084runnerltd

I have had several situations in the past week where I needed my high-beams, but the system would not activate them.

1). Driving across a frozen lake at night-the more light the better....looking for ice shelves, animals, trees, etc...I could only get low beam on.

2). Driving off the frozen lake on some trails that lead out to the highway....also, I guess I was driving too slow so the brights would no illuminate.

3). Driving on the highway back to my house. I am in ND and we burn off a lot of natural gas which causes large bright flames to burn. The G sees these flames and deactivates the high beams, even though I was the only car on the road...?

There has to be a way to turn on the brights, other than turning on the “auto brights” and leaving it up to the system to decide when I am allowed to use my brights...

Anybody know the secret?? This is super frustrating.

Thanks in advance.

Bexlee

Just turn you regular headlights to ‘on’ instead of ‘ ‘auto’ and then you can use full beam as you choose.

084runnerltd

Thank you!

streborx

The usual answer to questions such as this is "RTFM". But in this case (and most other), the G's owner's manual is useless. The instructions for enabling high beams don't clearly differentiate between the manual "always on" mode and the "auto bright/dim" mode. It's annoying that a company that considers itself the builder of the world's finest automobiles is content publishing an owner's manual laced with so many errors, omissions and ambiguities. Really makes you wonder about the quality of documentation is being furnished to dealer service departments. Thanks for this clarification.

084runnerltd

Agreed, on all counts.

In this case, I read the manual when I got the vehicle (I am a geek like that and always learn something that I wouldn’t have known) & after not being able to figure out the brights, I went back and re-read the manual...

Like you said, the manual is pretty worthless.

There are also item in the manual that don’t even able to the G, I have found a few. The one that sticks out is the manual describes “relaxation” mode among a few others, it references fragrance be sprayed into the car etc....

I have a feeling they just cut and paste manuals from their various vehicles to “create” the G manual.

Bexlee

I didn’t question the reason for the OP as I too struggled with this basic operation AFTER reading the manual too!

I had to go out onto the driveway and have a play with the vehicle... utterly ridiculous! Mercedes should be ashamed of themselves for this manual. (Maybe all manuals , but I wouldn’t know)

streborx

My G came "unequipped" with a user manual for the nav/infotainment system, which I think MB refers to as the COMAND system. It exhibits behavior that seems to have its own agenda, and obviously it's not safe to be trying to figure it out while driving. While backing out of my garage and after shifting into forward, the nav display goes from the radio/media to the backup camera. Spinning the console knob pages through widescreen and other display modes, while the radio/media selection is suspended. It automatically reverts to radio/media after about a minute. Would be nice to have a reference guide to explain all this but MB apparently thinks I don't deserve one with $140K automobile. But then again, if its informative content would compare with the owners manual, I understand why MB didn't bother.

Bexlee

By not including the manual with the car you probably got a much better introduction LMAO. It’s a cute book in a nice sleeve - that’s about it !

However;
I do LOVE the car so so much .

streborx

I haven't yet figured out what to do with the mini-CD that was included with the owners manual. All that's on it is hundreds of pages listing software licenses and copyrights. A complete joke.
BTW, I'm planning a future forum post where I'll quote my favorite useless passages from the owners manual.

084runnerltd

Ha, yes, that would be a great thread!!

I remember seeing several items in the manual that don’t apply to our rides. It may turn out to be a very long, long thread... ha

streborx

While it doesn't appear on the owners manual, MB's slogan "The Best or Nothing" is comical. I guess the marketing geniuses at MB never thought about the ambiguity in this phrase. I can say that I've received mostly the "Nothing" -- hopefully somebody has been receiving an abundance of "Best".

fabbrisd1

Please understand that the "Auto Headlight" function for ALL MB models - for YEARS especially thru the tech upgrades from Halogen-Xenon-"Static LED" - "Dyanamic LED" and next Gen Laser - has always been set to German standard which has strict/hefty fines for using steady-on High-Beams until needed (speed) - and non-urban - and non-ongoing-traffic - you even can incur a hefty fine flashing headlights at oncoming traffic - and/or less common flashing the car ahead of you too close.

Yes - it's different that a Chrysler from the '80's - "ultimately" US Fed specs will continue to grow closer to the Euro specs.

That is not a excuse for the lack-of-communication (similar to NOT being clear about 3-sec shift paddle useage that 95% of MB owners don't know that they have had since '98) - but that's the root cause of the MB system not "acting" the way people new to the brand "think" it will

084runnerltd

Now I have to ask...what is the “3 sec shift” that none of us know about?