ngerstman

I think that Mercedes made a logic mistake in how they apply this useful function. Or they should give the driver some control over the sensitivity of when the brights go on. Sometimes it is slow to respond or gets fooled by outdoor house lights on darn windy streets. It seems to me when the function is enabled, you should have the high beam wand in the high beam off position. That way if it doesn't respond fast enough you can manually turn on the high beams by pushing the wand to the on position. With the function set to enable, you can't manually override to turn on the high beams since it is already in the high beam on position!!! So there are circumstances when they don't come on automatically when you really need them and there is nothing you can do about it. What do you think. I also think that the lights in normal mode don't beam out quite far enough. They are bright and intense but I find myself wanting high beams far more often than I should or have with other cars. That could also be an adjustment option, if allowed by law(there may be safety standards for the range of lights in regular mode).

WGB

I have yet to work out how to use them to suit me.

I am sure they probably work well on a high speed dark country road but often mine are fooled by roadside markers and dip for no reason when traveling quickly on a winding road - just when you often need high beams the most.

I have no problem with oncoming cars - they work perfectly.

The other very big problem I have is that I live on the outskirts of a major city but in a State Forest and the last three Km to home can only be travelled at about 40 Km/hr due to Kangaroos and Emus crossing the road at night.

The lights go into dip mode below 45km/hr - just when you need full beam.

My E500 has the earlier style light switch with manual override ( according to what I have read on this forum ) but the manual gives no instruction on it's use so when I return from my holiday I will try out a few variations.

Bill

Tjdehya

There is something you can do about it... Pull the lever!!!

ngerstman

That's my point!!! You can't push the lever because it's already pushed to activate the auto high beams. If the auto feature doesn't turn them on, you're stuck with the low beams until the auto feature responds. The only option is to de-activate the feature in the settings section and not use it. Love the concept of the feature, wish it worked a little better and/or gave me the option to put them on manually while still having the feature activated.

Arrie

For me the lights have been working fine. It is true that some isolated light pole will keep the lights at low beam and at times it would be nice if it went on high but I have also noticed that the low beams on this car are as good as most high beams in cars I had before. And the feature that it adjusts low beam range based on distance of cars in front of you is just amazing.

K-A

You should pay me for this post, because it's gonna save you a lot of future grief:

Next time you're in your car, *PULL* the lever (towards you), it'll work exactly like a normal High Beam, with a spring loaded effect on the stalk. No more futzing around with the I/C screen to simply let you use the High Beams on non-Auto.

hyperion667

I find the regular beams to be quite sufficient........with brights it's REALLY bright....
don't see what the deal is...........

ngerstman

The regular beams are more than bright enough. It's how far out from the car that they light up the road. IMO, they need to beam further down the road in the regular mode than they do now. And K-A, you're right, it didn't occur to me to activate the brights by pulling the wand forward to the temporary setting. I'll try that. Still wish that I wouldn't have to do that. But I guess this type of feature can't be perfect in all circumstances. I would still prefer my logic for how they would work as opposed to pulling the wand all the way forward to activate the high beams out of the auto mode. Where should I mail the check to!!!!!

mg-E550

Or you can just reach down and turn the lighting dial to on instead of automatic on. Then they'll work like normal headlights. I agree the brighness even at low beam is great.

If low beams seem too low check to see if they are aimed high enough?

mg-E550

Or you can just reach down and turn the lighting dial to on instead of automatic on. Then they'll work like normal headlights. I agree the brighness even at low beam is great.

If low beams seem too low check to see if they are aimed high enough?

ngerstman

I still stand by my original post that the logic for the auto high beams is wrong. It should be activated through the settings menu as it is now but you shouldn't have to move the wand to high beams on position additionally. Then if it doesn't come on quickly enough you could pull the wand forward quickly to temporarily activate the high beams or push the wand back to the high beam on position to leave them on and override the auto feature. As it is now, there is no way to overide the feature quickly without turning it off in the settings menu. It seams to me that would be the most practical and flexible set up. No downside versus what it is now with added functionality. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks. Ned.

K-A

Actually, that would be the ideal way they should work.

Tjdehya

I agree 100%.

Arrie

Look at it on the other side of the coin. As it is, if high beam control fails during icy rain conditions for example, i.e. ice forms over the camera opening in the wind shield and camera stops seing on-coming traffic and so does not switch lightws to low beam you can quickly switch to low beams by pulling the wand. How do you quickly do this if you cannot do it from the wand?

I think it is more important to be able to switch quickly from high beam to low beam, as the car is built, than opposite. I cannot imagine a situation that you really need to have manual ability to switch quickly from low beam to high beam but there very well are many times when you would need to be able to switch from high to low so that you don't blind some on-coming traffic.

What I would like to have changed with the wand is to change the control positions. It is kind of stupid that you have to move the wand forward to engage automatic high beam. If you need to flash the lights you have to move it back over the normal low beam position to do that. It should be that the normal low beam position is the furthest away and automatic high beam in the middle and then flash as it is.

For normal light control without automatic high beam light control, of course, would need to return to normal wand positions, i.e. forward for high and middle for low with flash as it is.

ngerstman

That's vey thoughtful of you to consider the oncoming driver. That scenario never occurred to me. I like your solution of reversing the high beam off and high beam on positions. The only downside is possible confusion for the uninformed or technology challenged. I'm not sure how often if ever one would be driving with ice or something else disabling the high beam sensor. My personal concern are those circumstances where you are driving on a dark windy road and the high beam sensor picks up some street houselight and turns down the high beams and losing the road. Thanks. Ned.

g2k

Not sure what the deal is with mine it seemed to work so well for 3 days and now I can't get it to work ,i drive down the same dark road same conditions and over 40mph and my high beams do not come on automatically and yes i have set to auto

ngerstman

I have not had that sort of problem yet. Seems like a trip to service is in order. Keep us posted with the outcome. Thanks. Ned.

g2k

I was thinking the samething I'll make an asp appointment asap hopefully I'm doing something wrong and it's a easy fix

WGB

Last night I did my first extended drive in the dark for a while and decided to switch the setup to manual ( I have teh earlier style switch) and was quite happy with the result.

Unfortunately it was raining so I will keep an open mind on how effective the main beams were.

Bill

pmb600

Overall I've gotten very used to the Adapative High Beam Assist. I think the best improvement would be for it to work at all speeds, not just over 37mph or so. The speed limit on many suburban roads is 25 and I would like it if the high beams would activate on these roads as well. As mentioned in another post, you can always turn the dial for the headlights to "On" and then you can control the high beams manually. That is the best and quickest way to turn them on if you need them right away.

The technology will continue to improve. Look at DISTRONIC. The first generation couldn't completely stop the car, but now DISTRONIC PLUS can bring the car to a complete stop and can drive the car in stop and go traffic. In a few years, I'm sure Adaptive High Beam Assist will be even better.

Arrie

Make sure your windshield is clean at camera location.

ipp

If you turn the dial all the way clockwise from 'A', the highbeams will work exactly like a car without high beam assist. What is the problem?

WGB

Because you shouldn't have to - not much point having technology that is better turned off than on.

I don't have enough experience with it to form a judgement but first impressions in my environment are not particularly positive.

Bill

ipp

I must say that I think ILS works great. I've never needed to do what I stated in my last post. Just informed that the option is there.

Cheers,

Fred

Arrie

Did some "playing" with the 2011 W212 that I drive. Had my first long highway drive in dark as I try to avoid driving in dark on highways (have a deer fobia...).

Driving with automatic high beam control ON hitting the fog light button will disable the high beams, i.e. it will switch to low beams. Also, I think it adjusts the lights to the minimum distance.

Earlier also noticed that in daylight if you hit the fog light button the front lights come ON even if the lighting condition does not ask for this.