Active Lane Keeping Assist

mdbrown

Member
This is worst damn "feature" on the vehicle! Works well on my Lexus and Tesla (although I never use it...turned it off), and just terrible on the Sprinter. And I can't shut it off! You have to disable it EVERY TIME YOU DRIVE! WTF? You can turn off the blind spot monitor for good, but you CAN'T turn off Active Lane Keeping Assist and have it stay off. [I know the short-cut to turning it off, but I shouldn't have to do this every. damn. time. I. drive.]


Sprinter slams on the brakes and swerves to the left every time go into a right-hand merge lane to get off an expressway (which we have plenty of in my area). Dashed lines, no cars or traffic (so no blinker), and then HOLY SH$T! What just happened???

Maybe there just aren't enough of these vans out there with ALKA to have a bunch of pissed off drivers...I don't know. But it simply is NOT SAFE. If someone is exiting behind me an I fail to use my blinker, that driver is going to get a big surprise that neither of us want. All I want is to be able to shut it off permanently, but I CAN'T.

Rant over...at least for now!
 

cacaw

Well-known member
In my Mazda, lane keeping assist was a pleasure to use. Just a little tweaking and it would be as nice as a self-driving car.

The Mercedes implementation of it seems to come from the idea that if you wander out of your lane you must be dozing off and need to be simultaneously startled awake and punished.

I like the warning, but I don't like the technique of using braking to steer the vehicle. It's bad enough that I'm confident it will be changed.
 

Boxster1971

2023 Sprinter 2500 144wb AWD
In my Mazda, lane keeping assist was a pleasure to use. Just a little tweaking and it would be as nice as a self-driving car.

The Mercedes implementation of it seems to come from the idea that if you wander out of your lane you must be dozing off and need to be simultaneously startled awake and punished.

I like the warning, but I don't like the technique of using braking to steer the vehicle. It's bad enough that I'm confident it will be changed.
Sounds like difference between German and Japanese cultures. ?
 

GLJones

Active member
Yeah...I have experimented with it and the only time it really does the hard brake scary thing is when I cross a solid line. The happens only when I cross the solid line of the left, like swerving to avoid a car leaving it's lane coming into me, or when I go to exit the freeway and accidentally cross the corner of the solid right line, exiting slightly before I should. Only one has it happened outside these scenarios and this is the really scary one; Construction had left a solid white line diagnally across the current lane markings. The van thought it was the right solid lane line and when bats#@t crazy. Almost all of the time, the system works as intended. It's that .1% that scares you.
 

Eric B

Well-known member
Not a fan either
Confirms why I did not want active cruise or lane warning when I was trying to place a custom order
Couldn't get an order placed so bought one off of a dealer lot and settled with it having these features
Do not like them either
 

GLJones

Active member
On a long trip, I figured out that the LEDs around the speedometer indicate the set speed, and if a car is within 450 feet ahead of you, in your lane, it indicates that car's speed as you approach it. If you end up in stop and go traffic, it has a long delay when traffic starts moving. If you hit RESUME it will start moving immediately, as long as the car in front of you is moving.
 
LDA Option is incredibly dangerous.
In addition to painted lines and compromised evasive actions issues, I recently was startled when my Sprinter braked back and forth due to etched out lines when interstate construction crews move lines back and forth. ...just for etched out lines.
I could not find any LDA complaints for Sprinted at NHSTA. I filed my NHSTA complaint. Note - NHSTA has all the MB models to chose except Sprinter. I manually keyed in Sprinter after Mercedes 2019.
I also notified my employer State Farm and my Subrogation management to track recovery opportunities against MB design flaw
The more that NHSTA and our carriers hear from us, the more likely MB will 'expedite' a fix for this?
 

GLJones

Active member
If they can eliminate the deep braking that occurs when crossing a solid line on the right or left, I would be pretty happy with the system. I have only had one incident with bad lines due to construction, but perhaps having the system disengage when it encounters confusing lines, like other cars I have driven, would help too.
 

Eric B

Well-known member
Having the blinker on cancels out the automated braking when crossing a solid line... so overuse of the blinker then, eh?
Just as it started raining today, I was thinking how LDA brake checking you as you go over a wet solid painted stripe could have some unintended consequences ... fun ...
 

Philip53

2021 2500 Sprinter 170, 4 cyl gas
Drove a Volvo with lane keeping assist a while back. That thing was incredibly smooth. If you began crossing your lane markers without turn signals, it simply and easily moved you back into your lane without fighting against you--easily overridden. Wife did not buy that car, went with an Acura instead, but I sure liked that lane assist. Had a couple other neat features the Honda did not as well--but the Volvo did cost more.
 

sailquik

Well-known member
Anyone know if when the ALKA/LDA applies the right front or left front brake, does it also activate the brake lights on the rear of the Sprinter?
My worry would be that it does not notify close following (too close in many situations) vehicle drivers that the Sprinter has applied the brakes
very suddenly and at unanticipated places on the highway.
If NO brake lights when the AKLA/LDA activates then we are in serious danger of being hit from behind.
I too will file a NHTSA Complaint, but would like to know if the brake lights activate to give closely following drivers some warning that the
Sprinter is no longer at speed and is rapidly decelerating in addition to the fairly hard "swerve" to the left or right within the lane
Roger
 
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NJ2CA

New member
If they can eliminate the deep braking that occurs when crossing a solid line on the right or left, I would be pretty happy with the system. I have only had one incident with bad lines due to construction, but perhaps having the system disengage when it encounters confusing lines, like other cars I have driven, would help too.

I almost crapped myself and caused an accident the first time this happened to me
 

JIB

Well-known member
They couldn't just have the steering wheel nudge you over the other way like all the other manufacturers do?

Jack
 

sailquik

Well-known member
OK, I answered my own question from Post #15 above.
When you get the swerve and the braking, the rear brake light does in fact come on until the red line clears.
I'll have to try the LH side tomorrow night, but I know for sure that the RH side lights up the RH brake light
as I could see it in my mirror.
Hope this helps,
Roger
 

Michlb

Active member
The most interesting experience so far to me has been driving with about 45 mph over an intersection which had a little bump. Suddenly, the van made nasty noises and tried to initiate emergency braking. The good news is that it actually doesn’t come to a full stop, but it gives you a little shaker and load noise to make brake.

Personally, I made peace with the Active Lane Assist. Compared to other cars I drove in Germany, like Audi, BMW or Volvo, the Sprinter implementation truly is a piece of garbage. But what can you do?

I noticed that the intensity of braking depends on the angle by which you cross the left or right marker. The shaking is not nearly as hard when going over a lane divider. But when the van interprets your movement as potentially exiting the road, it makes sure you wake up, especially when you go over the line at a steep angle.

Personally, I have started to switch it off on curvy roads. It is too much of a pain to exactly follow the land dividers and be on the inside of the road all the time. It takes a lot of concentration, and I’m sometimes a lazy and sloppy driver. It is easy to switch off. Press the car symbol on the right side of the MBUX, and just hit the car with the lane dividers right under ESP. Pretty simple.
 

Skipperhbl3

New member
I too find this an annoying and potentially dangerous feature. Driving on icy roads, I sometimes steer outside the normal lane and don’t want any sudden braking!
 

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