For those who didn't order the 21U from factory, can you purchase the dashcam from the shop.mercedes me store?

Yes, I did. They simply unlock that feature.

Is it worth it? What can it let you do?

You can record what is happening in the front of your car along with speed and time. That info is helpful if any adverse happenstance occurs.

Does it record if its parked and some one hits it?

I don't think it would. It's not an intelligent system like Tesla offers. Just a dash cam that will record and upload a crash while driving.

If the dashcam is the same as other Mercedes models, I would say "is it worth it?" is a bit subjective. I mean, it's only $200, but it's also only 720p @ 30 fps with no sound, so very underwhelming. If it was 1080p with sound, I'd say it's a no-brainer.

For that same $200, you could get a much better aftermarket solution, but then you lose the nice integration. Fitcamx makes some that will integrate into the rearview/rain sensor housing, but probably not for the EQS.

It is supposed to capture images if there is a collision detected while it is parked as a standard feature.

Information on collision detection on a parked vehicle If a collision is detected when the tow-away alarm is armed on a locked vehicle, you will receive a noti̯cation in the multimedia system when you switch the vehicle on. You will receive information about the following points: R The area of the vehicle that may have been damaged. R The force of the impact. The following situation can lead to inadvertent activation: R The parked vehicle is moved, for example, in a two-story garage. % Disarm the tow-away alarm in order to prevent inadvertent activation. If you disarm the tow-away alarm, collision detection will also be deactivated. You can permanently deactivate collision detection via the multimedia system (/ page 216). % If the battery is severely discharged, the function for detecting a collision on a parked vehicle is automatically deactivated to facilitate the next engine start. System limits Detection may be restricted in the following situations: R The vehicle is damaged without impact, for example, if an outside mirror is torn o̮ or the paint is damaged by a key R An impact occurs at low speed R The electric parking brake is not applied Setting collision detection on a parked vehicle Multimedia system: 4 © 5 Settings 5 Vehicle 5 Open/Close 5 Vehicle Protection # Activate or deactivate the function via Collision Notification. % A maximum of three incidents can be registered. Up to 15 photos are taken for every incident. In the event of another incident, the photos of the ̯rst incident will be overwritten if they have not been deleted already. Activating or deactivating the collision photos function Note possible legal restrictions in some countries regarding automatic recording of the vehicle surroundings. # Activate or deactivate Take photos. Transferring the collision photos with the Mercedes me app # Select Upload to Mercedes me. # Select Upload Automatically. # Scan the generated QR code on the central display with the Mercedes me App. The encrypted collision photos will then be uploaded to Mercedes me. % Any device that can scan QR codes can be used to view the collision photos in the Mercedes me App. Copying the collision photos to a USB ̰ash drive

Thank you all!

Sounds good and I will order. I'm not creating a broadcast quality movie. It's just necessary to meet the threshold of "evidence" if and when needed. Good to know about. Thanks!

It only captures what can be seen from the front facing camera so I doubt it would be helpful in a parked situation unless the car is hit from the front.

Apparently it uses the 360 cameras when it’s parked in collision mode. I’m pretty sure someone posted that his car got hit in the rear and the cameras picked it up. Why it doesn’t use all of them for the dash cam like Tesla is beyond me.

It’s a basic camera for sure. You actually want the highest quality video you can get. If someone hit you and drove off, you certainly want to be able to read the license plate. This dash cam won’t be much help in that respect. I have Arlo 2k security cameras on my house and I have had cars drive up my driveway in clear view of my cameras. Despite 2k resolution half the time I can’t read the license plate and thus can’t tell who it was. Even clearly making out the persons face was difficult at times. I had aftermarket dash cams in my S class with higher resolution than this cam and reviewed several loops for fun and had difficulty in reading plates as well. Not saying this camera is not helpful, it is, but in some cases it may fall short. For the overwhelmingly times you would need a video it would be helpful. And btw I do have the dash cam in my EQS.

As I posted earlier, it only uses the front facing camera for the video. Not the side or rear cameras. And BTW, the rear camera is only available when in reverse, otherwise tucked away. So if you were parked and hit in the rear, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have any video of the incident. It's not like Tesla's Century mode, just a dash cam that can capture accidents that happen in front of the car.

This is what someone reported as I alluded.

“Our car was parallel parked on the street (small town, south shore in MA) when we got a message (on MBme connect) - "Collision Detected, Rear (slight impact"). There was also a message on how to access the collision photos after the car was turned on. Turns out the car took several pictures with the rear camera (showing the license plate of the offending car) as well as pics all around our car. The damage to the EQS bumper is nearly undetectable (<1cm scratch). Pretty amazing. Needless to say, we were not aware of this feature and the insurance company was amazed as they have never heard or seen this before. Turns out all this is described in the manual (helps to have a PDF version that can be searched - p 216) Make sure you set this up. “

You are technically correct. I believe it only takes videos from the front camera but does take images from the other cameras to capture a rear or side collision.

Interesting, I looked through the owners manual and there are several dashcam references (did a search using the PDF version of the manual) but nothing about it recording images from the side or rear cameras in a crash. In fact, the manual doesn't mention the front facing camera being used in a crash while the screen set up in the car does mention it. Anyway, good to know it can do that in a crash.

Does anyone know if it's possible to record latitude,longitude (and other 'metadata') on the dashcam video (as a text 'subtitle)? (By default, the dashcam seems to record just video, with no metadata.)

Metadata is included at the bottom of the videos

I purchased the Dashcam upgrade. Its only 200 Bucks. Couple of comments:

1. The first thing that surprised me was that it will not work until you add a USB drive. No big deal, I thought, I have those running out my ears. Until I discovered there are no USB 3.0 ports. Only USB C Ports. USB C drives are not easy to find. Only one I could find was so long it would be obtrusive and snap off easily. I ended up buying a low profile 3.0 64G drive for 10 bucks. Used the 3.0 -> C adapter cable that came with the car and plugged it in a port in the center storage box. Out of the way and not at all obtrusive.

2. Video not the best, but adequate. Would supply enough proof to cops or insurance company that someone brake checked you. Only records from the front while driving. Don't really want to test out parked collision photos!

3. Records continuously from vehicle start to shut off. Files are stored in 2 minute segments sorted newest to oldest. Files saved as "Loop over" i.e oldest files are written over when storage fills up.

I use these USB-C to microSD adapters that costs about 5 bucks. I use mostly 128GB cards.

This 90 degree adapter will keep the thumb drive from sticking out horizontally in your center console…

Thanks for sharing, I just ordered it.

now that is cool, ordering. We use a USB to hold our music.

I got this today and it works great. I put a 256gb micro SD card in it.

I believe that's called Guard360, and is separate from the dash cam.