mbfan02

1. If you have HID lights on an 02 500, what is the other light on the front for. If you look at the drivers side front light there is the HID light on the right and a large light to the left which has a bulb, but I can't seem to get it to turn on?

2. Where is the "auto" sensor for the lights? I had my truck in for hail damage and now the lights never turn off and the radio is hard to see during the day when in the auto position. Not sure what they could have done, but if was fine when I took it in.

mlmoose

Those inner lights are the halogen high beams used for flash-to-pass. If you pull the turn signal stalk towards you (with the engine running), the inner lights will go on, and then go off when you release the stalk. It's because the HIDs don't fire up fast enough to flicker your brights at someone. They don't go on with the normal high beam switch (push the turn signal stalk away from you) in the U.S.. Also, do a search on the "E code" modification. It hooks up those inner lights to your HIDs so that they DO go on with the HIDs in bright mode - a big improvement. I believe the "E" stands for Euro, and it may not be legal to drive with this in the U.S.. I'm on back roads daily, so it's a big help.

I'm not totally sure about the light sensor setup. There is one sensor on the front side of the rearview mirror. I've got a feeling it might have another sensor since it seems to know better than most systems (even other Benz systems) when it really is in a dark area versus just an overpass or something. I pull into my parking garage and the lights come in instantly. I pull into the same garage in a C class, and it does the usual multi-second delay before turning on. I have heard theory that there is a sensor in the speedo (near the 160MPH area...a faint orange dot) that may only control dash lights. The black dot on top of the dash is a light sensor for the A/C.