SolidGranite

Just finished up my first road trip in the new 550 and these 2 features absolutely made my purchase all the more worthwhile. As if I needed further confirmation...

Pandora via Bluetooth audio streaming works perfectly to my amazement. This is something I will look forward to using most times I drive.

My trip was up north in Door County, Wisconsin where hi-beams are critical to driving at night with the constant possibility of deer making an appearance. The auto on/off hi-beams worked to near perfection. Considerably better than I had initially expected due to some folk's complaints about this feature. For about 2 hours I had my hi-beams switched on and not once did I need to adjust them manually. Nice job Mercedes!! I would actually chalk this up as another safety feature for 2 reasons. First, I am much more inclined to use my hi-beams knowing they adjust themselves. Second, it's one less task I have to focus on controlling when driving at night where hi-beams are needed.

All I need now is night vision!

ngerstman

I generally like the feature. There are some circumstances when the high beams don't go on automatically when I want them to, such if the ambient light from street lights is just bright enough. I wish that the auto high beams would be functional with the wand in the neutral position(high beams off) so I could turn on the high beams by pushing the wand forward as opposed to needing to turn them on by pulling on the wand to the temporary on position. They failed the logic test IMO. Regards. Ned.

ttoE550

If you are talking about MB's night vision, you aren't missing anything but entertainment for passengers. Good idea, but poorly executed. It's in the Comand screen, so to look at it you have to look away from the road. I have it and never use it anymore.

I forget which packages what comes with, but have you noticed that the bi-Xenons turn with the steering wheel? It's most noticeable at about 30 or 40 mph if you look far out. Yes, there is a little light that comes on at very low speed, but the lights turn too. One day I am going to crash while marveling at them.

Dema

These two features are awesome unless ypu live in califronia. We have no cell phone reception on our narrow windy roads. Since the roads are quite crowd, your high beam has no chance to switch on, so no surprise to see many cars in drench.

SolidGranite

Ned, I agree with your assessment. I found however when the hi-beam would not go back on due to ambient light from a street light that it was not required. The street light was producing so much light that for the most part my hi-beams would make much of a difference any way. This is why I considered the option to be almost perfect... Interacting with the stalk to manually engage them to me is clunky and defeats the purpose.

ngerstman

I wear glasses so my night vision is less than perfect. When I'm driving on some of my local winding roads, I like the added vision that high beams provide even if they they don't come on automatically. I like to have the feature engaged, so it seems to me that there would have been no downside to have the feature on with the high beam wand "off" so that you could put the high beams on by flicking it forward. As it is designed now, if they don't come on automatically, I have to hold the wand back in the temporary mode to turn the high beams on. A pain!! Regards. Ned.

YYZ-E55

Can't you just rotate the headlight switch from "AUTO" to "ON"? This worked on my 2010; haven't played with 2012 much.

listerone

Just curious...does "night vision" give any kind of audible warning when it detects a potential hazard (person,deer,etc) on the road?

ttoE550

I don't think it gives an audible warning, but it does highlight pedestrians. Not deer, in my experience.

I love what the manual says:

"When you have been made aware of a pedestrian, assess the situation by looking through the windshield."

ngerstman

Not sure what you mean. Engaging the auto high beams is done in the menu settings. Once engaged, you need to have the high beam wand in the high beam on position for the feature to work. If they don't come on automatically, the only way to engage the high beams is to pull the wand toward you to the temporary on position that you must hold in to keep on. I think the right logic would have been to have the feature engaged once you turn it on in the settings menu and with high beam wand in the off position. That way you could also manually turn on the high beams if need be. Regards. Ned.

YYZ-E55

Try what I suggested. I'm confident the headlight switch in the "ON" position will override the auto high beams, regardless of IC menu settings.

ngerstman

I'll give it a shot. Thanks. Ned.

ColdCanuck

Actually I prefer it the Mercedes way.

My Cadillac STS had it the other way, i.e. you could force the beams to high manually, but couldn't force them to low. If the car said high beams, they went to high come hell or high water.

Problem is when the car gets it wrong, you blind oncoming drivers or **** off the person you are following. It was so bad I had to disable the system.

In the Mercedes I can force them low by pulling the light stalk, no bad effects; no blinded drivers. I have complete control over "out driving the low beams", just a little less pressure with the right foot.

ngerstman

I can see your point. But my experience with the Mercedes is that it errs on the side of caution as it applies to turning down the high beams. I can't say that I've experienced any where near all kinds of situations, but from what I can tell so far, it has never not turned down the high beams when appropriate. Regards. Ned.

ColdCanuck

I agree, in the 3 months I've had the car, it has always dimmed the lights appropriately. On another note, the lights turning with the steering certainly help on the dark twisties.