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After a late nite drive in the canyons to take some photos I realized the stock lighting on the E63s is just not good enough for the canyons.
With deer and coyote on the road at times the stock lighting needs a major upgrade.
I installed a 42" LED light bar onto a Thule rack and will trigger the on/off with a 12 volt RF relay trigger mounted on the floor to act like an old school dimmer switch for control..
Cool. That's what my ML needs. How did you wire it?
I was going to use the high beam as a trigger but the Mercedes wiring is all can bus so that is out.
I'm using a standard 12 volt relay mounted near the battery up front and the trigger will be a foot mounted RF on/off switch by my left foot in order to dim the light bar for on coming traffic,
Running the wiring from the engine bay up the left side door weather seal. No drilling..
wait, so... the lights that ship on US models != the lights that ship on euro models? aka it isn't just coding?
i'd be interested to see the mercedes part numbers.
Yes, US version is different: turn sign orange color is visible from the distance. Learned this during my delivery at Center of Excellence in May. Both shown below, sorry for the low res on Euro headlight but this is the best picture I have.
Who cares about euro lights vs American lights...They are the same brightness and are equally inefficient in the canyons.
The auto dimming feature is too slow to bring the brights back into play and should not be used in auto while driving in the canyons..
No one cares how they look we care how well they work at lighting the road..
This thread is not about cosmetics please start another..
Good to know. I had a firm belief in my head (because I read it somewhere on the internet) that if you spec'd the upgraded lighting package then you would get the same lamps the euro cars get...but with a reduced output due to software.
Ronin, the Euro version of the intelligent lighting system doesn't simply dim high to low like the US version. The Euro version actually modifies the light pattern to keep the high beams up on the right side of the road while deleting the light in the direction of the oncoming traffic. Also does some neat things like dimming in the direction of some traffic signs to cut glare from reflections.
Supposedly, the US version of the intelligent LED lights is capable of doing the same thing but doesn't because of an archaic US law that needs updating. The US lights are a different part because of the required amber lens in the light. I'm hopeful that if the law is ever changed, it will be a software update to enable the intelligent feature I (and many others here) paid over $1000 for as an option only to find out after the fact that it's brain damaged per US law.
Newer versions of smart headlights can actually draw signs and words on the roadway in front of the driver to provide turning instructions and so on. Yet we in the US won't be able to take advantage of these till the law is updated.
Ronin is not pleased because he took some very cool long exposure shots and mounted a damn light bar to his wagon...pretty badass...and all we can do is come in and start talking about amber lenses in our headlights. I understand the frustration .
Good to know. I had a firm belief in my head (because I read it somewhere on the internet) that if you spec'd the upgraded lighting package then you would get the same lamps the euro cars get...but with a reduced output due to software.
Originally Posted by b0rderman
Ronin is not pleased because he took some very cool long exposure shots and mounted a damn light bar to his wagon...pretty badass...and all we can do is come in and start talking about amber lenses in our headlights. I understand the frustration .
Should change the title of the thread to LET IT BE DARK if we are not allowed to talk about LIGHT = Headlights, but let me answer the question first:
my car has adaptive LED and my headlight was shown above.
So, this means that US adaptive LED headlight != the EU.
BTW, had adaptive LED on my W212 and visibility was great! Both on the straight road, as well as canyons. Headlights are switching in between High/Low beam as well as moving as you turn the steering wheel.....
I did complement him on the excellent photography.
I've got a couple nice SLRs that I don't use enough give the ubiquity of the cell phone always being at hand. Even when I was photographing regularly I couldn't have done such nice photos so props to him. Great technical work plus nice composition and subject, etc.
It's not the light pattern that is the issue it is the distance and spread of the light beam that is the issue in the canyons.
These cars are faster than their headlights and if you want to enjoy the car at night ya gotta see where you are going and the same goes for the deer on the road side...
A simple floor mounted switch works better than any of the auto modes for the headlights due to the delay in auto mode while at speed on a dark mountain road.. the BRIGHTER the better..
Here a few of my old canyon cars that have seen many late nights on Mulholland
07-25-2019, 12:03 PM
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LET IT BE DARK
I did complement him on the excellent photography.
