AppleFan1

I am curious to know if any of you have actually seen the spotlight flashing in real life while the Night Vision Plus was activated when you were driving your car? If, not, how do we know it works as intended? Is there any way to test it?

WEBSRFR

This video is really cool. It shows the spotlight flash. Would be nice if we could see this from the perspective of the pedestrian.

WEBSRFR

Okay so I found it from the pedestrian's perspective. They are not kidding about it being a spotlight. It is bright! Very impressive. Does anyone else offer this technology, beside Mercedes?

AppleFan1

Thanks! Those are very informative videos on the Night View Assist plus. So, how do we know that it will work as intended if activated? I guess, I should test it on one of the streets in my neighborhood and with my wife walking on the sidewalk.

WEBSRFR

Shouldn't you be able to tell in the car? You can clearly see the system working on the videos and the second video shows what the pedestrian sees so your wife should be able to enjoy the same blindingly brilliant experience

AppleFan1

Yes, I'm sure it will work correctly, but I have never seen it in action yet since I I don't think I have come across a pedestrian or an animal on the side of the road while driving at night with this car. My wife will think I'm crazy when I request this favor from her.

Mike5215

I have regular NightView Assist on my 221. Does NightView Assist Plus now specifically identify hookers, because I'd definitely pay extra for that.

TestnDoc

That is amazing technology!

Mike5215

I was kidding. I don't think it can accurately identify hookers.

WEBSRFR

Um. Mike, you need to get the Magic Body Control package for that

xxGenericSNxx

From what I understand we don't get the spotlight feature in the US. I know BMW offers the same tech in Europe on the new X5 and my friend who ordered an X5 here in the US was talking about how the European system gets the spotlight while US is simply the night vision in the display.

WEBSRFR

Too bad we can be so backwards sometimes... The spotlight feature can be lifesaving in dark roads. I heard the auto high beam assist was also not allowed in the US at the beginning but now it is -- right?

Some manufacturers want to get rid of the side view mirrors and replace them with cameras that can see in the dark. Would be interesting if that is worked out.

AppleFan1

Wait a minute! So the spotlight is not available here in the U.S.? If it's not, then why hasn't MB told us about it? In all the literature (including the manual), nowhere does it say that it's not available here. In any case, it appears that this feature will only work on totally unlit roads, is that right?

hyperion667

xxGenericSNxx

I'm not 100% sure if we have the spotlight feature or not in the US 222. I'm only basing that guess on my friend's statement that we don't get it on the US X5s while European ones do. Presumably due to some stupid law.

Same thing with the active high beams. We get a "crappier" version of the active high beams than our European counterparts but I'm not exactly sure how. I know we do get some form of active high beams in the US though.

It's the same reason European cars' tail lights blink quickly in a panic stop to better alert people in the rear but it's illegal in the US because our definition of a brake light is a "constant red light that is on when braking" whereas a flashing brake light is construed as on and off. Our laws here suck.

AppleFan1

Thanks Generic. I bet we do have the spotlight feature here on the W222 for the reason I stated above. It does not say anywhere that we do not have it.

TomS

In the video, they show the lens in the grill to the left of the black sensor in the middle. I have a US W222 and I have that as well.

I had the system auto activate once, but it did not put a box around anyone. I need to duplicate the test in the video. The only problem is I need to figure out how to get that deer to stand still on his mark. They are such prima donnas.

Seriously, I have some very dark spots in town and I use it there. Motow Week had a review of the car (finally!) this last week. Their one comment was that the very button you need to find in the dark is the hardest—namely the night vision. It would have been good to put the steering assist all the way right on the display as that gets turned off rarely where one needs to find the night vision button in the dark. I am learning the car by feel so that will just take some time.

hyperion667

on the E550 I had the nightvision rarely highlighted walkers in a box.....saw it maybe three or four times.......but it was quite exciting when it happened.....
I haven't even used it on my S yet; don't drive at night very often.....
but I do love how the 'dials' spin to make room for the NV

AppleFan1

Yes Tom! I also have that lens in the grill. Here is the only other question I have about this topic: Will the system automatically work when necessary even if the night vision button is not turned on?

TomS

Surely on the dark roads of Iowa you can find a willing deer. If I had to guess, the lawyers did not allow them to disable it even if you push the button off, but I would have to read up on that or test it. Sounds like a good use of the teenager.

Tom

Mike5215

A lot of the time regular Nightview Assist puts a box around the pedestrian, but it still makes it hard to hit them. It would be nice if Nightview Assist Plus added a targeting function.

AppleFan1

No dark roads in my neighborhood. However, yes there are plenty out in the countryside on roads surrounded by corn and soybean fields. Speaking of deer, 2 years ago this past November, a huge buck hit the driver's side front of my LS and did extensive damage. The SOB came out of nowhere on the left side of the road about a quarter of a mile from my home. I was only going about 30 mph at the time but had no chance to escape it. I slammed on the breaks but could not stop on time. The buck bounced of the front of the car, hit the driver's side door and off it went to the rear. I saw it and a bunch of other deer in the rear view mirror on the side of the road. I don't think the buck was seriously injured, but my car sure was. It needed about $4-5,000 worth of body work. That was extremely upsetting to say the least.

Since this incident the road where it happened has been greatly widened and it has much better lighting. There is an underpass at some point on the road and the deer pass though this underpass I believe. I have not seen a deer on this road for quite a long time now since the road has been widened. However, we have plenty of deer passing through our back yard on numerous occasions.

Avoiding deer accidents and of course watching for pedestrians is a major reason I ordered the Night Vision Assist plus and I hope it works as advertised.

BadMojo

The Spotlight feature did make it to US cars. It only works on pedestrians. MB's reasoning is that an animal's reaction to flashing lights is unpredictable - it may cause it to freak out instead of running out of the way, which makes sense.

You can ensure that the Spotlight feature is activated by pressing the home button on the steering wheel, scrolling down to Settings in the main instrument screen, then scrolling down to Lights. You'll have an option to turn Spotlight on or off.

You also need to ensure that the Adaptive Highbeam Assist feature is on (basically, put the headlights on Auto using the knob to the left of the steering wheel and use the indicator stalk to turn on Auto high beams).

Pages 238 and 262 in the S-Class manual has all the info in greater detail. Or you could use the digital Operator's Manual...

It only works under specific conditions:

- No light on the road
- Above 40 mph
- Spotlight and Adaptive Highbeam Assist are activated

In my case, the system has activated on several occasions. Not sure if the pedestrians were flashed but I definitely did see the, uhh, 'targeting reticles' around the pedestrians. In all instances, I had no clue that a person was even there until I was about a second away from them.

WEBSRFR

Would this work with emergency breaking in case they cross over the path of the vehicle?

xxGenericSNxx

Glad that the spotlight feature is here on US cars!