Important safety notes

Blind Spot Assist uses a radar sensor system to monitor the areas on both sides of your vehicle. It supports you from speeds of approximately 20 mph (30 km/h). A warning display in the exterior mirrors draws your attention to vehicles detected in the monitored area. If you then switch on the corresponding turn signal to change lane, you will also receive an optical and audible collision warning. Blind Spot Assist uses sensors in the rear bumper for monitoring purposes.

WARNING
Blind Spot Assist is only an aid designed to assist driving. It may fail to detect some vehicles and is no substitute for attentive driving.
Blind Spot Assist cannot detect road and traffic conditions. It may fail to detect narrow vehicles, such as motorcycles or bicycles, or may only detect them too late.
Monitoring may be affected by dirty sensors, strong spray or poor visibility caused by snow, rain or mist, for example. In this case, vehicles are detected late or not at all.
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.

USA only:
This device has been approved by the FCC as a “Vehicular Radar System”. The radar sensor is intended for use in an automotive radar system only. Removal, tampering, or altering of the device will void any warranties, and is not permitted by the FCC. Do not tamper with, alter, or use in any non-approved way.
Any unauthorized modification to this device could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

For Blind Spot Assist to assist you when driving, the radar sensor system must be activated (Y page 236) and operational.

Monitoring range of the sensors

Blind Spot Assist monitors the area shown in the figure up to 10 ft (3 m) behind and immediately adjacent to your vehicle.

WARNING
Blind Spot Assist monitors certain areas in the immediate vicinity of your vehicle. Vehicles that approach and drive past at high speeds are not detected. There is no display and no warning.
If the lanes are very wide, it may not be possible to monitor the complete width of the neighboring lane. For this reason, vehicles in the next lane may not be detected, especially if they are driving in a staggered formation.
This may be the case if vehicles are driving at that edge of their lane which is furthest away from your vehicle.
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.

If the lanes are narrow, vehicles driving in the lane beyond the lane next to your vehicle may be indicated, especially if the vehicles are not driving in the middle of their lane. This may be the case if the vehicles are driving on the inner side of their lane.

Due to the nature of the system:
- warnings may be issued in error when driving close to crash barriers or similar solid lane borders.
- warnings may be interrupted when driving alongside long vehicles, such as trucks, for a prolonged time.

The two sensors for Blind Spot Assist are integrated into the sides of the rear bumper.

Make sure that the bumper is free from dirt, ice or slush around the sensors. The rear sensors must not be covered, for example by bicycle racks or overhanging loads. Following a severe impact or in the event of damage to the bumpers, have the function of the radar sensors checked at a qualified specialist workshop, e.g. an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center. Blind Spot Assist may otherwise not work properly.

Indicator and warning display

1 Yellow indicator lamp/red warning lamp

When Blind Spot Assist is activated, indicator lamp 1 lights up yellow in the exterior mirrors up to a vehicle speed of 20 mph (30 km/h). When the vehicle speed exceeds 20 mph (30 km/h), the indicator lamp goes out and Blind Spot Assist is ready for use.

When your speed exceeds approximately 20 mph (30 km/h), warning lamp 1 lights up red on the corresponding side whenever a vehicle is detected in the blind spot monitoring range. This warning is always given when a vehicle enters the blind spot monitoring range from behind or from the side. When you are passing another vehicle, the warning is emitted only if the difference in speed is less than 7 mph (12 km/h).

The yellow indicator lamp goes out if reverse gear is engaged. In this event, Blind Spot Assist is no longer active.

The brightness of the indicator/warning lamps is adjusted automatically according to the ambient light.

WARNING
Blind Spot Assist is not active at speeds under approximately 20 mph (30 km/h). The indicator lamps in the exterior mirrors are yellow. Vehicles in the monitoring range are then not indicated.
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.

Collision warning

If a vehicle is detected in the monitoring range of Blind Spot Assist and you switch on the turn signal, a double warning tone sounds. Red warning lamp 1 flashes. If the turn signal remains on, detected vehicles are indicated by the flashing of red warning lamp 1. There are no further warning tones.

Switching on Blind Spot Assist

– Make sure that the radar sensor system (Y page 236) and Blind Spot Assist (Y page 232) are activated in the on-board computer.
– Turn the SmartKey to position 2 in the ignition lock.
Warning lamps 1 light up red in the exterior mirrors for approximately 1.5 seconds and then turn yellow.

Trailer towing

When you attach a trailer, make sure you have correctly established the electrical connection. This can be accomplished by checking the trailer lighting. In this event, Blind Spot Assist is deactivated. The indicator lamp in the exterior mirrors lights up yellow, and the Blind Spot Assist Currently Unavailable See Operator's Manual message appears in the multifunction display.

You can deactivate the indicator lamps in the exterior mirrors.
To do so, switch off Blind Spot Assist when:
- the SmartKey is in position 2 in the ignition lock.
- the engine is not running.
- the electrical connection to the trailer has been established.