pjw1967

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/deskto...rginal-or-poor


http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/veh...-door-suv/2017

nbukrey

Specifically the headlight section on the lower left. The Halogen's are rated P for poor.

Trim level(s)

GLE350 trim

Low-beam headlight type Halogen projector
High-beam headlight type Halogen reflector
Curve-adaptive? No
Automatically switches between low beams and high beams (high-beam assist)? No
Overall rating P

davezaristo

i would say it is beyond poor, glad I got the LED.

SoCalBenzGuy

Upgraded lights are a must for me. It's not an option it's a must have. I would even upgrade the lights to led if the stock lights were xenon. Since the stock lights are halogen it is 29 times worse than xenon. The stock lights are truly horrible in every way.......just my two cents

GLE43_Sube

I find it mind boggling that in this day and age ANY automaker is still using halogen headlights, let alone one that is supposed to be a premium luxury brand. The only reason to do that is to keep the cost down. LED or HID headlights are NOT an amenity. They are a safety necessity! I had adaptive HIDs in 2009 and probably 50% of oncoming traffic would flash their high beams at me, thinking I had mine turned on. That's how bright they were. Made a world of difference driving too. They created an air of confidence, because they illuminated so far and with such a wide angle. I felt like nothing was hiding in the dark, because there was no dark to hide in. HIDs have become pretty much a thing of the past now. Too expensive to manufacture and/or replace. However, LEDs are very much the same, minus the heat, inefficiency and glare.

No one in this thread is exaggerating. If there's an LED option available, NEVER buy halogen lights.....with any vehicle!!!

nvsocr7

Coming from someone who had halogens and upgraded to HID, yes, you MUST get the LED headlights. HID is an acceptable alternative, but it's a frustrating thing to have to deal with on this type of vehicle and requires user install. I also wouldn't feel comfortable letting my wife use this setup as she can't trouble shoot it, I can/put the halogen back in as a fix, if it were to fail. It truly is a safety issue to stick with the standard halogens.

baobay

Its very upsetting and unsettling to spend over $80k on a vehicle which comes with such HORRIBLE headlights. Its because of this headlight issue I am switching to Audi next year.

dieseldoc

LEDs are a must.

baobay

LEDs are a must for Mercedes to include as standard equipment...they are standard on the E class. Not the active ones, but you get LEDs not CRAP halogens.

davezaristo

Hahahha..Should have gotten a Q7 to start with..

Diabel

In Canada, I don't think you get to choose.
It is all LED.

GLE43_Sube

As it should be here too.

Phoeny

Once you try the full LED (adaptable) headlights you can't go back...they are an absolute MUST!

baobay

I will in September. With vision and LED lighting.

alextclam

What I find even more mind boggling is that the E Class comes equipped with standard LED headlights. If the GLE Class is the SUV version of the E Class, then it should also come with standard LED headlights.

Also, I see the new C Coupe comes equipped with standard LED headlights as well. Why the inconsistency of standard equipment on their models?

bluegene

It's because of the different model generations. W166 started back in MY12, facelift though was in MY16. MB is slow on the tech end since they are probably the most conservative of the Euro cars, roughly coincides with long term reliability.

That's all not much of an excuse when even Hyundai's now have standard LED. Biggest blame is between uniformed consumers buying the vehicle for the badge alone and dealers selling to lowest denominator. Although the C/E halogens on the W204/W212 were fine, the ML/GLE/GL/GLS halogens are complete crap. Recently saw a ML400 with Distronic, Active Curve, and On/Off Road Package with halogens, very sad.

baobay

I saw a GLS 450, MSRP over $83K with halogens. Had appearance package, Active curve, Driver assistance package, etc... but came with the HORRIBLE CRAP halogens...UNBELIEVABLE. I am surprised anyone would buy it, unless some IDIOT like me comes along...

Tbone8771

what is even worse, is when you see someone with the LED illuminated star on the front grill and lousy halogen lights on the vehicle.

Leo17

Agree with all! Good think I listen to my SA on the LED lighting package. He said it will change the look of the car.

alextclam

My friend was looking into the W166 model when it first came out. I clearly remember that he said there was a national back-order on the lighting package with a wait time of 4-6 months. With his previous lease maturing, he went ahead and leased one without the lighting package.

Fast forward to 2016, when I walked into the dealer and asked if they had any inventory with the lighting package, he could not locate any. There were also none in production. I did some research and sure enough there was shortage on lighting packages... again. On top of that, I also found that a lot of the GLE 400 models (which comes standard with the interior ambient lighting) did not come equipped with it, also due to a shortage.

It's one thing to manufacture a luxury car with standard halogen headlights and ask the customer to pay for optional lighting package. I would have been more than happy to pay even if the package costed $3000. But then they don't even have enough parts to fulfill the orders. It's a catch-22 situation.

pjw1967

When we went shopping for our first MB, we had a hankering for ventilated seats, Found a '14 CPO ML350 4W locally but could not come to terms. Found a 2W 135 miles away, did all the negos by email and text, drove there and bought it. Paid NO attention to the lighting package except to know it came with the car. Lucked out after reading all the trash about halogens.

bluegene

MBUSA dealers seem to always claim that the Lighting Package is on backorder, every single model, every chasis. Funny never heard MB in Europe / Asia ever having this problem. Methinks it's more to do with they never wanted or bothered to requisition enough for the market in the first place.

davezaristo

And they are all made out of the same factory so that isn't shortage of parts, but rather the demand of the options. I am guessing that based on MB's research, there are certain options that American buyers aren't willing to dish out the extra $$ for and LED maybe one of them, although they should have just jacked up the base price and make it standard.

That being said, other variations I've noticed also is that most of the GLE in Asia aren't factory tinted and almost every one of them comes with LED headlight and multi-zone AC.

Phoeny

Imho I think it's a matter of different "market mentality": on most E class/GLE class in Europe it's pretty common to find full LED headlights (only TAXIs do have simple LED lights or halogen),simply because of the demand/taste of the clients. I've always been asking why in the US you can see many luxury cars with halogen lights...even with fully loaded interiors/bigger engines.
Then,it's not only a design thing but a true upgrade in visibility and safety!

BulldogGLE

very true!