topsider

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/30/h...afety-car-led/

"Cars that earned "poor" ratings in their best-possible configuration include: the Buick Verano, Kia Optima, Cadillac ATS, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Chevy Malibu, Mercedes-Benz CLA, Hyundai Sonata, Nissan Altima and Volkswagen Passat."

"The Cadillac ATS and Mercedes-Benz C-Class also earned poor ratings when equipped with adaptive low and high beams."

MASSC450

That's funny, I've had no problems with the adaptive LEDs on my 2015 C300. Maybe they're aimed right.

All I can say is the LED lights on my C300 are WAY brighter and light the road much better than the HID lights on my old 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland.

DapperStyle

Not surprised. Federal regulations written by NHSTA in the 1980s will continue to hold the U.S. car market back. In an article I read it said Toyota, MB, BMW, Audi and others all got together to petition NHSTA regarding headlight advancements in 2013 and basically were told to get lost .

Can't wait to see how the 84 LED multibeam headlight on the E class gets neutered and the S Class refresh headlight which will probably have double those individual LEDs.

ManiacGT

You can do all the tests you like, the ILS lighting in my s205 is one of the best systems I've ever owned.

chango450

Completely disagree with this test. I find it hard to believe that the lighting technology in a Toyota Prius is better than a Mercedes or BMW.

In fact, I just rented a Toyota Prius in Florida and the headlights are pretty pathetic compared to my Mercedes adaptive LED's or my BMW F15 adaptive LED's. I think the BMW is a little better though- maybe it's because I opted for the auto high beam assist or the fact that it also has LED fog lights.

topsider

agreed, for example for BMW to get laser lights approved for the i8 in America, they had to go through the FDA because lasers are considered a medical device here, true story. Also, lighting systems on American- spec European cars are always going to be dimmer than the equivalent Euro spec because the US government regulates that that they have to throw off less light here. I noticed when I rented an Opel with Xenons in France that they seemed twice as bright as Xenons in the US do.

Lucky for you guys outside of the US your light output is superior to ours, so this test isn't really representative of your lighting systems.

Also the reason BMW puts such ****ty halogens as the base lights is so will you will upgrade, I had the halogens on my e90 LCI and they were ridiculously bad.

My US lighting wishlist:
-mandatory amber turn signals in rear
-lighting system output on par with euro spec
-turning lights as standard
-matrix style allowed (right now an outdated US law says that cars in the US must have a high beam and a low beam, so our cars cant leave the high beams on all the time and have the system block out oncoming cars like they do in Europe)
-for the US government to ban halogens from even being designed into cars anymore..LED or bust

hummerhealey

You have the European version. Imho the best lightning system I ever owned. Auto Motor und Sport rated that one very high.

jakc

The full LED lighting system for the US market on the W205 is a step down from the Lighting package on the W204. Those high beams could bounce off signs half a mile ahead of you. W205s are much weaker.

tmoneyC450amg

This article is complete bull. They can't tell the best setup from the most basic halogen setup...or their head from their butts

Maritime

Hm, autoblog, flash your lights....maybe you'll find your way out.

Uhlenhaut

I don't really care if the NHTSA's test was fair or not. No car bearing the three-point star should come equipped with halogen headlamps in the year 2016. It's as simple as that. If Mercedes-Benz is truly serious about living up to its unparalleled heritage and "the best or nothing" credo, then the bean counters need to stand down. Every Mercedes should come equipped with xenons, at minimum. This company lost a massive amount of goodwill during the Chrysler years and, while quality has improved, it's disappointing to see how much work remains to be done.

dieseldoc

I have a new GLC with LEDS, They actually work quite well.

Maritime

Chrysler, a company that should have died.

dieseldoc

+1 now part of fix it again tony!

hpilot

You do realize that US cars do NOT have true Adaptive LED Headlights - right...

"Driving along a two-lane highway outside the city in the quiet darkness of night is one of the great driving experience you can have. That is until drivers coming the opposite direct forget to turn their highbeams off and you are forced to shield your eyes while trying to stay in your lane. There are a lot of things on your mind while you drive, and if you aren’t accustomed to flipping your highbeams on and off on a regular basis, it’s easy to forget how it impacts other drivers. While not available on US-spec Mercedes-Benz vehicles at this point, Adaptive Highbeam Assist is one of the technologies American car shoppers may be able to look forward to in the future, but we’ll get to that."

"Is Adaptive Highbeam Assist available in the US?
Update: Adaptive Highbeam Assist is available in the US, however the Mercedes-Benz MultiBeam LEDs are prohibited due to the following regulation.

Back in 2013, Toyota petitioned against the NHTSA headlight regulation that prevents MultiBeam LEDs and similar systems, but to no avail, as the law remains in place. If the legislation is lifted, it will be major news and a great step forward in the way of increasing safety and convenience for drivers."

cleankutazn

IIHS NHTSA and I believe they all ride their bicycles to work.

dieseldoc

+1

MASSC450

I do know that U.S. spec vehicles do not have Adaptive Headlight Assist...and I still hold to my original statement that the headlights on my C300 are WAY better than the headlights on my old 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

We good?

topsider

BMW's response to this

"The BMW Group has been an industry leader for headlight technology innovation for more than four decades. BMW was the first to introduce ellipsoid projector headlights, electronic adaptive headlight technology, xenon headlights and most recently BMW Laserlights. BMW has also pioneered Night Vision systems that can detect animals and pedestrians far beyond the range of the best headlight systems. While we are disappointed with the results of the IIHS headlight test of a BMW 3 Series equipped with basic halogen headlights, we remain confident that we offer our customers very effective headlight systems at a variety of price points."

topsider

They would be, LED's throw off twice as much light as xenons

StanNH

I thought the report was very interesting. In particular, they noted that they tested cars as delivered from the factory ... and that many of the cars had headlights that were improperly or poorly aligned. They clearly stated that misalignment caused at least some of the poor results they reported, and suggested that drivers have the headlights on their new cars checked rather than just assume they're fine from the factory.

The LED lights on my C300 are very good, but I have driven cars that were better, so this report doesn't seem very controversial to me.

topsider

I was in a Toyota corolla Uber the other night with static LEDs and it looked like they were brighter than mine lol

But no premium car maker should be offering halogens as standard when a corolla or a civic come with LEDs STANDARD

hpilot

We good Bro!

MASSC450

beceen

TBH, as a European I cannot fathom how you guys in the US use red turn signals/stop/running lights. Who ever thought that is a good idea?