Pulling away

– If the vehicle in front pulls away: remove your foot from the brake pedal.
– Briefly pull the cruise control lever towards you.
or
– Accelerate briefly.
Your vehicle pulls away and adapts its speed to that of the vehicle in front.

Driving

WARNING
If you depress the brake, DISTRONIC PLUS is deactivated unless your vehicle is stationary.
DISTRONIC PLUS then no longer brakes your vehicle. In such cases, control the distance from vehicles travelling in front with the brake alone. You could otherwise cause an accident and thereby injure yourself and others. The driver remains fully responsible for the vehicle's distance from other vehicles, the speed being driven and for braking in good time.

If there is no vehicle in front, DISTRONIC PLUS operates in the same way as cruise control.

If DISTRONIC PLUS detects that the vehicle in front has slowed down, it brakes your vehicle. In this way, the distance you have selected is maintained.

If DISTRONIC PLUS detects that the vehicle in front has increased speed, it increases your driving speed, but only up to the speed you have stored.

Changing lanes

If you wish to change to the passing lane (in countries with right-hand traffic, the passing lane is the left-hand lane), DISTRONIC PLUS supports you if:
- you are driving faster than 40 mph (60 km/h).
- DISTRONIC PLUS is maintaining the distance to a vehicle in front.
- you switch on the appropriate turn signals.
- DISTRONIC PLUS does not detect a danger of collision.

If these conditions are met, your vehicle is accelerated. Acceleration will be interrupted if changing lanes takes too long or if the distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front becomes too small.

WARNING
DISTRONIC PLUS and Active Blind Spot Assist are only aids designed to assist driving.
They do not relieve you of the responsibility of paying attention. The driver remains fully responsible for the vehicle's distance from other vehicles, the vehicle's speed and for braking in good time. Always pay attention to traffic conditions and your surroundings.
Otherwise, you may fail to recognize dangers in time, cause an accident and injure yourself and others.

Vehicles with COMAND

The following function is not operational in all countries.

DISTRONIC PLUS uses additional information from your navigation system so that it can react appropriately to certain traffic situations. This is the case if, while following a vehicle, DISTRONIC PLUS is active and you:
- approach or drive through a traffic circle
- approach a T intersection
- turn off at a freeway exit

Even if the vehicle in front leaves the detection range, DISTRONIC PLUS temporarily maintains the current driving speed and does not accelerate. This is based on the current map data in the navigation system.

Example: traffic circle

The current speed is maintained:
- approximately 10 seconds before the traffic circle/T intersection and for approximately 1.5 seconds when driving on the traffic circle
- approximately 12 seconds before reaching a freeway exit and approximately 4 seconds after the freeway exit

Afterwards, the vehicle accelerates back to the set speed you specified.

Stopping

WARNING
Never get out of the vehicle when DISTRONIC PLUS is activated.
DISTRONIC PLUS must also never be operated, activated or deactivated by a passenger or from outside the vehicle.
DISTRONIC PLUS does not replace the electric parking brake and must not be used for parking.
The DISTRONIC PLUS braking effect is canceled and the vehicle can start moving if:
- DISTRONIC PLUS is deactivated using the cruise control lever.
- you accelerate.
- there is a malfunction in the system or an interruption in the power supply, e.g. battery failure.
- the electrical system in the engine compartment, the battery or the fuses are tampered with.
- the battery is disconnected.
If you wish to leave the vehicle or park it, deactivate DISTRONIC PLUS and secure the vehicle against rolling away.

If DISTRONIC PLUS detects that the vehicle in front is stopping, it brakes your vehicle until it is stationary.

Once your vehicle is stationary, it remains stationary and you do not need to depress the brake.

After a time, the electric parking brake secures the vehicle and relieves the service brake.

Depending on the specified minimum distance, your vehicle will come to a standstill at a sufficient distance behind the vehicle in front. The specified minimum distance is set using the control on the cruise control lever.

The electric parking brake automatically secures the vehicle if DISTRONIC PLUS is activated and:
- the driver's door is open and the driver's seat belt is unfastened.
- the engine is switched off.
- a system malfunction occurs.
- the power supply is not sufficient.

On steep uphill or downhill inclines or if there is a malfunction, the transmission may also automatically be shifted into position P.