Jimdeez

Hi guys, new to the forum. Been researching the new c300 quite a bit and hoping to take the plunge soon. Currently have a 2013 Ram Laramie, no longer have the need for a truck so its time to trade it in.

Ive found a pretty good deal on a used 2015 C300, has the premium/premium plus packages and the sport package. Its an "internal" car, so was driven by someone with mercedes which qualifies it for the 1.9% financing. A nice bonus. The only thing it is missing is the active LED headlights, it has the static LED...so my question to all of you is how big of a difference is there between the two.(night driving wise). The people who have it, would it be smarter to wait and find a car with the active headlights?

BlackC400

I wouldn't say it's a must have, but it indeed is a cool feature. Basically it has auto high beams and active curve illumination. I believe that's the only difference.

cajun1689

Yeah if you have never had them i dont think you will even notice that they are missing. I have had them on my last two mercedes and they are nice but not nearly as big of a must have as command would be.

rbrylaw

I agree with the other posters. I haven them on my C300 Sport and they're very nice, but not so nice I would skip a good deal on a car with static LEDs. In fact, we also just got a GLC300 which doesn't even have LED lights. They are halogen and surprisingly good halogen's at that.

Comand on the other hand, I simply would not own a Mercedes without it.

Arthrodesis

For me personally, I would not buy another car without HID/LED lights.

bartola

If you drive country roads or isolated roads, it is a MUST have, the illumination is really bright, use the auto-high beam, on curves it bends where you are turning and the auto-high beams reduce if there is a driver on the other side. My CLA's bi-xenons now feel like halogens to me. The only annoying thing is that drives think you are always driving with high beams due to the dual LED being on at all times.

gfmohn

I have them on my C300 Luxury, and they are important to me. I am elderly, and they reduce driver workload. I drive mostly on curving suburban roads with frequent (but not continuous) oncoming cars. Worse, there are also bicyclists and pedestrians, even at night. To avoid them, I must do my best to look beyond the glare of the oncoming headlights. My night vision is still good, but automatic headlight dipping helps me concentrate on this task.

These interactive LED headlights do not really have low beams or high beams. There is only one beam, which pivots up and down. The lights have an outstanding, very well defined pattern. Indeed, the upper cutoff is so sharp that MB feels that fog lights are no longer necessary. The lights rise quickly to high beam after a car passes, but not instantly. Also, they are often held in the low beam position by street lights, even by not very bright streetlights. You can flash the high beams, but you cannot override the automatic selection of low beam to manually select high beam. The result is that often one is out-driving one's headlights. This may be a matter of adjustment, but these headlights do not appear to be user-adjustable. (If any one knows better, please reply.)

DBOC205

Put your lights from AUTO to full On position (right most position on the light dial) and your high beams go to manual control via the stalk.

I do like the auto high beams and ILS though.. they are fantastic!

gfmohn

Yes, the driver can select manual operation, but then the benefits of automatic operation are lost. All of the comments here have been replying to Jimdeez' question about the utility of automatic mode. When I wrote that the driver cannot "override the automatic selection of low beam," I too was describing operation in automatic mode. When a driver wants high beams instantly, a two-step procedure is too slow, and the manual/automatic switch is too far away and too poorly lighted. By the time the driver completes a two-step procedure, the headlights would most often have returned to high beam anyway. And if the driver is going to cruise on manual, he might as well not have automatic operation

For Jimdeez to make his decision, he has consider how much automatic headlight operation will help him in his most common driving situations. The driving situation I have described is probably the most critical high beam/low beam situation. A return from work on busy expressways would probably be a headlight situation in which high beams are almost never used.

bartola

If the automatic lights are enabled, you can still pull the stalk for automatic high beams (instantly). I don't know a scenario where the auto would be high and the driver would want low

By the time the driver completes a two-step procedure, the headlights would most often have returned to high beam anyway.

The two step procedure is using the same stalk right? I mean just push further for auto, bring back for normal, pull back for instant high beams. Can you explain what procedure you are referring to?

And if the driver is going to cruise on manual, he might as well not have automatic operation.

Not sure what you mean, but it sounds like the auto is of not much use to you. Nothing wrong with that.
The other comments are saying it is useful for them (me included). Again, it's a premium feature enhancement for the driver.

PeteInGilroy

The auto LED's are the best headlights of any car I've driven. The make darkness into daylight. Love the auto high/low beam option. My only complaint is you have to be going over 20 or 25 mph for the high beams to activate.

We recently moved and our driveway is about 1200 ft. It's narrow and dark and winding so I have to manually turn on the high beams.

nadeau

is the auto high beam a different option from the Intelligent light system?

BlackC400

No I don't believe it is, as long as you get the lighting package, you get all features listed above.

gfmohn

I agree, the automatic operation selects low beam very reliably

I was referring to using the rotary selector switch in the dash to shift to manual. I have pull back on the stalk for flashing the high beams only. I have not considered holding the stalk back for the usual few seconds necessary to resume automatic high beam operation. This momentary delay has not been more than a minor annoyance for me. I mentioned it only for the information of Jimdeez, who might find it more important in his driving situations.

Don't get me wrong; I love the auto LED system. I have displayed a poor understanding of manual operation, precisely because I almost never tough the selector switch or the stalk.

LAC300

To me the static LEDs are a necessary option as the standard halogen headlight looks like a 1999 camry. Also, the front turn indicators are really dim with the standard, if you're driving at night you can't even seen them projecting, whereas the LEDs are very bright and can shine through the headlights.

The intelligent lighting is a very cool feature but it's not a must-have in my opinion (as I don't have it and am not upset by that).

Static LED = necessary
Intelligent = nice but not essential

Grant Hummel

Does anyone know if the regional settings can be changed on our US cars to allow the intelligent LED to function as they're supposed to? It should just be a software flash, correct?

DBOC205

AFAIK it's only possible via online SCN coding in Xentry which writes back those changes to the central database. That means there will be raised eyebrows next time you take it into any MB workshop. Plus you can kiss your warranty goodbye after tinkering like that I think

jesydney

IMHO:
Turn down brightness of dashboard lights to a level when it is slightly above visible. Also black out the Command display via Setting -> Display Off.

Why? when there is a bright object in close proximity to the eyes, (even if you are not focusing on the light) the pupils contract or becomes smaller (involuntary body reaction).
Another physical phenomenon known as light pollution happens inside the car from the speedos and dashboard.

Hence, there is a need for even brighter lighted objects in the distance to overcome the "perceived" darkness.

This is the phenomenon when stars/moon cannot/barely be seen during daylight hours or where there is pollution from bright city lights.

When the near bright light is taken away (reduced in this scenario), the eyes will voluntarily adjust to the lighted object that it is focused on.
A side effect to this is the eyes are not as tired after a long night drive.
BMW and Audi's have red backlighting, which is much less light polluting as MB's amber/white.

Back to headlights, there are differences in light dispersion for halogen, HiDs and LEDs. In comparison here as used in motor vehicles, Halogens have the widest dispersion of light, then HiDs then LEDs.
LEDs may be brighter but it has narrow dispersion. It is also weakest in throwing light at distances.

However, LED's and Laser's are coooool features to have. It also uses less power. LED's technolgy is still evolving.

Brutus99

+1

l3it3r

I have to be honest, it's the only thing I regret not holding out and trying to find another C400. Mine has the LED, but not the active LED. I took home a new GLE Coupe overnight once recently and it had the active LED and I was instantly reminded of why I was so interested in them in the first place. My previous car - MK6 VW GTI - had active HID lights, and on the country roads and in my neighborhood, they made such a profound difference, and I can't believe that I allowed myself to settle for the non-active LED..
Oh well, live and learn. Next car will have them. 100% certain of that.

pamiboy

Is there a C class available with halogen lights at all...?

rbrylaw

Yes there is. If one purchases a C300 with no premium packages, they will get Halogen lights standard.

tron786

I would have chosen even static LED for my GLC if that option was available. Or even xenon. But for the GLC it is intelligent lights or halogen.

rbrylaw

Us too. I was surprised it's all or nothing on the GLC.

cleankutazn

Can't believe Mercedes would do that on a new 2016 model. At least xenon should be standard.