jbmaxx

glojo

If you could pm them that would be great!!
They say that the lights on the new deliveries did NOT go right to left on the self test. I do not know if they tried to test it with the car on the road, by looking back from another car.

glojo

I can only try
I will get straight onto it, but is there any reason why they want the actual VIN number. Personally I do not know if I would be happy about giving this information to a perfect stranger i.e. both your goodself and I. Some members when they show pictures of their cars actually obscure their registration numbers (do you call them tags???)

Surely the name of the supplying dealer and actual date of purchase will enable MBUSA N.Y.C. to get the relevant information.

Please do not think I am being obstructive. The only way we are going to solve this issue is by working together.

Take care,
John

glojo

All done, and I have suggested that they correspond via e-mail.

Good luck,
John

jbmaxx

They say they want to verify the actual car, to follow up the programing on the exact car. If you cant get the vin# maybe the date of production & model of the car . I have a 500 WAGON.
Did not see your last post, but email is a good idea.
And I think your right we are in PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT.

glojo

I had never thought of that, but you are 100% right. This should not be happening, but until it was noticed, I can appreciate that it was a difficult fault to find. (Unless the headlights are not actually tracking).

Hoopefully you will be getting your replies quite soon.

Regards,
John

glojo

A US member has just purchased an E-class with Active Headlights that appear to work whilst the vehicle is in motion, but only carry out the short pre-check!!

bmw2mb from Raleigh, which I believe is in North Carolina. I have unfortunately been known to be wrong on numerous occasions.

So far there have been seven responses, 4 have full pre-checks and 3 the short version. If we were to include cars still in the showrooms then the ratio will tilt very strongly to the short pre-check.

I have contacted my dealer and am waiting for a reply.

If this thread is starting to 'Suck' PLEASE feel free to say so and I will carry on by e-mailing just those parties that are interested.

BFN
By For Now
John

HELL ONA HARLEY

What, Start emailing, noooooooooooo... I would like to see the thread continue...I find it very interesting since I will picking up my car (with active headlights) very shorty... I will certainly "chime in" to let you know how mine work...I think if someone finds this thread to suck, they are sure to have enough brains to stay clear of it.....Thanks for the hard work and keep us informed.....

jbmaxx

DITTO

If it wasn’t for this thread MB would be very happily looking the other way on these lights! Also no doubt there will be another issue in the future ( 03 command replacement ) this forum will I think change the way MB treats it costumers.

jim256

glojo: I can only add one thing to this: Raleigh is in NC--you are a better man than I on world geography, but I do have a question: It seems some members are apparently aware they have cornering headlights just from their activity during driving, so is the issue now 1) that the pre-checks are different or 2) drivers can not see the effect and also have no side to side precheck?

'Just a bystander but interested......

glojo

Thanks to everyone for their kind words. I have highlighted the above point because it is VERY valid.

I have these active headlights, we CANNOT see any tracking whatsoever when the vehicle is being driven.

Last night there was a slight mist which helped highlight the beams of light. When driving along a straight stretch of road my wife deliberately zig-zagged from one side of the road to the other. She could not see any 'tracking' type movement of the light.

With the aid of crutches I propped myself up at the roadside and had my wife drive straight at me, and turn away at the last moment. (I am assured that these lights 'track' at 5kph and above) My wife drove at a safe speed far in excess of this and fortunately managed to avoid hitting me. There was a VERY minor movement of the headlights as she turned the steering wheel, I certainly can understand why she could not detect this whilst driving because it took three attempts at this manouvre before I was convinced that there was indeed a slight movement.

Oslo and others that have this option state that it can clearly be seen whilst driving. I believe every word of their statements and it convinces me that mine are not working correctly.

The pre-check issue is irrefutable (I hope that's the right term, my morphine is kicking in) My car has Active Headlamps that are not operating correctly.

I am posting this and then I am getting onto my dealer again (He has failed to return my earlier call)

Bye for now,
John

BoughtaBenz

Have you seen this movie?

Active lights movie

It shows how the lights check themselves during start-up. Burn this onto a disc and take it to your dealer. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a movie is worth ten thousand. Your point will be demonstrated by this, and that is hard to argue with. Best of luck to you.

glojo

Thanks very much for the link.

As a point of interest the video was taken by jholt1 who kindly allowed me to put it onto this forum. I am 'computer challenged' and 'Oslo' who is a computer whizz put it onto the forum.

The car is an E500 UK spec 211 2004 build.

As an aside the Technical Supervisor for Devon has just contacted me with no further news other than he has again contacted Germany and he WANTS an answer.

John

bmw2mb

if you have the active headlights, it's very obvious that they are working. i noticed it the first night of driving at night and was pleasantly surprised. i have seen the technology in a bmw 5 test drive but was not expecting it on my new mb '04. when you turn the wheel at 0 mph, nothing will happen. i believe around 20 mph you will start to see them turn.

glojo

Thanks again for your help .

Your replies are almost totally correct. Since starting this thread I have become a bit of an 'anorak' on the 'Active Headlight System'.

Yes the headlights will NOT move when the vehicle is stationary, BUT the actual speed that they commence tracking is, 5kph which to us 'Non' Europeans is approximately 3mph.

Thanks again for your help.
John

H10LTJ

Keep up the good work John. I for one am keen to see how this pans out !

James

glojo

Stage 5.5
Germany have e-mailed my dealership and asked two questions

1. If the customer starts the engine, do the lights scan Left to Right? My answer was: No

2. Has the customer turned the lights on prior to starting the engine, and seen the lights scan Left to Right?
My answer was: Yes, I have switched the lights on prior to starting the engine (as per video) and No the lights do not scan Left to Right.

It is interesting to note that they did not state that the lights should only move up and down?????

I just hope it does not take another 7 days for them to come back with more questions.

Whatever you do. Do not hold your breaths for the next instalment.

Bye for now,
John

glojo

STAGE 6

Progress, as far as Mercedes-Benz are concerned my vehicle is NOT carrying out the proper checks and they want it examined!!

The Technical Supervisor is going to deal with this issue personally and will collect my car on Monday.

I would now suggest that those of us whose headlights do NOT carry out the FULL Pre-Checks do actually have a problem.

Obviously I will not have any further information until at the very earliest, Monday evening.

A big, big thank you to everyone that has helped me in this 'quest' and I feel that this much progress, this quickly is solely down to this magnificient forum.

Bye for now,
John

Oslo

John

Can you test this? I have read an article in German regarding the reprogramming of the cornering headlight. If you disconnect the battery for more then 10 minutes, there is some programming that has to be done. It's a procedure regarding electric windows and sunroof that I do not mention here, but when it comes to cornering headlights, here is what has to be done:

Check that the front wheels are straight. Start the engine, and turn your wheel to the left until it stops. Then turn the wheel to the right until it stops. Then do it all once more. This should reprogram the system.

Let me know what happens!

glojo

Thanks very much. I'll get the 'Boss' straight onto it. Mind you, it will be awfully embarassing if this cures the problem!!!

I suppose the humorous reply will be, "I,ve done it and now the tyres are 'square'"

E-mail on the way.

Regards,
John

jim256

Oslo: That steering wheel left/right cycle is the way you reset Brake Assist and ESP after a battery change or discharge--I wonder if it's related?

glojo

Hi Jim,
Does that mean when I apply the brakes the headlights will look left\right and they will also have extra sensory perception?

Unfortunately there's going to be a delay before I can try the 'reset'

Bye for now,
John

glojo

Unfortunately the reset procedure has been carried out by the dealer and the headlights have not played the game.

It might be worth jbmaxx having a go at this procedure as his dealer has actually retro-fitted Active Headlights.

Thanks again for the advice.

John

glojo

Stage 7

5-20pm. Just had a reply from my dealer. The reset procedure that 'Oslo' posted, is indeed a standard reset for a number of different options. Unfortunately it failed to make any difference to my vehicle.

Mercedes-BenzUK have liased with Germany and now they are trying to tell me that the headlight pre-check is a 'random' act. Sometimes it does a full check, other times it will only do a shortened version.

I laughed at this explanation and said I found this statement TOTALLY unacceptable. "How comes those vehicles that do a full pre-check, solely do the full pre-check????" Those of you that have a full pre-check, have you had your vehicle do the short Up\Down, Centre check?????

The outcome is my vehicle remains at the dealer for further checks (and to have a new telephone cradle installed).

I am amazed that I am being told that there is not a way that they can demonstrate the Active Headlights working???? They say that there rolling road does not allow the vehicle to develop any speed, so that is not an option. A mechanic stated that he drove the vehicle towards a wall and saw them actually tracking, (which I find impressive in daylight???) The supervisor was not however completely convinced and will be doing this 'test' again tomorrow????

Meanwhile the 'boss' is driving a C-class 270CDI loan vehicle.

Part 8 will no doubt continue tomorrow evening.

Regards,
John

Oslo

My car never misssed a full check....

glojo

I have already told the dealer that you have said that jholt1 is out of the country so I have 'assumed' he would also say the same thing.

If you drove your vehicle towards an outside wall in daytime, with your lights on, could you CLEARLY see the headlights tracking as you turned the steering wheel????

I am open to ANY 'sensible' suggestions on how to prove that the lights are actually moving Left\Right. Those with the system have said that it is clearly visible at night to see the headlights tracking. On my vehicle this is definitely not the case, the headlights just appear to arc round with the vehicle.

Bye for now,
John