100% 5 star rated since ever
https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...lights-us.html

 

I ordered mine last week; waiting for it to arrive. I do a lot of back road night driving dodging deer. Whenever the high beams turn off, I pray that this is not the time that a deer comes running across the road. Hopefully the HBs will now stay on, and I can get a earlier look at the deer. Looking forward to the upgrade.

HOWEVER, the real question here is why does MB sell products to U.S. market that don't work/can't be activated?????

 

Mercedes sells the intelligent headlight system in the US, which does work. They did not sell the mult-beam headilghts in the US, because those were illegal.

On my e63s the intelligent headlights were an $800 additional charge. Someone from Europe would have to chime in on the additional charge for multi-beam headlights in that geo, but I believe I saw somewhere that they were a multi-thousand dollar (euro?) option.

If the question is why did they include the hardware for the multi-beam headlights in the US, even if there was likely no intention of ever fully unlocking them (due to the regulatory issues), that is a manufacturing question but I suspect it costs less to have a single module that can be programmed with software than it does to have different modules. Many people would be amazed at the number of products that are otherwise identical, but 'defeatured' to meet different markets and/or price-points.

 

I don’t agree. There is no way to sell a 1950s technology, automatic headlight dimming, for $800 USD unless you planning on turning on the greater functionality when it becomes legal to do so. If MBUSA insists on stiffing their customers third parties like Vlad will step in to fill the void.

 

Puzzling. Mercedes has sold many, many thousands of the intelligent light system headlights for $800 (the price probably varies by car model, I'm just using the price on my car's sticker), with no announced or planned upgrade to full multi-beam capability. Thus it is demonstrably entirely possible to sell at that price.

I've got Vlad's module installed in my wagon, so I certainly understand that a software change is technically possible. I suspect nobody here is qualified to say whether the ILS with Vlad's module is legal in the US, even with the recent NHTSA ruling.

 

I want to meet the person in the US who ordered the Intelligent Lights for $800. A 1955 Delco dimmer, to be sure. MBUSA putting it on inventoried cars is just stuffing the customer not selling. Rather like a resort fee. I hope MBUSA activates the full system, but it isn’t worth $460 USD to me.

 

Please message me if anyone is looking to get this or another service coded in Toronto - I'm happy to help - but I'm not a store or professional.

In the meantime - here are the full instructions on how to do this coding with a $30 USD OBD device, your laptop, and some software - works great, and looks wonderful! Plus you can do a full backup so you don't risk anything. Cheers!

Full Coding for activating ILS+ Headlights

 

I have been looking into getting ILS+ activated. However, I expect HONESTY and TRANSPARENCY from anyone selling me a product; including MB, who should have never sold me the Advanced MultiBeam Lighting System, since it cannot be activated in the U.S. At bare minimum, they should have disclosed this to me at time of purchase, and let me decide if I wanted to waste the money on it.

Ninja, you state "Keep in mind that by messing with a OBD plug on your car you are takings risks"; however, doesn't your VCI also require a connection via the OBD port? Understandably, the user can pair their laptop or perhaps iPhone to the VCI device, but ultimately, your VCI device needs to connect to an OBD port, just as any other vendor needs to, and therefore, INHERIT THE SAME EXACT RISKS. Your DISHONEST statements are why you get so much push-back these forums.

 

Disparaging a competitor by calling their product vladicrap just brought the ban hammer. 1 potential customer lost forever.

 

Post reported. If you'd done your research, you would know that the vendor you are bashing provides a number of options that can be bundled into the purchase. The car's current configuration is saved and can be restored back to the factory settings if desired, AKA revert.

The product is in use by many forum members with great results.

You may have a product that works, it may even have more features or be easier to use or smell like rainbows while in operation, but I'll never never use it because of your bashing of another vendor for no good reason.

 

From MBUSA.com..

"Pioneered by Mercedes-Benz, active LED headlamps can generate light that's perceived much like natural daylight. Active Curve Illumination and Adaptive Highbeam Assist continuously adjust the beam pattern of the LEDs in each headlamp to help maximize the illumination of corners and straightaways, without creating glare for other drivers. An Ultra Wide Highbeam feature is designed to better illuminate the road and the environment along either side."

Mine do none of that, they just function as a basic auto high beam. They put on a little light show when I turn on the engine but that's it. Not even articulating around turns. And yes I do have the multi-beam headlights.

 

Hi Tony, since you have the multibeam headlights, if you enable the options like in the Video I posted, or get someone to do it for you - you will enjoy all the cool stuff it has to offer! I really enjoy it on my personal car.

Basically, the ENTIRE coding is all about changing one option again and again from US headlight spec to EURO headlight spec. You will also not *mess up your car* doing this coding, it's setting options not actually typing in special numbers and letters by hand. Plus you can backup the whole thing pretty easily in case you can't remember that your Old settings were USA everything instead of EURO everything.

 

I use the Vlad plug and it functions great. I get all the advertised functionality. You can drive behind someone and see the high beams are on and watch it delete the light from a box around the car in front and see it move as both cars follow contours in the road or hit bumps, etc. Likewise for the oncoming cars.

Pimp your own product all you want but please do it without unfairly bashing the products of others.

 

Thanks to this thread starting me on the idea, and the help of a few friends around the internet - I've put together this coding table for anyone that needs help.

Overview
1) In total you will connect to 5 ECUs - Central Gateway, Chassis Gateway, Your instrument Cluster, and Left and Right headlights
2) In total you will set 18 options to basically "on" or "euro"

Backups
To Save an ECU file and prevent screwups - Connect to ECU, click variant coding, and click Save file - select a location on your hard disk. Done.

Coding Instructions / How to use table
Connect to ECU
Open Variant Coding
Select the Dropdown stated from the services dropdown menu
Select the Fragment from the Fragment Dropdown menu
Select the value in the value table
Repeat for each line in the table until done with ECU, and click hard_reset to save changes
Goto Next ECU and repeat the process


IHS+ Multibeam Enabler Coding Instructions by o_Rage_o


IHS+ Multibeam Enabler Coding Instruction Table by o_Rage_o

 

Thanks for the video. I have bookmarked it. I'm sure i will take advantage of it.

 

I'm trying to understand the process so that I can make an informed decision when I am ready to pull the trigger. So, what makes your OBD connection less risky then the other OBD connections?

 

The risks using a plug in ODB port remain the same - limited and low (static? misaligned entry? low battery voltage during operation? poor quality physical tool?), instead the risk lies in the execution of steps (and potentially quality of tool):

Using an online auto-plug is like using a Tesla with AutoPilot - its great until something "different" is on the road than what the program expected. It is susceptible to bugs because no one expected a broken exhaust to appear on the road in front of you, so the automated plug can't handle what a human driver easily could. Usually, when this happens, the attempt is to restore from backup, the author reviews the logs to see the bug, modify the scripted execution and release a new version of the plug.

Manual coding using your own plug / having someone remote control a plug - is like using a Tesla without AutoPilot - you drive, you see something unusual on the road like a piece of exhaust, you know how many lanes you should move over, what safe speed to go, and how to continue easily.

Each car is unique, with it's own options, so these "broken exhausts" can appear as even a slight change to the name of an option, location and order on a list, etc. As your car is updated from Mercedes and the names of an option or location of an option change, the "auto pilot" needs to be updated to handle exceptions. A manual coder does not need to be "updated", they would just say "oh ...where did it go", and find the option they wanted elsewhere.

 

So, if I understand you correctly, it is not the OBD connections, because they either work or they don't, but rather the person doing the coding. I don't know Vlad, and have never spoken to him. However, based on what you are saying, I guess you have a much different opinion regarding his quality of work then many other satisfied customers of his that subscribe to this forum. Again, making disparaging comments about a competitor of yours is disrespectful and there should be place for comments like that on this forum. I'm sure Vlad would like to say a few things about you (my opinion, not his), but, by keeping those comments to himself, he seems to be a more professional and classy person than you appear to be. Therefore, I will be crossing you (Ninja) off my short list. Thanks for making that easy.

 

If he is not a competitor, then why do you bother to make negative comments about him? Promote your business and move on. Leave others out of it. Sorry everyone, I got carried away. ENOUGH SAID ON THIS TOPIC, from me..

 

My understanding, and MBUSA may be partaking of some word-smithing here, is that there is a distinction between adaptive highbeam assist, which technically does what they say above, and multibeam assist. Here's their description of adaptive highbeam assist:
This talks about varying the range, but not the "boxing out" effect that you get from multi-beam assist, which is described here: , but the narrator does also mention explicitly that, prior to 2022, this was not allowed in the US.

That said, even before I installed Vlad's Awesome Module, I did get auto high beam dimming and, when turning a sharp corner at low speeds (e.g. into my driveway), I got corner illumination. Some of these features can be enabled/disabled in the computer, but if you paid for ILS and aren't getting any of that, you should see your dealer. There's something wrong.

But the multi-beam is different than this. Before this year it was illegal in the US, and even now I would not be surprised if systems need to be explicitly qualified by regulators before they can be used.

 

Thanks for the Video. It was my understanding that High Beam Assist became standard on 2022 GLE450, which is what I have. I also paid for "LED Intelligent Light System" and my headlights have "Multibeam LED" engraved on them. I will look into what Vlad has to offer, and few others as well. BTW, MB SA knows nothing about multi-beam assist.

 

sometimes you can't really fault them for not knowing as there are simply way too many tech gadgets in the vehicles these days and with so many trims and models in the line up, the customers actually may know a lot more than any SA out there.

 

Has anyone else made this product for the W213? $500 is way too steep for me. Thanks.

 

Now that I am located in Germany with my U.S. Spec Wagon, can I ask the dealership here to "turn on" all the functions of my Multi-beam LED Headlights?

I imagine there could be some small difficulties getting German programming software to work on a U.S. spec'd car, but there has to be a way.

Mike

 

I have a '22 GLE 450, so clearly, I am in the wrong thread. However, I had my headlights coded by rjautomotive.net . They work great!!. I had a few other things done at the same time, but I believe the headlights can be done for around $250. If you email them your VIN, they will let you know if compatible.