Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 lane assist problems

Filed Jun 23, 2026 · Driver assistance · MN

Active distance assist inoperable, active brake assist functions limited, adaptive cruise control not working, lane keeping assist glitching. I was driving the vehicle home after purchase and the lane keeping assist was glitching, it was actively pulling the wheel to the left, like I was over the fog line (I wasn’t) and it was hard braking, Making driving very unsafe. I slowed down and got off at the next exit at a gas station to figure out what was happening. I put the vehicle in park and consulted the manual. I tried to turn off and back on all the systems, through the menu, noting worked. I shut the vehicle off and cleaned the areas around the sensors and the windshield, like the manual suggests. I went in to start the vehicle, and the message “service required do not shift gears” came on the dash. It was stuck in Park. I tried to get a tow truck, but had to wait 4 days, in a gas station parking lot before a tow company with a big enough truck, and skids, (because it was stuck in park) could come on Wednesday May 27. I got it towed to a repair shop. It shows the Code P179A77 direct select redundancy malfunction, they couldn’t fix it. It needs Xentry level diagnostics. The intelligent Servo Module, or direct select module failed/won’t shift from park. There is a recall that wasn’t fixed, I got a carfax from the dealer saying that there were NO active recalls. The recall is to update an all service modules. Yes it’s available for inspection, but it’s stuck in Park at the repair shop that can’t fix it in Riverton Wyoming. I called Mercedes Benz, and tried to get help because the active recall should fix these problems. They would not help. They will not sell me the part and code it to the vehicle because it’s part of their theft deterrent system. This has cost me thousands in flights, hotels, and countless hours trying to figure it out. The nearest Mercedes Benz dealership is 270 miles away, and towing will break me.

Filed Dec 16, 2023 · Driver assistance · MN

since I am chemically sensitive and they had sprayed so much cleaner in this vehicle that when my husband got it home he took vinegar and cleaned it out many times and then he took it to someone to have them do the floor over so the plastic smell wouldn't stink so bad for me. It had to be there for a couple weeks or this I'm sure would have showed up much sooner. At one time our vehicle would not accelerate enough to pass or pull out safely from a stop sign but that seems to have gotten fixed but it continues to have the cruise control go off at the same time warning lights come on that says no brake assist no Lane keeping assist no distance. We have had it in the shop four times one time they had us replace the battery which really didn't need replaced and the things came back up again. It's a very frustrating vehicle and this happened within 30 days of us buying it. They gave us a limited 90 day warranty which they've been working on sporadically for months and keeping it for weeks at a time. We have spent a lot of time and money on this vehicle and it needs to be reported and something done about it as it's really really bad. It is an ongoing situation. Every time we take it in they either erase the warnings or somehow don't get it to act the same but it always happens with us within 200 miles of driving it. It's a constant thing on and off.

Filed Oct 19, 2021 · Driver assistance · WA

My 2021 Mercedes Benz Sprinter van came equipped with Lane Keeping Assistance and Automatic Braking features that are on by default every time the engine is started. There is no way for an owner or a Mercedes Benz technician to have the safety feature set to remain off until the driver chooses to engage the features. I believe this is a safety hazard, as we experienced 2 incidents on a recent trip. 1. Lane Keeping Assistance took over the vehicle without warning from a slight wind gust, and almost caused us to get in an accident. We were traveling at 60+ mph on an interstate highway, and without warning, the van started to move from side to side and was difficult to gain control of the van. The MB Lane Departure Assistance was automatically braking different wheels of the van at different times to force the van to stay in the lane, but we never went out of the lane in the first place. If there was a car next to us, our 2021 MB van would have caused a severe accident. 2. Automatic Emergency Braking was engaged when the system thought a shadow from a light pole was an object in the road. We were traveling at 20 mph in a town center on a sunny morning, and the braking happened for no reason. We then saw the shadows. We would like Mercedes Benz to allow owners to turn off safety features, and have them remain off by default.

Filed Sep 15, 2021 · Electrical, Visibility · OR

The main display screen in the unit has failed, which means the following is no longer functional: Reverse camera (rearview camera image) ; Traction control settings ; Lane Departure system settings ; Door lock settings ; Vehicle lighting settings

Filed Aug 23, 2021 · Driver assistance · 400 miles · MA

The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500. The contact stated while driving on the highway at 65 MPH, there was construction that had directed traffic to the right side of the road. The contact stated that while driving past the construction site, the active lane departure assist warning light illuminated on the instrument panel which caused the steering wheel to shake and the brakes to lock-up. The vehicle independently began to steer out of the lane and into another lane which almost caused a crash. The contact had to use excessive force to keep the vehicle from hitting the other vehicle. The contact stated that the failure occurred 3 times after the initial failure on the same day caused by Active Lane Keep Assist program, while driving under similar conditions. The contact then decided to turn off the active lane departure assist feature to avoid any further potential failures. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 400.

Filed Jul 27, 2021 · Driver assistance · MD

On July 7, after driving a half hour late morning, we stopped to tour Skyline Caverns, Front Royal, VA. Parked in the shade. The vehicle was turned off for 90 minutes. Starting up, the following warnings began displaying: -- Active Lane Keeping Assist Inoperative -- LOW RANGE Malfunction - To Park, Apply Parking Brake -- ESP® (Electronic Stability Program) Inoperative -- Active BAS (Brake Assist System) Functions Limited. See Operator's Manual. -- Blind Spot Assist Inoperative -- Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC Inoperative. Looked up items in the owner's manual. Accessed the MBUX on-line manual. Accessed the Assistance menu. Malfunctioning systems showing as "Function Unavailable". Called MB Roadside Assistance. They said vehicle drivable, but must be careful. Asked about the "LOW RANGE Malfunction" -- after the support person consulted with others, all uncertain about the impact highway driving would have on the "LOW RANGE Malfunction". Authorized tow to Euro Motorcars Bethesda Sprinter, 9030 Comprint Ct, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 Tel: 301‑652‑9000 / 301‑881‑5160. After the vehicle was parked at Comprint Ct after the tow, the same warnings continued to appear. I don't believe the dealer's mechanics were able to start working on the problem until July 12 at which time the warning messages were no longer appearing. Dealer has been unable to replicate malfunction. Mechanic supervisor drove vehicle 100 miles over the weekend of July 17 without replicating malfunction. Vehicle currently at Comprint Ct. Received the federal safety agency Recall #21V411 on July 24; the above described Malfunctions may be related to this recall.

Filed Feb 21, 2021 · Acceleration, Brakes · 3,400 miles · CA

While driving on a highway and passing under a road sign describing the next exit, the sprinter van automatic crash avoidance kicked in, causing the van to automatically jam on the brakes and lose approximately 20 MPH while causing the wheel to pull decidedly to the left. There were no vehicles in front or behind, and thankfully enough none close enough to cause an accident. This is a fairly common occurrence, and even if the brakes do not engage, the crash avoidance alert sound will often times chime and startle the driver for other overhead obstacles like traffic signs and tunnel entries. This feature, along with lane departure assist (which also is buggy) automatically turns on after every restart, even after being turned off manually. It is unsafe.

Filed Dec 22, 2020 · Driver assistance · 2,800 miles · VA

The active lane assist brakes too aggressively when approaching lane lines. Several times it has activated under slick conditions and has initiated a skid.*dt

Filed Oct 1, 2020 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 4,000 miles · SC

The vehicle has some emergency steering control that is automatically built in. If you go outside of the lanes, it not only steers you back to within the lanes, but also slams on the brakes. It is automatically on. It can be shifted off every single time you start the vehicle, but it is a default setting. This has proven to be extremely dangerous in approximately 5 situations while driving the vehicle, and I just bought the vehicle four months ago. To illustrate it: we were driving through a construction zone. At times in construction/work zones, the flow of traffic forces you outside of the lines for safety purposes. However, the van tried to force us back "into the lines" multiple times, in construction, at night, with many other vehicles. It actually forced our vehicle back across the line and into oncoming traffic in multiple scenarios. This is a case of an automatic "safety" setting gone wrong. It is highly, highly dangerous to have it automatically do this, whether it's due to oncoming traffic, same direction traffic, construction obstacles or even swerving to avoid debris or animals. This lane assist must be disabled to allow for safe operation of this vehicle.*dt

Filed Aug 30, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 450 miles · OR

The active lane keeping assist is highly dangerous and needs to be permanently disabled or removed from the vehicle. I narrowly avoided getting into a accident. I was driving on the highway in the left lane and had to serve around some dump items that fell of the back of the truck ahead. The active lane keeping assist forced the van back into the lane and towards the junk in the road and ended up running over it. It could of been a lot worse if the object was bigger, a car, person or animal. I should be able to turn it off once! Not every time I have to restart the vehicle. This worries me especially. With all the sprinter vans I see out there on the road everyday