Hello everyone, first time posting, but have found answers in other people's questions here over many years. I finally have a question of my own. Checked and haven't seen anything similar.

We've recently upgrade from a C43 coupe to a C63S coupe, the last of the C63 V8s. The car is terrific, absolute pleasure to drive (that sound!), but I have a question regarding the proximity sensors and cameras.

In our previous C43 the cameras would light up and the sensors would beep anytime you came close to a kerb. So when you'd see a full stretch of parking near the pavement and drive slowly up towards the kerb, the cameras would come up and you'd get an indication of how close you were.

Fast forward to the C63, and the wife came home recently and began the conversation with "now don't get angry" which I immediately thought "OMG she's totalled the V8". It was nothing like that, a bit of kerb rash to the very outer part of the front wheel. She explained that when she drove up to the parking spot the cameras did not light up as with the previous vehicle and she was a tad close and "scraaaaaape".

I have since also noted the cameras do not come on when you get right up close to the kerb. Now when you pull up and then go into reverse the cameras obviously come up and stay on, but not when you initially negotiate the kerb straight on. I've checked that all the usual assistance sensors are on, etc.

So today I took it down to the dealer, explained the situation and he was surprised that I felt the cameras should light up in the scenario I explained. I assured him that's indeed what would happen in the C43. He went out on a drive with me and sure enough, he tried to park near several kerbs, some raised quite a bit, others lower down, and the cameras would not light up, and neither were the sensors triggered.

Although he's not sure this isn't how it should work, explaining that maybe sensors were in a different spot to the C43, or possibly a software update in the more recent C-classes has seen the sensor sensitivity reduced for some reason, he suggested I bring it in for the day and they can run a full sensor/camera diagnostic.

So my questions are:

1. Does the explanation given by the dealer ring true for anyone else?
2. Does anyone else in a recent C63 coupe see their cameras light up or sensors go off when they're parking close to a kerb (before initiating any parking assist or reversing)

and a final question if this is indeed how the C63's sensors/cameras function, what's the quickest way to get those cameras up manually if they won't come up automatically as I'd hope they would?

This is my only concern to an otherwise very enjoyable C63 experience.

Cheers

P.S. A photo of the beast:

 

There are differences and changes between pre-facelift and facelift, assuming you had a pre-facelift C 43?

 

Yes, the sensors and cameras come on when I pull forward and come close to a curb or other obstacle in my FL 2019 C63S coupe. It's not the full camera view, though. It's a small bird's-eye view that comes up on the center display showing the surroundings of the car. The full camera view with the different perspectives only comes up if I go in Reverse or manually bring up the full camera view. The latter is easily accomplished by adding the Camera to the Favorites in COMAND. I have it as the first favorite, so I just need to press the Star button on the steering wheel and select it from the favorites. The alternative is pressing the parking assist button in the center console, and then select the desired camera perspective. The latter can also park the car itself, either parallel or perpendicular in an available space. I haven't used it in a while, but I used it when I first got the car and was still learning its dimensions. I did actually curb one of the front wheels during my European Delivery trip, because I couldn't really see how far I was from the curb and didn't initially understand the purpose of the red line such that it marks where the axles are. However, the biggest issue was really my eyesight. I need reading glasses to see up-close these days, so the displays were just to blurry to see the details. It made me start wearing contacts and now I can easily see everything, and no more curbing the wheels.

 

Also, to add, there is a physical button to deactivate them, so make sure it isn't deactivated. It should always default to on, though, when starting the car. There are some other settings, too, especially the Warn Early setting. If that's deactivated then they don't come on most of the time.

 

Yep, that's exactly what I'm expecting should happen also. The reverse works fine, cameras come on, etc., but when I pull up close to the curb the camera showing proximity to the curb/other objects doesn't. Have an appointment end of next week for them to take a look, but as I mentioned it's something that worked as expected on the C43.

Definitely on.

 

@amg022
I have a 2021 C63S coupe. Mine will definitely pull up the camera screen + trigger the sensors when pulling up to a drive-through window or navigating tight parking spots.

Did you change the distance at which these sensors activate?