venchka

On the 2010 & 2011 models, the headlight washers could be activated when the car was started and again 10 wash cycles later. Stupid but manageable.
For 2012, the headlight washers only work after 10 windshield wash cycles. Intolerable. Idiotic. Useless. Worthless. What are these people thinking? Has anyone else brought this to the attention of their dealer? Has it been corrected? Thanks.

Wayne

dgiturbo

Yeah I was wondering about that. On my ML there is an on demand button for this. Yet when I read the manual for my to be built on Feb 6th GLK it says only after 10 sprays with headlamps on.
Was planning on teaching the wife to pump 10 times really fast to trigger the spray.

venchka

My wife trained me to do that. I didn't think they were working. We did the 10 spray thing in a Holiday Inn parking lot a couple days ago.
I'm on a quest. On demand or MBUSA gets it back.

Wayne

shotgun_banjo

mine works fine except I don't really see the point of it being useful. When do you think it will be useful anyway?

venchka

When your headlight cover gets covered in slush, dirt, bugs, crud, etc. & the output from the lights are diminished. It has happened to me. The only thing available at the time was snow which I gathered from the side of the Autobahn south of Frankfurt, Germany. Not fun at all.

Your 2011 is set up differently than the 2012 version. You can wash your headlights when you first start the car. The 2012 version has a new feature: You can only wash your headlights after 10 cycles of the wash with fluid for the windshield. I doubt that I use the washer 10 times a month. Therefore, the headlight washer is a P.I.T.A. to activate. My SA agrees with me and is checking in to a fix. Stay tuned.

Wayne

venchka

More to the point. The headlight washers were an integral part of my decision to get the Lighting Package. Having had built in washers/wipers for almost 9 years now, I wanted the same feature on the 2012 GLK. I saw no reason to backwards with the features of the GLK relative to our other car that we were keeping. Mercedes-Benz's misguided change to the functionality of the headlight washers is a GIANT leap backwars IMO. Frankly, if they don't want to link the headlight washer system to the windshield washer system, as is the case on our older car, then they should provide a seperate switch as is the case on the ML.

Wayne

shotgun_banjo

mine only gets turned on after 10 cycles of the windshield wiper and just checked the manual and it states the same thing. A separate knob should have been usefull or maybe instead of 10 cycles have it turned on in 5 or less.

venchka

Interesting. You are correct. The 2011 & 2012 manuals say the same thing. I know I read somewhere that you could wash the headlights after starting & then again 10 washes later. Must be 2010. No worries. I will be a pest at MBUSA until we get this changed. Stay tuned.

Wayne

venchka

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHH! It is more worser than I thought. Volvo has a similar system. With TWO important differences.

Squirt often.

Wayne

clkwork

I bet a good auto tech could rig a manual wash button.

venchka

Either that or just flip a few switches in the software to reduce the number of "fake" windshield squirts.
Obviously, nobody in Der Faterland has experienced the twice per summer invasion of the dreaded southern love bugs. It is possible for those little beasties to cover the front of a vehicle in a few miles. Then their remains eat through your paint.

Wayne

shotgun_banjo

Does Volvo still have those cute headlamp wipers? I bet those are as useless as the spray-on cleaning system on the GLKs

venchka

Bite your tongue. I finally got those on my 2004 XC70 in June of 2003. They still work flawlessly EVERY time I wash the windshield. I am having the orginal wiper blades replaced tomorrow. The blades still work, but I reckon they are due for replacement.

Wayne

shotgun_banjo

First time I saw those things on Volvo I was scratching my head on why oh why! then I saw a '96 civic on the same year with a stick-on headlamp wipers to mimic the volvo and it just sticked on my peanut brain that it is one of those useless design that car designers and engineers can put on cars. one more thing....make sure you put those cute wiper visors too! Is that a PITA when cleaning the headlamps and bumpers?

If you are doing a rally or your everyday trip is on a mud and dust prone area then yes I will say it is useful but for the rest of us it is one feature that we wish was just taken out and a different feature that tends to be more useful (like a sunglass holder) is put on the car.

venchka

Visit the southern USA. Say 100 miles either side of I-10 between Jacksonville & Houston. May or September. Drive through the Plague of the Love Bugs. You'll understand. Follow some big trucks in January on the Autobahn along the Rhine River in fog/snow/slush/road material to counteract snow or slush. You'll understand. Or for the best reason: I paid for them. They are there. I want to use them at my discretion. How hard is that to understand? Imagine turning on a TV set. Selecting your favorite program and getting a message: Sorry. You can't watch this program until you view 10 episodes of Oprah. Or turning on the Audio system in your GLK. Selecting your favorite music. "Sorry. This music is unavailable at this time. Come back later."
You don't get it. That's fine. I understand.
I get it. I want it. I want it when I choose. Not when some programming person decides it is ok for me to have it.
'Nuff said. Moving on. Draining my washer reservoir in the process.

Wayne

shotgun_banjo

I get you it is just a matter of why people should be forced to get it when they don't need it or be stuck on a way to operate it. In your case you need it then it is fine but on some folks in here like me who cares less of a tool that I paid for that you cannot use when you need too is like eating spaghetti using a soup spoon.

venchka

It gets worse. M-B must have been listening to folks complain about the silly 10 cycle interval on the headlight washers. For 2013, the interval to get headlight washing has been reduced to 5 cycles of the windshield washers. Still more than I would like, but 100% better than 10 cycles of the windshield washers.
Standing by to hear from Tech Support at MBUSA. Like that will do some good.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wayne

MBKLUE

???

Isn't the point of the post to figure out a work-around or get MB to change it so that you CAN get it to work when you need it too??? The fact that you paid for it, as you wrote, might lead one to think you would want it "fixed" even more.

FYI... Saabs and Mercedes also had headlamp wiper/washers. My experience is they worked quite a bit better than any washer only system. Under the "right" weather conditions your headlamp light output can be cut to truly unsafe levels in a matter of seconds. Wipers take care of that. You don't see them anymore because of the multitude of integrated and oddly shaped headlamp designs - not because they didn't work.

Surge

I have a 2015MY W204, and my manual says 5 cycles. However, it doesn't work! Tried it several times and have never seen the washers work.
My dealer's service manager said it's now speed dependent as well...