E550Shopper

Had a Nightview question: Does it come on automatically in certain circumstances? Or do you have to turn it on yourself if you want to use it? If it does come on automatically, can you switch back to the Nav screen?

cvinfig

You have to turn it on and off manually - the button is to the right of the headlight switch. I had resigned myself to thinking NightView was nothing more than a gimmick but it did come in handy the other morning when it was foggy out. That, along with the distance display functionality of Distronic Plus, pretty much made the fog a non-factor for me.

GeoE63

I got it ... it is a waste of money. One of the main drawbacks it that it has too narrow of a view. I also cannot see any further with it than with my eyes.

To answer your Q, you have to turn it on manually. When you turn it off, you switch back to what ever is on the Comand screen

DNAPoPo

I have it as well, the only use pretty much is to make you feel a little more like driving a Bond car. lol

Wig

It's waste of money. As has been said on here many times, the Night View screen should be in the main instrument cluster (a la S-Class).

My kids like it though!

DNAPoPo

Hahahaha, true forgot the kid factor! They think its so cool that their dad's car can see by itself at night... hahahahah

samkimg

I too thought it is too expensive for the value until the other day on a REALLY dark road. It saw a stalled car with two pedestrians walking around in the dark. My high-beams were looking straight ahead, and the NightView "saw" them off to the side. They waved for help, and without NV I wouldn't have seen them.

mg-E550

Very marginal utility. I use it on dark winding roads. The one case where it helps is it can sometimes see beyond the intense glare of oncoming headlights. It was on the car i wanted but i probably wouldnt order it separately.

Sher Judge

Made by a specialised miltary company (Flir) infrared and night vision precision, best thing MB put on their cars.

mg-E550

I agree the technology itself is good. Its the execution in this car that makes it questionable. If the screen was bigger and closer to drivers line of sight with the road it would be better.

scfishnman

I had it in my 2008 S550 where it displayed where the speedometer is leaving the Command screen fully functional. I thought it was useless other than as a gimmick to show to friends. I would think it would be of even less value being displayed on the command screen. I did not even consider it when getting my 2011 E550.

Sher Judge

When driving in countries where animals and people walk or run across highways at odd hours, like 2am in the morning.

Trust me this is no ''GIMMICK'' it actually saves lives and alerts any driver who optioned this.

Tjdehya

I guess I never fully understood this option because I thought it was a Gimmick too. How does it show things that your headlights won’t? Does it go beyond your headlight range? Is it wider? How is it more beneficial that just turning on your high beams?

Sher Judge

It has an infrared heat sensor, it works, go test drive one at night, when the sun goes down.

GeoE63

Since we are on this thread ... I noticed that sometimes an icon of people appear on the top right side of the screen. If the IR sees something like a person, it highlights the people with a bracket ... I noticed that sometimes this is active and other times it is not. Does anyone know why?

mg-E550

It doesnt work when there is a lot of background light, like a lot of streetlights and opposing cars.

olivine28

I have it but never use it. I do mostly city driving though

jbec.keane

I'm unsure whether to purchase it with my next MB or not. Does it identify animals, especially deer?

JK

cvinfig

We have a lot of deer in my area and I was hoping NightView would identify them but the field of view isn't wide enough to be of much help. Disappointing...

Right after I got the car I drove about 20 miles through deer infested country with the NightView on and saw nothing. I turned it off when I got in my subdivision and two houses down from my driveway there were a couple of deer standing in the street. I didn't get a chance to see how they looked in NightView.

As I mentioned earlier though it did work out great in the fog as all the tail lights in front of me really popped out.

D&G

I have this in my e550 and it works great. All my friends see it and they all say it's pretty cool to have.

hyperion667

even though I never use it, I'll be ordering it again for my new S...........
it has never come in handy for me......but that does not mean it isn't
good for some situations

Bimbis

seems my car has the nightview camera but no button to turn it on/off... is there something missing? can it be activated somehow?

Ed99

I have it and you have to turn it on manually. Pretty neat feature and helpful in foggy situation.

Arrie

Night view In E-class is not really that good as it is displayed in the Comand screen in the middle of the dash. To look at it you need to take your eyes of the road and this is kind of weird. It is supposed to be an added safety feature but I'm not sure.


In S-class it is far better as the whole cluster is digital and night view is displayed right in front of the driver. It changes speedo and other meters to digital number form displayed around the night vision screen. With this one you keep looking straight ahead and can keep your eyes on the road and see the night vision at the same time.

hyperion667

the 'view in my S is great: it highlights each person in a box.....not come across an animal yet, but I was impressed with the change from my 2011 E