2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class To Expand Safety, Self-Driving, Self-Parking Capabilities: Video

The 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan will be officially unveiled next January at the Detroit Auto Show, but from the number of spy shots already published, it's pretty obvious that it'll have a strong family resemblance to the S-Class and C-Class before it.

The company showed off its own camouflage-clad prototype at a Technology Day background briefing today in Sindelfingen, Germany.

Spy shot photographers, we feel your pain.

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But the new Mercedes E-Class will also introduce new and expanded safety and self-driving capabilities, taking the company further down the road toward a future of more autonomous vehicles and accident-free driving.

Several of the new technologies expand on capabilities and systems launched in the S-Class for 2013 and the C-Class for 2015.

The Sensor Fusion previously introduced now incorporates no fewer than 23 sensors: 12 ultrasonic (six at the front, six at the rear), four multi-mode radar (one at each corner), four cameras (front, rear, and one in each door mirror), a long-range radar up front, a stereo multipurpose camera at the top of the windshield, and a sensor for steering column position as well.

Among the active safety improvements are:

Intelligent Drive: This combination of adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance now both keeps the new E-Class at a safe distance from the car ahead at speeds from 0 to 125 miles per hour.

It also uses active steering assistance to keep the car in its lane, and at speeds up to 80 mph, Mercedes says the system doesn't necessarily need clear lane markings to do so.

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Speed Limit Pilot: This optional feature of Intelligent Drive can automatically adjust the vehicle's speed to match local limits, either those included in navigation mapping or those read by the car on roadside speed-limit signs.

Active Brake Assist: Enhancements to this existing system detect slower, braking, or stationary vehicles, and now also identify cross traffic at intersections, stopped traffic ahead, and pedestrians in danger ahead of the vehicle. It will warn the driver of dangerous situations, apply appropriate brake force to avert an accident when the driver brakes suddenly, or brake automatically itself in an emergency.

Evasive Steering Assist: This system calculates and supplies the necessary torque when the driver suddenly steers to avoid an accident, most notably a pedestrian who has moved into the line of travel.

Remote Parking Pilot: For the first time, drivers can use a smartphone app from outside the car to direct it either to self-park in a perpendicular space or to move straight ahead into (or back out of) a space narrower than would be required to allow the doors to open for the driver and passenger to exit.