Am I missing something. Every car that I have owned, including my wife's Sentra and my Buick Century, that has had cruise control, has had an indicator light on the dashboard to indicated that the cruise was in service. It usually is the work cruise. On my crossfire, when I engage the cruise control, I see nothing on the dash to indicate that it is activated. I looked in the manual, and it showed nothing except how to operate the stalk. Am I missing something. Is it possible in a car as modern as the Crossfire, this simple process indicator was left out? A curious mind wants to know.

 

Curiosity killed the cat and the indicator!!! There is no indicator, except the "pucker" when it kicks in unexpectedly and you thought it was off.

 

TOOOOOO Funny. My problem is 90% of the time i go to put the signal stalk on, I click the cruise control stalk. I'm sure that I am not the only one.

 

NO Dragonfire you are not!!!

 

Yes, there is no indicator. I think the euros refer to it as an idiot light. If you take your foot off the accelerator and the car maintains speed. ... the cruise in ON... or the car is possessed. German engineering and the KISS principle.

 

Definitely not! I kept doing that for the first month after I bought the car. Now I have the opposite problem when I drive my Honda. I reach down instead of up and grab a big handful of air.

 

Yes, Dragonfire, Yes you are the only one. Actually, we all went through this...after about 2 months you adjust to expect the fat stalk. My problem is that I forget it's on...and downshifting doesn't turn it off. I've dropped down a gear to slow...only to have the cruise kick back in unexpectedly.

On a positive note, this cruise is the most responsive and most precise of any car I've owned. Very smooth, very nice. Not even my 300M is this sweet.

 

The placement of the cruise stalk is (or was) a standard MB feature. I don't know why, but I'll bet some German engineer can explain at considerable length and in painstaking detail just why it is somehow "better for you" to have it there...

 

I guess they were only following the orders. Yah!

 

Yavol, Commandant!

 

I also don't care for the cruise control placement, although I like how it functions.
I think it looks like a cheap last minute addition, but I guess its the standard MB cruise system.

 

You didn't miss something Dragonfire ... I mentioned that the first time I drove the XF also. What I also found out is if you drive like most driver education programs teach with your hands at 10 and 2, then I end up using the cruise stalk as the turn signal .... what works better is 9 and 3 ... I try hard to NOT use the cruise if I don't have to.

adoni

 

i love the cruise lever, it took about a week to get used to it, but its placement is perfect. i never hit it by accident and its very easy to use. it would have been nice to have an indicator on one of the LCD screens in the instrument cluster though. i hate those annoying yellow "cruise" lights....at least we don't have one of those.
btw, dragonfire where are you in florida? i'm in panama city. my temp indicator said 103 yesterday, thought it was wrong until i watched the news...is it hot as !#@$ or what???!!!

 

I realize this is an ancient thread, but I am a new crossfire owner and was researching speed control problems. While reading through the testing section of the Crossfire Service Manual, I came across this reference to a "cruise light" in Section 8P-7 , Pg 1501.
"Bring the vehicle speed back up above 35 mph and engage speed control. Press the OFF switch to turn OFF, (cruise light will be off). If the speed control did not disengage, the repair is not complete. Check for TSBs that pertain to speed control problems and then return to the symptom list."
Apparently someone at Mercedes or Chrysler thought there was a "cruise light".

 

The service manual is an interpretation and restatement of MB's shop manual.
It is full of misinformation, missing content and various errors.

It is STILL valuable, but one must realize the limitations.