There is a thread about headlights not adapting, but the results of that are unclear to me. Here is what I see on our GLE450 with the adaptive high beam assist and active multibeam headlight options. I don't know if they are doing what they should, because I can't really make out from the MB description what they should do. Certainly, they don't do what my dealer's video shows but I think that shows the selective LED turn off effect that is only legal in Europe. Confused.

• In "Auto" mode, I expect to be able to turn on high beams, and have the system dump them whenever it detects oncoming traffic. Instead, I can only flash the highs. I cannot turn them on and leave them on so I can't tell if the dump function would work.
• In manual mode I can turn on highs and switch back and forth between highs and lows. However, dumping highs is manual and there is no high beam assist.
• The either auto or manual, the LEDs do not follow steering inputs. In my other cars, I can see light moving to put better illumination in the direction the car is heading. I see absolutely no indication of any of this with the GLE.

 

Push the stick forward (as seen in position 1 below) to activate the high beams instead of flashing them. I'm not sure if they will automatically dim, as I just set it to auto and let it do its thing. Mine also don't turn when the vehicle turns.

 

Doesn't work. Pushing the switch forward in auto mode has no effect on the lights.

 

Adaptive High Beam Assist works pretty well, but has its limits. With headlight switch to Auto, and stalk in position 1 as bigpern points out, the high beams will come on above 19 mph if other traffic is not detected. You still need to turn off the highs manually in many situations: cresting a hill with oncoming traffic, at right angle intersections, for pedestrians, etc. The highs will not come on if sufficient street light it detected.

 

In Auto mode, once you push the lever forward to activate auto high beam, you will notice the letter "A" in the headlight icon in the HUD (or instrument panel). That means the auto high beam is activated. And as Greg stated above, once the car is above 19 MPH, when no other cars are detected, and in dark environment, the high beam will activate automatically.
As for the curve function, it doesn't work on my car also. (although MBUSA stated that it should)

 

Canadian market GLEs have the dynamic lighting. I notice the lights change while turning the steering wheel, even at slow speeds.

 

Yes, Canada is up with Europe on this. So frustrating hos slowly US agencies move.

https://newsroom.aaa.com/2019/04/res...w-beam-safety/

 

If in auto and the high beam assist is activated you can only flash the main beam, you cannot physically put the lights in high beam. They work brilliantly on my car and react so quickly I never have to manually put them in low beam , even on brow of hill.

 

Not so sure about that statement. They will dim as soon as they see the other car’s lights, but you’ve blinded the driver before that.

 

Here's how I force the high beam on:

Turn the light switch dial (located next to your left knee) clockwise from Auto to On.
Push the combination switch forward. Pull back to return to low beam.

 

This is a great article, even AAA agrees.

So what is it gonna take to change this?! I'm pretty sure pitchforks and torches will have little effect so maybe it's time to create an online petition (https://www.change.org/start-a-petition) to the NHTSA. I'd love to nominate myself to write it (not really) but I don't even have a 450 yet so it'd be kinda foolish.

 

tiri,

I'm pretty certain they do but: do your headlamps look like this? No side beams.

 

Not in my car, never touched the stork and have never been flashed by another car, wouldn't dream of saying that YOU aren't having an issue and would have hoped you would pay me the same courtesy.

 

Correct but the op said he expected to be able to turn the main beam on with the high beam assist activated and that is only in auto.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to question your perception, meant to state mine. It is true that the sensor sets high on the windshield so should pick up opposing headlights before your eyes do. Maybe I'm not trusting enough of the system.

 

No problem Greg, I had never trusted the auto lights on previous cars I had and turned it off. Learned to trust it on my GLC43 with intelligent lights and fully trust it on the GLE, a really clever system and hopefully the complete system will soon be allowed in the US.

 

So I have the high beam assist figured out, with thanks to the posters who gave helpful hints. The assist function works well enough and seems to move the beam up and down in response to what is ahead. It is not just high or low, but a variable positioning. That may be affected by my location in Canada.

To give an example, I drive down a dark road and the beam is way out ahead doing a great job of lighting up the environment. An oncoming car causes the light pattern to move towards me until I am in full low beam. That is all fine. However, the beam also drops in response to anything bright ahead, so a reflective sign beside the road makes the high beam move lower and lower as you approach. That's also fine but there is a problem. As has been mentioned elsewhere, this beam pattern is knife-edged. There is light within the pattern - good light - and absolutely nothing outside of it. If you drive on unlit roads you can find yourself suddenly transitioning from good down the road visibility to a very tight and very near low beam pattern as something bright confuses the system. That pattern is surrounded by inky blackness and you are then overspeeding your headlights. Disconcerting and I am not sure what to do about it. The manual low beam is so tight that I am uncomfortable with it on back (unlit) roads. MB needs to add some spill elements to the matrix, that bleed light beyond the edges of the beam. Perhaps I can add fog lamps that fuzz out the low beam pattern.

I still have no cornering lights and will take that up with the dealer. The literature and descriptions clearly state cornering lights should be there.

 

The characteristics you're describing about the beam pattern is just a normal thing with projector lenses.

 

Called Mercedes for help hoping to get confirmation one way or another as to whether or not advanced lighting functions work in US. She looked at the VIN and said it should work, but clearly had no real details about the issue. Said I should take it to the dealer. Called the dealer and they said it sounds like I should talk to the concierge about it. Already had a call in to him, so left another message.

Has anyone talked to someone knowledgeable at Mercedes that has shed any light on this? My understanding is that the adaptive beam headlights hasn't been approved in the US. However, functions like cornering lights have been in place for years. Could it be that when Mercedes disabled A.D.B. they disabled pretty much everything except auto dimming - and the light show that fires up when you start the car? Or maybe there's something about the way they implemented it that is a problem with the regulators?

I don't know if we should be marching with pitchforks outside NHTSA or Mercedes.

 

I sent a question to Mercedes USA online:

Here's the response:
"
Subject:

Just bought 2020 GLE450 with DA4 lighting option. The cornering feature does...

Response By Email (Debra A.) (02/03/2020 03:57 PM)

Dear Mr. Andrews,

Thank you for your email to Mercedes-Benz USA.

The 2020 GLE450 is not offered with cornering lights. The features is not available on any SUV or VAN for our U.S. market due to certain states that have a specific height restriction for the cornering headlamp itself.

MBUSA would therefore have no information on vehicle modifications to add this feature as it is not offered for the GLE.

We appreciate the opportunity to respond.

Kind Regards,

Debbie A.
Mercedes-Benz USA
(800) 367-6372 "

BTW, I didn't ask for modification suggestions

Any ideas?

 

Sorry, made a duplicate post

 

I feels like your response make more sense. The support that response to mine said something similar but he/she said the car should have Active Curve Illumination

 

Thanks for that! I sent another email to MBUSA restating my question. Rather than refer to it as "cornering" (as in the manual), I asked about "Active Curve Illumination" as on the MBUSA Build Your Own site.

I'd sure like to get a different answer!

Apparently "cornering lights" refer to fixed lights on the side of the vehicle; "Active Curve Illumination" refers to aiming one of the main beams to illuminated the curve.

 

The "Active Curve Illumination" is also referenced in the MBUSA website
https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/mo...450w4#packages
Expand "Exterior Lighting Package", and click on the icon next to "Intelligent Light System with Ultra Range Highbeams"

 

But Mercedes Benz can charge $900 USD for its "Exterior Lighting Package" which I'm sure the majority of us here who have 450's paid for. So my question is if everything is disabled in the US then why is MB offering this package in the states?!