Mercedes rear view cameras.

[BossHogg]

Overtook a new Merc today on patrol, I had to look twice as I thought both rear view mirrors had been knocked off leaving the stalks, I let it pass me and I noticed the stalks were actually cameras, has anyone driven them and if so, how does it compare with conventional mirrors?

[hipsway]

The image quality isn't bad during daylight, but there's an annoying flickering on the displays from modern car LED headlights when driving at night, probably due to the low screen refresh rate. Biggest problem, again when dark I find, is the difficulty in assessing closing speed when pulling out of a layby with traffic approaching from behind on a dual carriageway, and whether vehicles have moved over to the outside lane allowing you to move onto the carriageway. Factoring the above issues with poor weather eg. heavy rain they are totally mince! Rain droplets on the camera lenses causes complete loss of vision from the side, and are no way an improvement on conventional mirrors. IMO they could be better, much better!! The cameras and image quality on the average mobilephone are far superior to those fitted to the current Mercs!

[BossHogg]

Thanks for that, I must admit I'm surprised, the Germans are normally pretty good when it comes to automotive technology.

[TruckDriverBen]

some of them have the autopilot feature built in already, so you can in theory let go off the steering wheel for 20-30sec yes id tried it

[ETS]

Overtook a new Merc today on patrol, I had to look twice as I thought both rear view mirrors had been knocked off leaving the stalks, I let it pass me and I noticed the stalks were actually cameras, has anyone driven them and if so, how does it compare with conventional mirrors?

I was pondering why they decided to place the mirrors inside the truck

The image quality isn't bad during daylight, but there's an annoying flickering on the displays from modern car LED headlights when driving at night, probably due to the low screen refresh rate. Biggest problem, again when dark I find, is the difficulty in assessing closing speed when pulling out of a layby with traffic approaching from behind on a dual carriageway, and whether vehicles have moved over to the outside lane allowing you to move onto the carriageway. Factoring the above issues with poor weather eg. heavy rain they are totally mince! Rain droplets on the camera lenses causes complete loss of vision from the side, and are no way an improvement on conventional mirrors. IMO they could be better, much better!! The cameras and image quality on the average mobilephone are far superior to those fitted to the current Mercs!

But it's TECHNOLOGY, yo! It's the future!

[Suedehead]

Overtook a new Merc today on patrol, I had to look twice as I thought both rear view mirrors had been knocked off leaving the stalks, I let it pass me and I noticed the stalks were actually cameras, has anyone driven them and if so, how does it compare with conventional mirrors?

You overtook the Merc then must of slowed down because you let it pass you. Bet the driver thought " whats this frecer poncing about at"

[commonrail]

No better than conventional mirrors.
More tech for techs sake

[merc0447]

Stupid idea and totally agree with above tech for tech sake improving nothing that currently exists. Trying to sell more trucks but running out of gizmos so invent this [zb].

[BossHogg]

Overtook a new Merc today on patrol, I had to look twice as I thought both rear view mirrors had been knocked off leaving the stalks, I let it pass me and I noticed the stalks were actually cameras, has anyone driven them and if so, how does it compare with conventional mirrors?

You overtook the Merc then must of slowed down because you let it pass you. Bet the driver thought " whats this frecer poncing about at"

I drove through Todhills services so he was none the wiser.

[idrive]

Overtook a new Merc today on patrol, I had to look twice as I thought both rear view mirrors had been knocked off leaving the stalks, I let it pass me and I noticed the stalks were actually cameras, has anyone driven them and if so, how does it compare with conventional mirrors?

You didn't let him pass you, you made him pass you.
Deliberately slowing on a motorway forcing HGVs to make unnecessary manoeuvres for your entertainment.
Putting that Volvo to good use, well done.

[Born Idle]

I drive one. Today, with the sun very low in the sky and a bit foggy around the Herefor area, there was a lot of "glare" when the camera was at the right (or wong) angle.

[BossHogg]

Overtook a new Merc today on patrol, I had to look twice as I thought both rear view mirrors had been knocked off leaving the stalks, I let it pass me and I noticed the stalks were actually cameras, has anyone driven them and if so, how does it compare with conventional mirrors?

You didn't let him pass you, you made him pass you.
Deliberately slowing on a motorway forcing HGVs to make unnecessary manoeuvres for your entertainment.
Putting that Volvo to good use, well done.

Read my last post, I drove through the services and caught up with him, oh and I was in the Discovery, so dry your eyes Princess and put the outrage bus back in the garage.

[idrive]

Overtook a new Merc today on patrol, I had to look twice as I thought both rear view mirrors had been knocked off leaving the stalks, I let it pass me and I noticed the stalks were actually cameras, has anyone driven them and if so, how does it compare with conventional mirrors?

You didn't let him pass you, you made him pass you.
Deliberately slowing on a motorway forcing HGVs to make unnecessary manoeuvres for your entertainment.
Putting that Volvo to good use, well done.

Read my last post, I drove through the services and caught up with him, oh and I was in the Discovery, so dry your eyes Princess and put the outrage bus back in the garage.

Didn't happen. You drove badly as usual, causing chaos as usual. Those snowflake seminars telling you how special and unique you are really work a treat.

And those mirrors have been out for a considerable time and are commonplace on the roads now. Perhaps you should look up from your phone in the layby occasionally and you may have spotted then sooner.

[Socketset]

I'll grab the chairs if someone supplies the popcorn......

[BossHogg]

Overtook a new Merc today on patrol, I had to look twice as I thought both rear view mirrors had been knocked off leaving the stalks, I let it pass me and I noticed the stalks were actually cameras, has anyone driven them and if so, how does it compare with conventional mirrors?

You didn't let him pass you, you made him pass you.
Deliberately slowing on a motorway forcing HGVs to make unnecessary manoeuvres for your entertainment.
Putting that Volvo to good use, well done.

Read my last post, I drove through the services and caught up with him, oh and I was in the Discovery, so dry your eyes Princess and put the outrage bus back in the garage.

Didn't happen. You drove badly as usual, causing chaos as usual. Those snowflake seminars telling you how special and unique you are really work a treat.

And those mirrors have been out for a considerable time and are commonplace on the roads now. Perhaps you should look up from your phone in the layby occasionally and you may have spotted then sooner.

Yawn, no lay-bys on my stretch of the motorway. D- must try harder.

[Quinny]

The image quality isn't bad during daylight, but there's an annoying flickering on the displays from modern car LED headlights when driving at night, probably due to the low screen refresh rate. Biggest problem, again when dark I find, is the difficulty in assessing closing speed when pulling out of a layby with traffic approaching from behind on a dual carriageway, and whether vehicles have moved over to the outside lane allowing you to move onto the carriageway. Factoring the above issues with poor weather eg. heavy rain they are totally mince! Rain droplets on the camera lenses causes complete loss of vision from the side, and are no way an improvement on conventional mirrors. IMO they could be better, much better!! The cameras and image quality on the average mobilephone are far superior to those fitted to the current Mercs!

Yup. As above.

The camera brightness can be adjusted from within the cab, and the cameras do have heated elements in them. They are still pants though.

I have a 2 month old Gigasapce, and I find reversing is problematic compared to mirrors. We were offered mirrored variants, as ours were 2 months late, but the boss refused.

At the last place where I worked, we got one on demo, and the salesman was giving it the big spiel, and when I mentioned that the was till a blind spot, but it had moved to the A pillar inside the cab, he wasn't impressed.

Ken.

[adam277]

I find them terrible at night.
Also you need to lock them in while reversing otherwise I think they auto adjust with your trailer which can throw off your reverse. In the end I just opted to just stick my head out of the window when reversing and not rely on the mirrors.

I may be wrong on this.
But if you have a mirror. It will naturally reflect light well. I don't think a camera does that. So cat eyes at night are easy to see in your mirrors. Not so with a camera based mirror system.


I may be wrong though as I have not driven one since I left Tesco back in October.

[BossHogg]

So it's like the reversing camera on our cars, absolutely useless at night when lights shine on them.

[Cuttlefish]

At the last place where I worked, we got one on demo, and the salesman was giving it the big spiel, and when I mentioned that the was till a blind spot, but it had moved to the A pillar inside the cab, he wasn't impressed.

Larger.

[Swordsy]

They take a bit of getting used to. Your first few reverses using them you will look like youve been on the ale, and the trailer will probably end up at an angle as their viewpoint is different to normal mirrors even when you select 'normal' view not tracking view. I drive one every day pretty much so now used to it, but when Im back in a truck with mirrors I find the reversing is a lot easier!!

The biggest bonus they have is in the current season they rarely get dirty from salt whereas traditional mirrors get caked and filthy in 10 mins on the motorway with all the salt. What Id rather have is the new truck with all the nice extras and DAB etc, but with normal mirrors

[gardun]

We have one one our fleet - I don't know any drivers who like the mirrors. All of us on nights hate them. All the bad comments above x 100 - I HATE them - they're CRAP.

[Winseer]

Can't use them, as I'm long-sighted.

If I wear my normal driving glasses, which enable me to focus on things 1metre to 100metres away from me, I cannot see things <1m away unless I peer through the bottom half of my glasses, which I find myself doing (momentarily) for example, when I pop or insert my card. Hardly practical for looking at the tablet mirror right in front of me above the steering wheel!

The one on the kerbside - doesn't present the same problem, as it is more than 1metre away from me.

It also isn't practical to switch to my "office" glasses, which I need to wear to use a computer without getting a headache in short order (I'm wearing *those* as I type this, of course..) If I tried driving with the office glasses on, I'll quickly get a headache from squinting at the road ahead, although at least I can still see and drive OK.

So I've opted out of driving tractors with these mirrors on then, unless it is just the solo tractor, as I won't need to peer into the tablet to try and see where my arse end is going in "Solo" mode. I'll collect tractors from the workshop for example, but not go and collect a trailer with the same mirrorless cab.

I've been told "I'm not the only one" which is some comfort, as there have been times in the past when if you say something like "I cannot manage *this*" when on agency, the phone quickly doth stop ringing....

[BE5T D4D]

I use them daily

I find they give better visibility in the dark

But all negative points already covered I agree with

The single spot of rain wipes them out (you just get a blurry mess) is a massive oversight by Mercedes, worse in the dark with glare from headlights

[Sidevalve]

Came across one on demo when they first came out, the Merc rep was with the driver so I asked the obvious question; what happens if the computer fails?

Apparently somebody from the nearest Merc dealership comes out with a pair of clip-on mirrors which you use to get you to said dealership; where, if it's like anything else Mercedes, you'll probably be stuck for a couple of days awaiting parts.

I wouldn't want it to fail in the middle lane of a motorway, that's for sure!

I'd also like to know how susceptible the camera arms are to low branches and the like; in my previous job at Forfarmers this was a daily hazard and I don't know anyone who does farms or any rural stuff who has never bust a mirror.

Very clever kit, but to my mind a solution looking for a problem that doesn't really exist. Yes they might cut down on drag but I doubt by as much as Mercedes claim.

One question for the manufacturers; given that many cars now have retracting door mirrors, why has nobody in the commercial world come up with some system to retract a nearside mirror with the push of a button (to avoid tree branches etc) or at least some way to push them back out without climbing across the cab?

[DSMRookie]

Unfortunately this is becoming the norm now. New Daf, MAN and Scania all have cameras now. Some are optional some are not.


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[Born Idle]

I drive one. Today, with the sun very low in the sky and a bit foggy around the Hereford area, there was a lot of "glare" when the camera was at the right (or wrong) angle.

[thehairyarsedtrucker]

They seem to have solved a problem that didnt exist with a worse solution.

The camera quality is piss poor, at night and in bright sunlight its very bad.

Rain often blurrs the image.

Reversing onto bays with guide bars is a nightmare.

You can set them to the length of the trailer so you know its safe to pull in, so its not all bad !

[Dav1d]

We have a couple at work, but you can only use them if you've had "the training".
For the first few weeks, they wouldn't put them onto night runs, and day drivers tended to be the clique, lording it over all others.

[robroy]

We have a couple at work, but you can only use them if you've had "the training".
For the first few weeks, they wouldn't put them onto night runs, and day drivers tended to be the clique, lording it over all others.

What, ''lording it over you' because they had mirror cams?^
What sad [zb] lives they must lead if they see this as summet to boast about.
Ffs !

Btw I see DAF have started fitting these abortions also on some of their models.


''They are a vast improvement to standard mirrors''
(Said no one EVER )

[Roymondo]

We have a couple at work, but you can only use them if you've had "the training".
For the first few weeks, they wouldn't put them onto night runs, and day drivers tended to be the clique, lording it over all others.

Sounds a bit like our experience when we got a brand new Renault unit. Some of the bolshier regular trunk drivers declared that they wouldn't be driving it until they'd been trained on using the electric park brake (these are the same drivers who insist on always using "their own" unit and woebetide any shunter who dares to put the "wrong" unit under their trailer). Some of them still turn their noses up at being asked to use it.

Suits me and one of the night drivers - we're both happy to drive it as it is more roomy, more comfortable and pulls better than the 6 year old MANs they all insist on using.


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