DC-IT

The day before I brought it in the auto-lighting was misbehaving and the headlights were on in full daylight as shown in picture below:


Then on the day I sent in the ML it works like normal! And after they tested it for 3 hours they could not reproduce the issue.

Then for the next 7 days the auto lighting continued to work by switching off the headlights after I exit my garage and in bright daylight as shown below with only the LED DRL on:



After the 7th day the issue came back
!

I sent an email to the Service Manager attaching the pictures and he said he has forwarded them to M-B Techincal Dept and will let me know when he gets a reply.
I asked if M-B could at least get the switch to allow the head lights to be manually switched off when set to "0" position that would be fine with me.

hiend

I have exactly the same scenario:
With the setup DRL-On in the bright day, example, log in in the tunnel, Xenon turns On. Log out from tunnel, Xenon remains On up to turns engine off, but sometimes work correctly, Xenon head light turns OFF. Switch position AUTO or “0”
Switch Position”0” at day time or night time never turns OFF Xenon Head lights low beams.

DC-IT

It'll be interesting to see if the 2012 ML has the same auto-lighting issues,

hiend

What is horrible, when call is placed: that, MBUSA have no idea about this factory glitch or they make-believe us it’s a user setup error. The best suggestion from them it’s a see a local dealer for examination, but we all known now: it’s unworkable. Imo, mbusa doesn’t want to accept that is a factory malfunction and RECALL must be placed ASAP.

eeferber

you're WAY overstating the seriousness of this problem. Annoying, sure. Irritating to have such a problem on an MB, absolutely. But a recall, and ASAP? There's no safety issue here to necessitate such action. But, definitely should be addressed via a service bulletin.

hiend

It is true, very annoying and irritating and I have to drive with kind of feelings every day and night plus I have to monthly pay for kind of annoying, irritating ride, term of 33 month from now. Of course bulletin-shmuletin it is very good idea, but without centralized overseas engineersinterfering and recall after, the issue looks like never will be resolve.

eeferber

you're correct, chances of getting a factory fix is close to nil. On the other hand, you can do a couple of things to override the problem (at least I think this is the case).

1. turn off the DRL option
2. don't use the AUTO headlight feature.

Yes, it irks me that something as simple as this won't work properly on a $60k+ auto. But, I'm not going to ALLOW it to ruin my overall ownership experience.

DC-IT

I fully agree that if M-B takes the attitude that this is not an issue or it's working as per designed it will never be fixed.

The simple fix is to make sure that the OFF '0' switch be able to switched off the headlights as it's supposed to. And to make sure that the light sensor works as it's supposed to.

Like I said earlier my 335d's auto lighting works flawlessly since day 1 and for the last 56,000 KM.

My pervious SUV a $25K cheap Suzuki Grand Vitara's auto-lighting works flawless for over 130,000KM before I traded it in!

So if other car manufacturers can get this right why can't M-B?
To ignore this issues is just unacceptable for a so called luxury brand.
If the 2012 ML has the same issues guess I'll get a BMW X5 when my current lease is up!

I am still waiting an answer from the Service Manager at the dealership.

DC-IT

DRL is mandatory here in Canada.
According to the SM the `0` setting on the light switch doe not work and auto-lighting is on all the time.

hiend

Totally agree with DC-IT “0” will not shut off Headlights low beam, no different AUTO or “0”
According DRL is not mandatory in NYC, but I pay for it “Lighting” package #319 $ 985.00 and I really like LED option and why should i sacrifice without a credit.

DC-IT

As if to add insult to injury, while '0' cannot turn off the headlights you can manually turn on the parking and Xenon headlights with the other settings!
But once the Xenon headlights turned during one of it's weird incidents then you cannot turn it off manually!
I agree that the new LED DRL are cool as well as the new side mirrors.

I'd love to have the LED DRL on all the time when driving.

eeferber

has any US owner had a discussion re: this problem with their MB service manager?

I'm due for my 1yr service/maintenance and would like something done about this problem.

joshinthecity

DC-IT,
What did your Service Manager say once you got on to him about this ?

Thanks.
j.

DC-IT

He emailed me to say that he has forwarded my email with my attached pictures to Mercedes-Benz Canada and will get back to me when he has a reply.
So far I have not heard back from him.

Meanwhile I've been getting the the same problem of the headlights occuring yesterday and today!

I think the next time it happens and I have the spare time I will drive straight to show the SM since they could not replicate it when I last sent it in.

I am waiting to see if the W166 has the same issue with the auto light.

What a shame as when it works as it's supposed to I loved driving the ML.
But the instant I see the headlight LED lit up in bright daylight I lost my joy of driving the ML! It's very annoying to say the least.

joshinthecity

I couldn't agree more with your last two lines.
My feelings exactly.

I'm dissapointed. :-(
Thanks for the reply..

j.

DC-IT

Hi Josh.
Which City/Country are you in?
I noticed your ML is a 300 CDI Grand Edition which is not a Canadian model.
What colour is the Exterior & Interior?

eeferber

Just FYI - a couple of weeks ago I turned on my DRL option after re-reading this thread. I've been having essentially the same issues as you, and the problems are also sporadic. Sometimes it all works fine, but most of the time it doesn't.

joshinthecity

Hi DC,
I'm in Sydney Australia.
The Aust spec 300 CDI BlueEfficiency is the 510nm engine.

Exterior colour is "Peridot" A brown metallic with silver/gold perl is the best description I can give.

Interior is biege/tan with cream piping, although it looks yellowish in the pics I posted for some reason.. The dash is grey leather with contrasting stitching, wheel is grey leather (AMG) and roof is grey Alcantera. So it's kinda a tan/black combo.


Josh.
[IMG][/IMG]

DC-IT

So it looks like the problem is linked to the DRL/LED light. Perhaps the wiring or the LED some how messed up with the sensor to trigger the headlights to come on at random?
If more owners file complaints shouldn't the M-B engineers be able to find a fix?
Josh the beige leather seats looks more luxurious than my black MBTex.

So it looks like the auto-lighting issue is universal since it happens from Canada~USA~Australia!

I wonder if this also happens on the 2008~10 models that do not have LED DRL or the new E & C class with LED DRL?

If there is no easy solution all I want from M-B is to at least have the OFF "0" switch works to allow me to manually switch off the headlights when they activate in bright daylights in one of it's crazy moods so I don't look like an idiot. Also I won't subject my headlights to unnecessary wear and tear through over usage. That's all I ask off Mercedes-Benz (if you are listening): Make a light switch that actually works for peat sake! Even a Hyundai or Suzuki costing 1/3 the price of an ML can get it right why can't M-B on a luxury vehicle?

roadrutz

I have similar issues with my '09 ML550. I have always been curious as to what circumstances caused the lights to turn on and off automatically as it appears inconsistent. But I recently bought a boat. The other day I was towing the boat and I noticed in the mirror that the trailer lights were on. So I switched the car lights from 'auto' to 'off', but everything stayed on. (I'm in Canada, so the DRLs were on of course.) I stopped and checked, and the car lights were on. [Even with DRLs there is a difference between 'on' and 'off'. When the lights are 'on', the tailights also turn on. With just DRLs, the taillights are off.] After I switched off the engine and switched it back on again, all lights -- except DRLs -- remained off.

I have accepted that the auto-lighting feature is a little inconsistent, but I am curious about this as the problem persisted even after I turned the light switch to 'off'. Perhaps switching the engine off and on performs a sort of Ctrl-Alt-Del with the lights.

Cyber GS

I have the same problem in my 2011 ML and it doesnt have the LED lighting package/HID headlights so this problem is not isolated to just the LED DRL's. I have documented my problems in other posts on the forum here Problems with 2011 ML350.

Due to the other issues I have had I have learned to live with this issue.

eeferber

you got it...it's pretty inconsistent, doesn't seem to be a pattern at all. Irritating.

DC-IT

I received an email today from the Service Manager at the M-B Dealership:

"Technical has come back to us with a possible solution. They recommended that we try replacing the sun sensor. They feel it may only be working intermittently. Let me know if you want to pursue this route."

I have asked him to go ahead and get the replacement sensor and call me when it's in.

I'll update when it's done and see if it works.

joshinthecity

WOW.
I'm surprised to see this.
It's not going to work obviously…

But it's encouraging to see them pro-active in some way.
Good for you..

j.

DC-IT

This M-B Dealership I went to see regarding the auto-light issue isn't even the one I bought my ML from!

It so happen that the day I brought my ML in the Service Manager was in his office and I had a chat with him.
He also noticed that I am a Techie and asked if I could help him with some issues he was having with his laptop.
I said sure and went into his office and fixed his laptop issues in less than 15 mins.
He was very appreciative and even gave me a $50 voucher towards any future service!

During that service the Tech could not replicate the auto light issue so I left.
Then the moment I drove home the issue surfaced while I was driving on the highway!
I had to go for other appointments so I could not go back to show the SM the problem.
But I took some pictures of the headlights with my BB cell phone and when I got home I emailed him the pictures with a description of the issue.

He then replied that he will forward it to M-B Technical dept to ask them to look into this.

So my helping the SM with his laptop must have prompted him to go the extra mile to look into my problem with the ML in stead of pushing it off as it's operating as designed!

I am looking forward to see if the replacement of the sensor will solve the problem.

I suspect it may also require a reprogramming of the ECU.
If only M-B Tech can get engineering to redesign the light switch so that the OFF setting actually works that would alleviate a lot of frustrations we are experiencing.

Cheers.