A class rear view camera constantly opening at slow speed

[Vespasian14]

Just joined this group and have a question for A class owners. Bought a new 2023 A class 180 in April and I have an issue with the rear view camera. When I first set off the rear view camera opens then closes once you get to about 20mph. Thats no problem so far. What happens next is a problem though. Every time I slow down to 16mph the camera opens then closes again once I get back up to 20mph. It can do this for up to 10 times or even more before it stops doing it. It does this every time I start the car after it has been sitting for a while. The camera opening and closing is very noisy and extremely irritating. I took it into the dealer and after doing some tests and attempted software updates I was advised that this is normal operation on the new A class as it carries out a recalibration every time the car is started up. I was taken out for a test drive in another A class and it did indeed do the same thing. Anyone else on here experienced this issue?

I bought my A Class in October last year and i have had this problem from day one. first of all they seemed interested and went through the motions of taking it back to their service centre and not doing anything. After a lot of hassle I escalated from the dealer to Mercedes-Benz HO. they confirmed my complaint and then proceeded to leave me hanging for several months before coming back to with 'its a characteristic of the car'. The dealer said it was a 'feature'. I say it is a fault that they are deliberately ignoring and brushing people off with this hogwash. the real reason is they have a huge stock of A class which they need to get rid of. I am now awaiting a response from the Motoring Ombudsman to see what they have to say, but i am not holding my breath as they are funded by the motoring industry. What i am waiting is for the car to generate a bit of equity and i will sell it on to someone who is hard of hearing.
It is a fault without question. I have been asking Mercedes to fix it. quite simple request you would think. think again.

 

[sautah]

Interesting read and although I don’t drive an AClass I can say that I’ve successfully tamed similar noises on other vehicles with replacement rubber washers and dynamat applied over certain assemblies.

Might be worth one of you removing the interior trim on the boot lid to investigate a similar fix as Mercedes will not be coming to your aid on this at all.

 

[JCW36]

Just to update you all I escalated to the Financial Service Ombudsman way back in January and I am still no further forward. They kept asking me for more and more details. They wanted to close my case at the preliminary stage as they couldn't see any evidence that there was a fault and if there was that it was in my specific car. Having spent many hours of my time already and lots of effort already I am not exactly sure what would lead them to believe that my complaint was fictitious as I have nothing to gain from all of this apart from hopefully being able to buy a car which is not noisy. I have asked that it is formally reviewed by an Ombudsman rather than an Investigator but I am not holding out much hope. I thought that my consumer rights in relation to faulty goods were there to protect me but it does not seem that this is the case.

 

[OctavianBucur]

Just to update you all I escalated to the Financial Service Ombudsman way back in January and I am still no further forward. They kept asking me for more and more details. They wanted to close my case at the preliminary stage as they couldn't see any evidence that there was a fault and if there was that it was in my specific car. Having spent many hours of my time already and lots of effort already I am not exactly sure what would lead them to believe that my complaint was fictitious as I have nothing to gain from all of this apart from hopefully being able to buy a car which is not noisy. I have asked that it is formally reviewed by an Ombudsman rather than an Investigator but I am not holding out much hope. I thought that my consumer rights in relation to faulty goods were there to protect me but it does not seem that this is the case.

Last time I’ve checked with my dealership, they’ve told me its a safety measure by Mercedes. In case you need to back up quick, camera will pop out and being already calibrated will produce a crisp image. I really don't care about it that much tbh.I am more annoyed now about the plastic sounds from the inside of the car. I understand physics, and that the plastics suffers a bit during hot/cold temp, but why did they put plastic rings around air con vents? That's very poor design from MB Engineering. And door plastic covers produce a sound now when I close them. For a brand new car that have done 5k miles to have all this plastic sounds in the interior, that's dissapointing.

 

[PinkMink]

I've resigned myself to the fact that I have car with a fault. Four visits to the service team (at one point they had my car for a month) and it still does it. It's not going to be resolved and Mercedes won't take it back, so that's that.

I'm one year into a four year PCP deal, probably going to be well into year two or three before I could be in a position to swap it for another car.

 

[mykaitch]

Just joined this group and have a question for A class owners. Bought a new 2023 A class 180 in April and I have an issue with the rear view camera. When I first set off the rear view camera opens then closes once you get to about 20mph. Thats no problem so far. What happens next is a problem though. Every time I slow down to 16mph the camera opens then closes again once I get back up to 20mph. It can do this for up to 10 times or even more before it stops doing it. It does this every time I start the car after it has been sitting for a while. The camera opening and closing is very noisy and extremely irritating. I took it into the dealer and after doing some tests and attempted software updates I was advised that this is normal operation on the new A class as it carries out a recalibration every time the car is started up. I was taken out for a test drive in another A class and it did indeed do the same thing. Anyone else on here experienced this issue?

New software just released by mb. Getting update next week. We all knew it was a fault!

 

[PinkMink]

New software just released by mb. Getting update next week. We all knew it was a fault!

Any more info on this? Is there an official notice somewhere or did you hear that from a rep? Would be great if there is a fix now the days are getting shorter and the calibration isn't possible in the dark.

 

[OctavianBucur]

New software just released by mb. Getting update next week. We all knew it was a fault!

They wont say it was a fault. They will say they've listen to their customers and have changed something. Either way, that will be something good . You reckon is gonna be an "over the air" update? Or he have to book all the cars at a dealership?

 

[mykaitch]

Any more info on this? Is there an official notice somewhere or did you hear that from a rep? Would be great if there is a fix now the days are getting shorter and the calibration isn't possible in the dark.

Bought new gla this year camera driving me mad. Told dealer fix it or take car back. Dealer got new software from Germany two days ago. Tested it, it works. He says....

 

[fourwheels]

I have missed this thread because I have been posting to the GLA thread below which has been running for a long time.

GLA 200 Reverse Camera calibration every time you start

If you’re trying to get a quick solution to your A Class camera I think you are on a losing wicket.
The camera transport is not faulty and the calibration procedure was introduced by MB to overcome legislation in the USA. It’s an overkill but perhaps understandable in the circumstances.

The camera operates on every start up and will calibrate if you meet the following criteria, travel in forward drive at less than 30 kph (18.6 mph) in a straight line for one minute with nothing following you. I don’t believe it calibrates at night or in rain.

In reality none of us do that because we join moving traffic so it will try and fail only to try again when you next slow down and then repeat for entire journey.

I spent ages researching this in forums and media in the USA.
MB were taken to task initially by van drivers who found the camera freezing or not working.
A child protection agency recognised the danger to children and took MB, via the Motoring Federation, to court.

MB was initially fined $15m but I believe settled for $1.5m.
In the meantime Sales and Rentals were halted until the issue was resolved.

Seems MB overreacted by introducing camera startup calibration on all models with certain options.

More information can be found in the above link.

Seems to me the GLA and A Class suffer more because they don’t have the bulk of metal/insulation to absorb the noise but from online reports most MB models across most of the world are affected.

I tried returning mine for a refund just two weeks after purchase. Dealer took weeks to notify MB who then delayed month after month, finally passing back to dealer.
Dead duck now because I will never receive full purchase price.
Seems at this moment of time MB are just not interested in complaints. They may eventually come up with an insulation package but I cannot see them changing the transport system on thousands of cars.
Difficult for owners to fit insulation because of warranty clauses. Only hope is they eventually decide that calibration on 1 of 10 trips, or similar, is sufficient.

I see how difficult it would be for MB to explain this to owners but given the shear volume of online documents they send out there must have been a way.

The other thing is that I understand new legislation was passed possibly in 2023 making reversing cameras essential, or at least working correctly is essential if fitted, this also allows manufacturers to dispense with traditional mirrors and fit only cameras which is why we are beginning to see some Far Eastern cars with only cameras.
I suspect MB are in panic mode.

 

[jowhax]

They wont say it was a fault. They will say they've listen to their customers and have changed something. Either way, that will be something good . You reckon is gonna be an "over the air" update? Or he have to book all the cars at a dealership?

my last “over the air” update was 16/07/2023. Hope this gets fixed soon, especially now with the shorter winter days in Europe, it’s just impossible to calibrate at night due to low light condition. SOOO Painful!!!