omelfata

Hello everyone!

This is my first post so I apologise in advance if this was discussed before.

I just bought a MB GLK 250 2014. When I was washing my car I noticed a little camera behind the windshield, which upon further research I found out it was a Multi-Function Camera (MFK).

I immediately thought that my car should have Lane Keep Assist enabled, but after looking though the menus there was no sign of it.

I phoned Mercedes and they said that this camera was for the Intelligent headlamp system (which works), and that it technically would work for Lane Keep Assist but they are not allowed to activate it for me

What are my options? Is there some way I can activate it? I have the necessary hardware, so this seems like a software issue!

THANK YOU for your support!!

bytemaster0

You are correct, most of this is software. You are about 90% there. However, there are a number of key items that you must consider. Unlike smartphones, which have bootloaders that are easy to unlock and custom operating system images that can be flashed, cars are extremely proprietary and have lots of calibration and programming required in order for their assistance systems to operate properly. A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. While you do have most of the hardware, I'm not sure if your steering wheel is equipped with the vibration motor that is engaged when lane keeping assist is triggered.
2. As I've mentioned before, calibration is a major component on these vehicles. As an example, doing an alignment on my GLK250 BT costs over $450, as Distronic Plus must be recalibrated to work with the new alignment. It takes several hours of labor to complete. On my older ML320 CDI, which has first-generation Distronic as well as Airmatic, alignment costs over $700. Needless to say, though the alignment is a little off, I'm not having it aligned any time soon - the tires cost less than the alignment job.
3. Even if you did have all the needed hardware, because you didn't order the vehicle with those options, Mercedes-Benz likely cannot certify that the system will perform as operated (liability issue), and cannot honor any warranties as a result.

Just some thoughts. While the situation may seem simple, it can often be far more complicated. Hope that might shed a little light on it.

mikedr

I will say, having the system, the MB works great. I have the active version, which will move you back into your lane if you keep ignoring it.

The thing I like, though, is two-fold. First, it has an adaptive setting, and seems to have learned that I like driving near the line, such that if I go over just a wee bit, I don't get any vibration on the steering wheel. Second, when I do, the vibration is very unobtrusive -- I had an older car that had a similar system, and it would emit loud beeps if I even so much as touched the line.

The active part is interesting. Happened only once, after a couple of weeks of ownership. I was on a narrow road that has a bike lane, and no one was in the bike lane. So I straddle the line with the bike lane. The car vibrated the steering wheel at first (which I ignored), and then pulled me back into the lane by braking, presumably, one of the front wheels.

LesF

Actually the braking is done on the rear wheels. Which ever side you drift to the opposite side rear wheel brake will return you to your lane but it will NOT keep you in the lane like in the S class.

koalatm

We just disabled this feature today... found it too obtrusive. There are a lot of times where it vibrates because of imperfections in the road surface. There is also a lot of construction near where we live with some big interchanges being built, so it's like constant vibration in these areas.

mikedr

Give it some time to work its magic on the adaptive setting. It took a few weeks, but now ours only activates in "true" situations.

koalatm

We had it on the adaptive setting for the first 5 months and then tried the standard setting for the past 6 weeks, both are pretty terrible!

Cwdawson

We have had ours on adaptive since new, it was rather invasive when we first had it now we dont even notice it. Not really sure whether the car learned from us or whether we learned from the car...

balticgreen

I can say this about the lane keep assist: I have become much more aware of how horribly some of the lanes are marked around here. Lanes get subtly narrower for no reason or lanes shift around turn-only lanes and there isn't always enough space between the markings, so you're hitting one or the other no matter what.

The adaptive setting is very good at filtering out what is intentional, though, like hugging a curve or avoiding a pothole. I've even tried to set it off on purpose but when I actually try, it won't trigger.

mikedr

Ha! I'm wondering if that's what is occurring to me. Technology pounding my head.