Automatic Lights
Discussion
New to the mercedes part of this forum as just bought an 2010 e500 Coupe. Advice on the lights for a newbie to a mercedes needed though. Light switch on 0 this morning, which is supposed to be off, but driving out of where I live I go down a tree lined road and despite the beautiful blue skies, the headlights switch themselves on, and the green dipped headlight is lit in the rev counter. The lights don't switch themselves off for a few minutes which means I am then driving down normal roads in beautiful sunshine with the headlights on dip! Is this supposed to happen? If the light switch is on 0 then surely they are supposed to be off, not on automatic which is the A setting on the light switch.
Edited by DuncanDisorderly on Monday 4th August 08:58
Strange; it certainly sounds as if they are on Auto.. Might be worth moving the switch between positions a few times in case it wasn't fully home.
As far as I am aware, up to about my2012 (i think) the light switches had an O position and the auto position as the first click to the right, followed by side, then head. The later ones simply had 'auto' as the default 'off' position, ie you can't turn the b****y things off and the car is in control, which infuriates me at times
My wife's has the older system, which I think should be the same as yours - just have to remember that you need 3 clicks to put headlights on, rather than the usual 2, as you have to go through auto position first. That sometimes catches her out.
Mine has the later 'always on auto' switch, which I find a real nuisance. Auto is at the 12 o'clock position, with headlights to the right, side to the left. As you say, they sometimes come on when you don't want them on, and then stay on until the car decides it's time to extinguish them, presumably through a time delay to stop continual on/off on occasions.
In tunnels it can be a pain; it obviously can't anticipate the tunnel and turn them on early, nor does it turn them off as soon as you exit. If you turn them on manually, I've sometimes turned them off, only for the car to decide it still wants them on, and it will turn them off when it suits the car, not me. Technology, don't you just love it
And the light timer obviously doesn't work in tandem with the satnav/audio night screen either.
I sometimes turn the sidelights on to stop the auto function taking over when I don't want them keep coming on / off.
Nice car, by the way.
As far as I am aware, up to about my2012 (i think) the light switches had an O position and the auto position as the first click to the right, followed by side, then head. The later ones simply had 'auto' as the default 'off' position, ie you can't turn the b****y things off and the car is in control, which infuriates me at times
My wife's has the older system, which I think should be the same as yours - just have to remember that you need 3 clicks to put headlights on, rather than the usual 2, as you have to go through auto position first. That sometimes catches her out.
Mine has the later 'always on auto' switch, which I find a real nuisance. Auto is at the 12 o'clock position, with headlights to the right, side to the left. As you say, they sometimes come on when you don't want them on, and then stay on until the car decides it's time to extinguish them, presumably through a time delay to stop continual on/off on occasions.
In tunnels it can be a pain; it obviously can't anticipate the tunnel and turn them on early, nor does it turn them off as soon as you exit. If you turn them on manually, I've sometimes turned them off, only for the car to decide it still wants them on, and it will turn them off when it suits the car, not me. Technology, don't you just love it
And the light timer obviously doesn't work in tandem with the satnav/audio night screen either.
I sometimes turn the sidelights on to stop the auto function taking over when I don't want them keep coming on / off.
Nice car, by the way.
Solved it
My lights do have an Off setting, the 0 on the switch (think it is the later models that did away with this and the only have an A setting). However if the daylight lights are set to on in the settings menu then the nice people at Mercedes have taken it upon themselves to override the drivers intention and then use the A setting, even if the switch is set to off. To get them to switch off completely you have to set the daylight lights to off as well, then off on the light switch really means off.
My lights do have an Off setting, the 0 on the switch (think it is the later models that did away with this and the only have an A setting). However if the daylight lights are set to on in the settings menu then the nice people at Mercedes have taken it upon themselves to override the drivers intention and then use the A setting, even if the switch is set to off. To get them to switch off completely you have to set the daylight lights to off as well, then off on the light switch really means off.
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