can be changed in the
vehicle personalisation menu in the
Colour-Info-Display.
Select the relevant setting in Settings,
I Vehicle in the Colour-Info-Display.
Colour-Info-Display 3 118.
Vehicle personalisation 3 122.
Fault If the adaptive cruise control does not
work due to temporary conditions
(e.g. blockage by ice) or if there is a
permanent system error, then a
message is displayed in the Driver
Information Centre.
Vehicle messages 3 120.
Forward collision alert
The forward collision alert can help to
avoid or reduce the harm caused by
front-end crashes.
A vehicle ahead is indicated by a
control indicator A.
If a vehicle directly ahead is
approached too quickly, a warning
chime and alert in the Driver
Information Centre is provided.
A precondition is that forward collision
alert is activated in the vehicle
personalisation menu 3 122 or that it
is not deactivated by pressing V
(depending on the system, see
below).
Depending on the vehicle's
equipment, there are two variants of
the forward collision alert available:
■ Forward collision alert based on
radar system
on vehicles equipped with adaptive cruise control 3 180.
■ Forward collision alert based on
front camera system
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188Driving and operating
on vehicles with no cruise control ortraditional cruise control only
3 177.
Forward collision alert based on radar systemThe system uses the radar sensor
behind the radiator grille to detect a
vehicle directly ahead, in your path,
within a distance of max. 150 metres.
Activation
Forward collision alert operates
automatically above walking speed,
provided that Auto Collision
Preparation setting is not deactivated
in the vehicle personalisation menu
3 122.
Selecting the alert sensitivity
The alert sensitivity can be set to
near, medium or far.
Press E, the current setting is shown
in the Driver Information Centre.
Press E again to change the alert
sensitivity. The setting is also
displayed in the Driver Information Centre.Note that the alert timing sensitivity
setting is shared with the following
distance setting of the adaptive cruise
control 3 180. So changing the alert
timing sensitivity changes the
adaptive cruise control following
distance setting.
Alerting the driver
A green illuminated vehicle ahead
control indicator A illuminates in the
instrument cluster when the system has detected a vehicle in the driving
path. The control indicator A
changes to yellow when the distance
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Driving and operating189
to a preceding moving vehicle gets
too small or when approaching
another vehicle too rapidly.
If a collision is imminent the collision
alert symbol pops-up in the Driver
Information Centre and a warning
chime sounds. Depress the brake
pedal, if it is required by the situation.
Settings
Settings can be changed in the
vehicle personalisation menu in the
Colour-Info-Display.
Select the relevant setting in Settings,
I Vehicle in the Colour-Info-Display.
Colour-Info-Display 3 118.
Vehicle personalisation 3 122.
Forward collision alert based on
front camera system Forward collision alert uses the front
camera system in the windscreen to
detect a vehicle directly ahead, in
your path, within a distance of approx.
60 metres.
Activation
Forward collision alert operates
automatically above 25 mph, if it is not
deactivated by pressing V, see
below.
Selecting the alert sensitivity
The alert sensitivity can be set to
near, medium or far.
Press V, the current setting is shown
in the Driver Information Centre.
Press V again to change the alert
sensitivity.
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190Driving and operating
Alerting the driver
A green illuminated vehicle ahead
control indicator A illuminates in the
instrument cluster when the system has detected a vehicle in the driving
path.
When the distance to a preceding
moving vehicle gets too small or when
approaching another vehicle too
rapidly and a collision is imminent, the
collision alert symbol pops-up in the
Driver Information Centre.
Simultaneously, a warning chime
sounds. Depress the brake pedal, if it is required by the situation.
Deactivation
The system can be deactivated.
Press V repeatedly until Forward
Collision Alert Off appears in the
Driver Information Centre.
General information for both
variants of forward collision alert9 Warning
Forward collision alert is just a
warning system and does not
apply the brakes. When
approaching a vehicle ahead too
rapidly, it may not provide you
enough time to avoid a collision.
The driver accepts full
responsibility for the appropriate
following distance based on traffic, weather and visibility conditions.
The complete attention of the
driver is always required while
driving. The driver must always be
ready to take action and apply the
brakes.
System limitations
The system is designed to warn only for vehicles, but may react also to
other metallic objects.
In the following cases, forward
collision alert may not detect a vehicle ahead or sensor performance may be limited:
■ on winding roads
■ when weather limits visibility, e.g. fog, rain, or snow
■ when the sensor is blocked by snow, ice, slush, mud, dirt, or
windscreen damage
Following distance
indication
The following distance indication
displays the distance to a preceding
moving vehicle. The system uses,
depending on the vehicle equipment,
either the radar behind the radiator
grille or the front camera in the
windscreen to detect the distance of
a vehicle directly ahead in your lane.
It is active at speeds above 25 mph.
When a preceding vehicle is detected
ahead, the distance is indicated in
seconds, displayed on a page in the
Driver Information Centre 3 111.