High beam assist

wivenhoe

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
143
Reaction score
34
Location
Colchester
Your Mercedes
2018 E Class E350e plug in hybrid
actually. i had a mini cooper just like that,and at the time was happy enough. everyone to their own. i just dont want a system that will go wrong and will cost me a fortune to fix or more likely, replace . that does not actually get me where i need to go. i would rather use the difference in cost to keep something less complicated running tyres ,servicing ect .generally it my view that a lot of tech that seems to arrive is fundamentally designed to put another cost in the food chain ,that previously did not exist . eg computers great, but 5 min later along came the virus .5min later came the additional expense,headache, of the anti virus systems, coincidence ,methinks not.. . we have lights on cars that point generally where we want to go. now we have cornering lights ? then we have the costs to upkeep them and such things that never existed before.and are often FAR from simple and non repairable and ludicrously expensive , if they ever get to £50 and if one can ever fix them ones self i may think about it and such things until then i am content to allow others to pay for them to be ,discontinued,( remember betamax ) superseded or deemed a failure at times it all seems a bit like the 3 km queue when apple bring out yet another phone to replace the earlier, which seemed to work well enough. to me utterly barmy, but as said everyone to their own.
Perhaps this why ILS is an option
 

wivenhoe

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
143
Reaction score
34
Location
Colchester
Your Mercedes
2018 E Class E350e plug in hybrid
Well ..... someone has believed the hype. :rolleyes:

why's it always the on coming Merc that initially dazzles me if the tech works as well as it says on the tin?

I have to put my hand up & admit I've never used this system, but I fail to see how a headlamp can sense an oncoming car that has yet to come into view like a person can. But I also admit my mind has been elsewhere sometimes and the oncoming car has been met by my full beam. But I've been free to use my full beam when I wanted it. :)
How do you know that the oncoming Merc has ILS ? I have had ILS on my last 3 cars and never been ‘flashed’ - if anything, the system reacts quicker than I would and it is one less distraction.
 

EmilysDad

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
12,120
Reaction score
5,664
Location
Bury Lancs
Your Mercedes
ML350
How do you know that the oncoming Merc has ILS ? I have had ILS on my last 3 cars and never been ‘flashed’ - if anything, the system reacts quicker than I would and it is one less distraction.

Just assuming .....
the system can only react after it's 'seen' you whereas you can tell there's a car coming around the bend before you actually see it so I can believe it can react faster
 

rf065

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,520
Reaction score
996
Location
Grossbritannien
Your Mercedes
SLC300 - C250d Estate 4 Matic & Z900rs
it doesn't prevent dazzle as can be seen all over the country, 9 out of 10 vehicles dazzling you with ridiculously bright, painful light is ALWAYS a modern Mercedes with LEDs

Yet I drove through the night from Cornwall to Glasgow with ILS on full beam the whole time and never got flashed even once, which would suggest your previous statement as not true in the slightest?
 

EmilysDad

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
12,120
Reaction score
5,664
Location
Bury Lancs
Your Mercedes
ML350
Yet I drove through the night from Cornwall to Glasgow with ILS on full beam the whole time and never got flashed even once, which would suggest your previous statement as not true in the slightest?

perhaps on coming traffic were just being polite :rolleyes:
 

Srdl

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2015
Messages
7,102
Reaction score
5,904
Location
Hampshire
Your Mercedes
GLC43 AMG 2018 (X253)
what's NOT an option on a Merc?
Quite a lot actually. It was whilst I was considering a Porsche Macan earlier this year that I realised just how much I was going to have to add to just bring it up to the standard Merc spec
 

EmilysDad

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
12,120
Reaction score
5,664
Location
Bury Lancs
Your Mercedes
ML350
Quite a lot actually. It was whilst I was considering a Porsche Macan earlier this year that I realised just how much I was going to have to add to just bring it up to the standard Merc spec

I can only suggest that the Porsche was really poverty spec then. For example on my R Class the front heated seats, pan roof, remote tailgate, air suspension were all options and the reason why the memory seats/steering column/mirrors, sat nav, proper leather etc are all missing.
I've recently looking for a replacement towcar & all the above & more are all standard on one of the possible replacement cars
 

ajlsl600

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Messages
9,031
Reaction score
6,029
Location
france
Your Mercedes
clk3202001,sl6002003 with everything regrettably sold ,A class 170cdi auto. NG/TF1800 ML250
I have high beam assist & haven't used it for ages.I like to control the high beam myself and I think I dazzle less oncoming drivers by doing this.
For the last 3 weeks I've been commuting through darkened lanes morning & evening & I'd much rather dip my headlights before an oncoming car gets within my sights.


if this kit was an optional extra at replacement prices i have heard of !!!! i wonder how many would choose it ??? for sure not I .
 

Headhurts

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
1,048
Reaction score
330
Location
Norwich, Norfolk
Your Mercedes
Mercedes GLC300 2021
I too have ILS, it seems to react extremely quickly and I have very rarely been flashed certainly no more so than when I had manual control.

The worse cars to me for blinding you are where they are seemingly badly maintained and for some reason those older yellowy lights that seem to spread their beam around.

Should I buy another new car ILS would be too of my list as they make driving at night a far less dangerous task than the lights on some new cars I have owned which were positively awful and indeed dangerous.

Robin
 

EmilysDad

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
12,120
Reaction score
5,664
Location
Bury Lancs
Your Mercedes
ML350
.... than the lights on some new cars I have owned which were positively awful and indeed dangerous.

Robin

They couldn't be worse than those of my R Class .... for a car of it's original cost, the lights are dire
 

Botus

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2014
Messages
6,287
Reaction score
2,475
Location
UK
Your Mercedes
S500/2010/500
Yet I drove through the night from Cornwall to Glasgow with ILS on full beam the whole time and never got flashed even once, which would suggest your previous statement as not true in the slightest?


YES ! most people are so blinded they are focusing on not crashing their car - and don't forget we all getting used to no longer being able to see ANYTHING at night due to these ****** dangerous trash lights
 

wivenhoe

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
143
Reaction score
34
Location
Colchester
Your Mercedes
2018 E Class E350e plug in hybrid
They couldn't be worse than those of my R Class .... for a car of it's original cost, the lights are dire
Are you still driving the 2007 R Class in your profile. If so it is not surprising the lights are dire - they all were 11 years ago. Things have moved on !
 

EmilysDad

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
12,120
Reaction score
5,664
Location
Bury Lancs
Your Mercedes
ML350
Are you still driving the 2007 R Class in your profile. If so it is not surprising the lights are dire - they all were 11 years ago. Things have moved on !

Funny then how it's 1999 predecessor had better lights .... as does the 05 Smart Roadster ;)
 

Botus

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2014
Messages
6,287
Reaction score
2,475
Location
UK
Your Mercedes
S500/2010/500
out and about today as dusk came round when I came across two search light, burn out your eyeball cars with LED light on the M3 (road were pretty quiet) from afar I thought here we go these will be an issue, and whilst far brighter than the sun most planet's go round, as I got closer and closer they were less irritating than I expected... then I realised they were both BMWs.

Another one was a bit silly and then just before we passed each other they went into mental mode and were pretty fearsome on the eyes... it was a Mercedes
 

rorywquin

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2016
Messages
9,488
Reaction score
6,385
Location
North Yorkshire
Your Mercedes
An old B-Class.
I just got home (in the dark) and en-route from my sons house because of this thread, decided to check out my lights on motorway and country roads.

From startup, the high beam comes on at just over 20mph (as I left his village). Under 20mph visibility, on a country road, is perfectly good with dipped beams (if you disagree - get your eyes tested :)). Once the high beam came on (20 ish), it remained active even when the speed dropped under ~20mph. Going through villages (30mph), the high beams were inactive but immediately departing the village they went back to high (but appropriately focussed).

The newer ILS is linked to the car GPS system and knows when you are in villages, approaching roundabouts, on motorways etc and also is very intelligent, constantly refocussing the beams. I can drive behind a car with high beam and he does not even notice it (except possibly that he has improved visibility) - it looks like a black box around the back end of the car ahead.

Being aware of negative posts on the MB ILS in this thread, I was paying close attention to what mine were doing during my 45 minute journey (in darkness) home including the A1 and country lanes and in all honesty cannot fault them (for my purposes).

I'm sure there are many out there that long for TVs without a remote control and making toast over a fire....I'm moving on.:);)
 
Last edited:

rorywquin

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2016
Messages
9,488
Reaction score
6,385
Location
North Yorkshire
Your Mercedes
An old B-Class.
M
YES ! most people are so blinded they are focusing on not crashing their car - and don't forget we all getting used to no longer being able to see ANYTHING at night due to these ****** dangerous trash lights

You should test drive a car with modern ILS - mine are permanently on auto and I've never been flashed by an oncoming car.

I'm sure there are many motorists with your views (pun intended) :) driving around that would have been more than happy to flash me if they felt the need.

I fail to understand why people think that MB would put cars on the road with dangerous lights.

There are countless people who have illegal HID upgrades which are more likely to be the cause of dazzling oncoming drivers.
 

Craiglxviii

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2015
Messages
17,781
Reaction score
7,426
Location
Cambs UK
Your Mercedes
970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
I’m with Rory.

There’s a world of difference between HBA (auto cancelling high beam) and ILS (fancy Dan bendy beam moving black spot).

My W212 with LED ILS (gen 1) was the best lighting system I’ve ever seen in operation, beating the BMW laser kit hands down in everything except range.

Never got flashed. If other drivers were dazzled it was only when cresting a rise where they’d almost certainly have been dazzled by me anyway. Left permanently on Auto. They’re getting better too with the electronically scanned matrix arrays over the mechanically scanned array, far finer resolution and much faster reaction time.

OP- to allow main beam operation at below 40km/h you must turn your lamp selector switch to ON from AUTO. That then disables the intelligent part of the system.
 

d:class automotive are specialists in automotive interiors and upholstery. From Mercedes and modern cars to custom and classics. Tel: 01483 722923 Email:info@dclass.co.ukWeb:www.dclass.co.uk
Top Bottom