Reversing sensors...not so useful?

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Liek the OP, I also have my seat and mirrors adjusted to positions that work effectively in normal driving, but do not see the rear Parktronic indicator in the rear-view mirror unless I tilt my head slightly. The rear-view mirror is positioned to give me a clear view through the back window but the rear Parktronic indicator is in the roof above the rear seat; as my car is an estate, I would have to adjust the rear-view mirror upwards to have the rear part of the roof 'in shot' if I wanted to see the rear Parktronic indicator.

In any case, I look around and also use the exterior mirrors whilst reversing. Hence having a more comprehensive audible indication, as some other brands do, would be a definite benefit. Ideally it would be a menu selection rather than a coding change.
 
Would prefer rear camera before sensor. Hard time with sensors in winter all the time with ice and snow. Camera not ideal but better then sensors for this kind of climate.
 
As stated before, the rear display is positioned in such a way that it is visible directly above the rear window.

I have had 10 Mercedes and all but the classic ones have had parking sensors - saloons, coupés and estates - and the rear display is as intricately engineered as the rest of the car to ensure that it is perfectly in the line of sight whatever the height of the driver and whatever the driving position.

If you didn't have a problem without the equipment, then why is it a problem at all? Just don't use what you call the "chocolate teapot" equipment and reverse without it.
Why don't you pop round and I can show you that it is not perfectly inline with my view through the rear view mirror. By definition if it's not itself moveable, it will only be perfect for some positions and not for others. You seem to think the MB engineers are some kind of super-beings!
 
...as my car is an estate, I would have to adjust the rear-view mirror upwards to have the rear part of the roof 'in shot' if I wanted to see the rear Parktronic indicator.

In any case, I look around and also use the exterior mirrors whilst reversing. Hence having a more comprehensive audible indication, as some other brands do, would be a definite benefit. Ideally it would be a menu selection rather than a coding change.
^ This.
 
I've got a w212. I find that for e.g. a wall or fence, the sensors work as I would expect. I think they start picking up the wall/obstruction at 2.55m distance (what I recall from rooting round in iCarsoft whilst on the drive previously).

However, if it's a lower obstacle, I've made a visual note when pulling very slowly into e.g. a parking space with a kerb and low shrubs, and just as I'm basically stopping because I've judged I'm going as far as I need to, the parking sensors spring into life and are suddenly beeping like mad and lights on red. They go from zero lights to max alert over approx 3-6 inches. If I were to rely on the sensors in any fashion, reaction time over 3 inches of travel would probably result in a bump.
 
Would prefer rear camera before sensor. Hard time with sensors in winter all the time with ice and snow. Camera not ideal but better then sensors for this kind of climate.
Both our (non-MB) cars have cameras, which are excellent, except that being in the low pressure area around the rear number plate, they get dirty very quickly. On Mrs B’s Nissan, which has 360 deg cameras, the rear one gets dirtiest.

The JZR has a simple and completely foolproof reverse warning system. As it doesn’t have a reverse gear (sequential motorcycle gearbox) you have to get out of the car and push/pull it backwards, so visibility is never a problem! You very quickly get into the habit of parking facing uphill.....
 
Liek the OP, I also have my seat and mirrors adjusted to positions that work effectively in normal driving, but do not see the rear Parktronic indicator in the rear-view mirror unless I tilt my head slightly. The rear-view mirror is positioned to give me a clear view through the back window but the rear Parktronic indicator is in the roof above the rear seat; as my car is an estate, I would have to adjust the rear-view mirror upwards to have the rear part of the roof 'in shot' if I wanted to see the rear Parktronic indicator.

In any case, I look around and also use the exterior mirrors whilst reversing. Hence having a more comprehensive audible indication, as some other brands do, would be a definite benefit. Ideally it would be a menu selection rather than a coding change.
Without wishing to fan the flames (yet probably doing so). I think whoever it is that is claiming that the sensors are perfectly placed, is wrong.
There's now three of us who find the sensors not to be in our eye line when the rear view mirror is set up for normal driving.
In my case, part of the issue may be that I like sitting low in the car, so to have the mirror set up so I can see the sensors would mean I can't see out of the bottom part of the rear window.
I'm happy how I have the car and controls set up...for the odd occasions where I need the sensors, I just have to duck my head a bit to glance at the sensors.
 
Why don't you pop round and I can show you that it is not perfectly inline with my view through the rear view mirror. By definition if it's not itself moveable, it will only be perfect for some positions and not for others. You seem to think the MB engineers are some kind of super-beings!
Once again, you shouldn't be reversing using just your rear view mirror. If you turn your head and look out of the rear window when reversing, it is the lighty-up thing in the roof lining - impossible to miss.

MB engineers are not super-brings, but they do have an understanding of the basic laws of physics. They are also, I suspect, capable of reading a user manual. :D
 
I have to admit to being another who just uses the mirrors (plural) and other gizmoes when reversing, mainly because a combination of age, varifocals and head restraints makes it difficult to turn my head sufficiently to see clearly.
Also many vans for instance don’t have rear windows, so a combination of mirrors, and sensors/camera where fitted has to be enough.
 
Once again, you shouldn't be reversing using just your rear view mirror......capable of reading a user manual. :D
Keep up. Nobody is suggesting they reverse using mirrors and warnings only. But modern cars have these things to assist (and where mobility is impaired - see below - they become essential). The fact that MB rely on a non-audible signal is ok but they can only put it in one position which will not be ideal for every body shape and seating position despite what you say. In fact three people on this thread alone have confirmed that you are wrong.

I was unable to read the manual cover to cover immediately owing to picking up the car last Sunday afternoon, getting home in the evening and then having a busy working week which stretched across the weekend. I apologise for this oversight and for assuming the system might work in the same way as other cars.
I have to admit to being another who just uses the mirrors (plural) and other gizmoes when reversing, mainly because a combination of age, varifocals and head restraints makes it difficult to turn my head sufficiently to see clearly.
Also many vans for instance don’t have rear windows, so a combination of mirrors, and sensors/camera where fitted has to be enough.
Mobility is not an issue I have raised for fear of being criticised for daring to be born mid-century. Another reason why this system is (in my very humble and justifiably ignored) opinion, not as good as other manufacturers'.
 
Without wishing to fan the flames (yet probably doing so). I think whoever it is that is claiming that the sensors are perfectly placed, is wrong.
There's now three of us who find the sensors not to be in our eye line when the rear view mirror is set up for normal driving.
In my case, part of the issue may be that I like sitting low in the car, so to have the mirror set up so I can see the sensors would mean I can't see out of the bottom part of the rear window.
I'm happy how I have the car and controls set up...for the odd occasions where I need the sensors, I just have to duck my head a bit to glance at the sensors.
I think you’re right, if the display is not visible the mirror then adjust the head position slightly, or turn and look backwards.
 
I had no issues seeing rear sensor display in either my S203 nor my W219. I have my seat set as low possible as this sets my eye line to just below the horizontal centre of the windscreen. I find turning to look rearward very difficult and rely solely on the mirrors and and sensors and in my Lexus, the rearview camera. I always reverse into parking spaces as I believe it safer when exiting, even with the new fangled cross traffic alert function.
The issue with isolated low-level obstacles is well documented in the handbooks and generally one can spot those on initial approach before one is too close.
In my Lexus the senior warning display is in the media display screen along with the rearview camera.
Bottom line is never had an issue with reverse visibility and believe that the designers have got it right.
P.S. Driven plenty of vans too with no rear windows without problems....
 
Apologies for the mischievous quote, but it was too good to ignore.👹
😁

I can’t think of another way of saying it, apart from first manouvere like you donntbhave any parking seasons.
 
I don't make a habit of reversing into walls, but when the weather and visibility are poor, I've found these devices useful in preventing minor problems with low objects/obstructions, especially in a big car. So I'm surprised to find the reversing sensors on my 2013 E220 estate are nowhere near as helpful as the ones on my previous 2 Skoda Octavias. They provide (imo) insufficient warning as they do not begin to bleep until almost too close to do anything about it. I've not had the opportunity to measure the actual distances with a helper, but the Skoda ones activate far, far further out.

Are mine working normally? Are they adjustable? Seems very odd.

This is how Mercedes-Benz parking sensors have worked for at least the last two decades now.

I’ve driven numerous makes and models of cars, all with their own individual features and systems. You can’t just assume that one manufacturer’s way or doing stuff will be the same as another’s. No right or wrong, just different.

I’m a little confused that you’re hitting stuff behind you - saying you didn’t see the illuminated display (and moving too quickly to react to the audible signal either) - but surely if you’re looking at your rear view mirror you would see the wall behind you anyway regardless of the parking sensors?

Not criticism (as you seem to take issue with that!) but a question.

I mean, surely you don’t just reverse briskly without looking assuming that anything in the way will be picked up by the sensors - beeping several feet away before you hit stuff?
 
Thats the best type of reversing beepers, nothing worse than them beeping at you when your like 6 foot away from something, my w204 only starts beeping when your a foot away from something but my wifes w176 starts when your 6 foot away and really annoys me, if it was my car i would have disabled the beeper
 
An interesting debate on reversing technique. I have been reversing cars for fifty years or so and over that time, as car technology has changed, so has my technique. As my head does not rotate through 180 degrees (others may not suffer from this limitation), I find that if I look rearwards I tend to be mainly looking to my left or right, depending on which way I turn my head, and if I switch sides for some of the time I am not looking rearwards at all. I will look around as a check, but once moving a good rear view camera (nowadays with a 180 field of view) tends to provide a much better awareness, coupled with sensors as a backstop. Even better, as I now have, is a 360 camera system which allows me to monitor the front and sides while reversing. But to look at the display I have to be facing forwards, and I cannot help thinking that MB must be aware of this. A couple of other points, if I may. Firstly, the debate about seeing the rear parktronic display in the roof lining is becoming moot, as MB no longer use that design, or so I believe. Secondly, the good point about dirt obscuration of the rear camera has been addressed (at least on my car) by placing it behind a moveable flap.
 
I’m a little confused that you’re hitting stuff behind you - saying you didn’t see the illuminated display (and moving too quickly to react to the audible signal either) - but surely if you’re looking at your rear view mirror you would see the wall behind you anyway regardless of the parking sensors?

Not criticism (as you seem to take issue with that!) but a question.

I mean, surely you don’t just reverse briskly without looking assuming that anything in the way will be picked up by the sensors - beeping several feet away before you hit stuff?
None of that is the case. And, as I stated in the OP I don't hit things and have been driving long enough not to need to rely on door mirrors. When I learned to drive, my car had wing mirrors which were a proper pain to get right!

The only reason for my OP (and it's a shame that it precipitated some patronising and unpleasant responses) was that a couple of days after collecting the car and before having an opportunity to digest the extensive manual (see above) I had to take my daughter to work at 0700 in the driving rain and pitch dark. The car park where she works is un-illuminated and, in the conditions described, visibility out of the back was zero. I remember thinking that the beep only came on when really quite close to the wall I was approaching (at very low speed) and that an earlier warning like in my Octavia would have been more useful in that specific circumstance and, having been used to the VAG way of doing it, that that wold be my preference. What I did not realise was that, in addition to the front warning lights there was a similar device in the back. Why I had not noticed this, I do not know. Now that I know it's there, I can see what the manufacturer's intent was. That I prefer the VAG way of doing this is a matter of personal preference. That I prefer my E-class in most other regards goes without saying. :p
 
You need to move your head to observe all around before reversing. Is it really so difficult to adjust ever so slightly to see the display?
 

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