A class rear view camera constantly opening at slow speed

[rf065]

Followed an EQC yesterday, rear camera constantly opening and closing in stop/start traffic for the couple of miles I was behind it.

 

[markjay]

Followed an EQC yesterday, rear camera constantly opening and closing in stop/start traffic for the couple of miles I was behind it.

As long as it's well insulated and the driver can't hear it... it's fine.

 

[SpikyMikey]

As long as it's well insulated and the driver can't hear it... it's fine.

Until 4 years down the road the mechanism wears out with the constant opening and closing and MB want a king's ransom to replace it

 

[John N]

I was following a EQA in a line of Traffic yesterday and every 20 to 30 Seconds the rear camera was constantly opening and closing while moving or stationary!

 

[fourwheels]

I’ve stayed quiet on this for a while as I’ve tried to put it to the back of my mind but yes I can confirm the camera in my GLA constantly clatters on all short journeys.
By short I mean the usual trips in commuter traffic to the shops or gym when it never gets the chance to calibrate. It is still chattering away when I pull into my drive on the return trip, which makes me wonder if it hasn’t calibrate - can I depend on it?

On faster motorway journeys it goes back to sleep because it can’t calibrate.

I can say lots a bad things about this because I find it particularly annoying that we have to suffer this on a £40k plus car.

I understand the background now but surely Mercedes could arrange for it to calibrate once a week, or every 20 drives or something.

Yes it probably is better insulated on E Class and S Class saloons but that doesn’t help those with A’s and GLA’s and EQA’s.

There are still people worldwide saying they have just taken delivery of a GLA or A Class and there’s a clattering at the back which the Dealer can’t explain, although one American was apparently told by his dealer that it was the seat belts tightening in case they were rear ended at the traffic lights.

It’s a Mercedes, but you couldn’t make it up.

I’ve owned some really nice Mercedes cars in the past but unfortunately I’m stuck with this one until the household finances balance a bit.

 

[fourwheels]

Well I’ve just installed a software update v2.6.1 on my car. The brief explanation note said updates to MBUX, Dolby, Reversing Camera etc so I held my breath and hoped but after a short drive round the block nothing has changed and I was accompanied by the usual clatter when I slowed down.
Anyone else more successful?

 

[DonaldS]

Well I’ve just installed a software update v2.6.1 on my car. The brief explanation note said updates to MBUX, Dolby, Reversing Camera etc so I held my breath and hoped but after a short drive round the block nothing has changed and I was accompanied by the usual clatter when I slowed down.
Anyone else more successful?

This update has been installed on my 2023 A180 but no effect on the camera. In my opinion MB are never going to change the way the camera operates retrospectively so I’ve just got to accept it.

 

[FiveAlive]

I really cannot understand why Mercedes don't just change the programming to keep the camera out until the camera has calibrated or the car is going above, say 50 mph. The constant opening and shutting is very likely to wear out the mechanism during the lifetime of the car. I suspect that Mercedes have worked out that as long as it lasts past the end of the warranty they don't care enough to fix it, which is very poor form if so.

 

[Bigdrew]

Is this just happening to newer cars or is it also happening to older cars with the rear camera

 

[DonaldS]

Is this just happening to newer cars or is it also happening to older cars with the rear camera

As far as I am aware it’s just on cars from 2023 onwards. Older cars could occasionally require a camera calibration but this was achieved by driving slowly in a straight line for a short period of time for one time only. You can still complete the calibration in this way on the newer cars to prevent the camera constantly opening and closing but it’s not practical or probably even possible to do this every time you start the car.

 

[Bigdrew]

As far as I am aware it’s just on cars from 2023 onwards. Older cars could occasionally require a camera calibration but this was achieved by driving slowly in a straight line for a short period of time for one time only. You can still complete the calibration in this way on the newer cars to prevent the camera constantly opening and closing but it’s not practical or probably even possible to do this every time you start the car.

Hi just wandered as my car is before 2023 touch wood it keeps working ok so if this is only happening on car from 2023 what’s causing it surely if it worked ok on the older cars there shouldn’t have been any problem on newer models

 

[DonaldS]

Hi just wandered as my car is before 2023 touch wood it keeps working ok so if this is only happening on car from 2023 what’s causing it surely if it worked ok on the older cars there shouldn’t have been any problem on newer models

As far as MB are concerned there is not actually a problem with the camera as they deliberately reprogrammed it on 2023 cars onward to require calibration every single time the car is started. I understand this is for safety reasons driven by a legal issue in the US.

 

[philip-ellis]

You think that's excessive? Wait until it decides a minute or so is not long enough, one time it took me every day for two weeks going to an empty industrial estate every time I was passing to get it to calibrate. There are not many roads that are straight enough and you can go slow enough without holding up cars behind you. There must be many bugs in the software when it refuses to calibrate while following the instructions.

I just came across this post having just acquired a new CLA200 and am experiencing this problem.

Your reply is interesting because, if I understand correctly, once you’ve done this calibration, it doesn’t need to be done again.

Was that your experience?

It’s beyond reason for MB to put cars out with this requirement. In what (normal) world is driving within the parameters set by them possible?! Just crazy.

 

[DonaldS]

There is a procedure you can go through to recalibrate the camera which involves driving in a straight line below 20 mph for about 400m and I can confirm that it does work. However, this procedure was not issued specifically in relation to the post 2023 cars but to earlier cars which had suffered a camera problem which required a one off recalibration. Even if you go through this procedure on a post 2023 car it will not fix the problem and the next time you switch off and restart the car you will be back to square one.

 

[SpikyMikey]

I can't help thinking that MB made the whole rearview camera thing more complex than was necessary. OK, hiding it behind the badge has practical and aesthetic benefits, but the camera on my 3 Series estate is pretty unobtrusive positioned neatly next to the tailgate release and very rarely gets so crudded-up that it impairs vision completely.

 

[rf065]

There is a procedure you can go through to recalibrate the camera which involves driving in a straight line below 20 mph for about 400m and I can confirm that it works.

More difficult than it sounds though and doesn't always work either. It's below 30kph, or 18.6mph and with a steering angle less than 10 degrees, so essentially a straight road.

 

[DonaldS]

More difficult than it sounds though and doesn't always work either. It's below 30kph, or 18.6mph and with a steering angle less than 10 degrees, so essentially a straight road.

You are correct in that, in normal driving, it’s virtually impossible to start a drive in this way due to prevailing traffic. I can do this when starting from home which is why I know it works but who could be bothered to go through this procedure every day and as soon as you stop, at a shop say, you are probably not going to be able to do it again anyway. Also, the calibration is not possible when it is dark.