Dr Zoidberg

Hello everyone.

I'm the proud owner of a 2023 AMG GLE 53 (bought 10 days ago). I absolutely love it.

With that being said, I'm pretty bummed that I have had an issue with less than 700 miles on the clock. The driver's side headlight stopped working. I received an "Active Headlight" error on the dash a few days ago. Took it to the dealer and was advised the headlight needs to be replaced.

I understand it's a highly engineered machine and things happen (maybe a little over engineered). No worries. I'll get fixed. I just can't drive it in the rain or at night. The running lights work and the turn signal parts work. Just no low or high beams.

My question is has anyone experienced this? Is this a common or known issue?

The dealer had a difficult time finding a headlight. Initially said could take a month to get one. Luckily they located one and it's on the way.

Thanks.

TexAg91

I have the active headlights and have not any issues with them over 3 years and 30000 miles...so hopefully you just got lucky. These headlights (even without the active feature enabled -- in the EU they stay on high beam and only dim where oncoming cars are located) are still fantastic at night. Hopefully, Mercedes will approve a S/W patch in a year or two to enable the active feature when legal in the US...I understand the government recently approved active headlights but are still in the process of getting the new Reg written and published.

BTW, if you rotate the headlight knob all the way to the left, the left running light and taillight will come, and the right side will stay off. 1 click to the right and the opposite will happen. That is another EU feature used when parking on the slide of road to make the vehicle more visible. So don't let it fool you into thinking something is wrong with the lights.

Frenetic

There’s another poster that recently had major condensation in their headlights on a brand new 2023 car I believe. These things are supposed to be sealed. It seems that quality control issues continue to plague the 2023 model year.

TonyF61

Hello @Dr Zoidberg !!

I have a 22 GLE450 with 20K+ miles on it and never had an issue. In fact, I don't recall reading about any such issue here, other than the one, mentioned above, with condensation, which was also a MY23. Do you recall if you have Intelligent Lighting System (ILS) which is what @TexAg91 was alluding to? If so, it is made up of an array of LEDs; much like what you see with brake lights. I would expect them to be independent of each other (the individual LEDs) - if one is out, the others should remain on. Therefore, they shouldn't all go out at once, unless it is a wiring issue or perhaps software. Perhaps it is a 2023 issue. Please let us know what the service report states when it's all fixed. Good Luck!!

Dr Zoidberg

Yes, it does have the Intelligent Lighting System.

TonyF61

Ok, please post a copy of service report, sans any personal info., when repaired. Might be helpful to others; especially, if it's a MY23 issue.

E55Greasemonkey

Dr Zoidberg

Will do!

I'm taking it in on Monday. Service writer estimates it's a 2 hour job. They have to take the front facia off to get to the headlight attachments and hardware.

The concerning part was they had a difficult time finding a headlight. The service writer talked about getting one from Germany "off the factor floor" and could take a few months to get. Luckily they found one a few states away.

TonyF61

How did it go, today, with the replacement headlight?

Dr Zoidberg

Standard dealership service department BS. I spent 5 hours at the dealer today and was then told they need another part. Apparently there are several parts required for this repair and they did not order them all.

The part needed to complete the repair won’t be here until Wednesday.

TonyF61

Wow, sorry to hear. Hopefully it gets completed real soon. You driving a loaner, or they making you drive around with one headlight?

Dr Zoidberg

They gave me a loaner to drive. A Lexus ES 500.

Hopefully I’ll hear more today.

LaurenRaeBB

I have a 2022 Mercedes GLE 53 Coupe with 17,000 miles on it and this same thing is happening to me! What was the fix for yours and has it happened again?

Dr Zoidberg

Sorry for the delay in responding. I started having issue after issue with the GLE53. Random multiple errors with the active collision systems. Random transmission errors with it twice going into limp mode (both of those corrected themselves prior to making it to the dealer). Numerous MBUX issues (losing XM pre-set stations on more than 3 occasions, random reboots and blank screens ).

I’ve traded it in. No more Mercedes for me.
Hope everyone has better luck.