[Vancouver CLK]

I just got delivery of a 2014 E350 Cabriolet. I am very disappointed with the "Active Multibeam LED Headlights". They automatically decide where to point. If you are on a pitch black road, they go to full high beam and light up the world - automatically! That is great. However, the stereo camera in the windshield watches for tail lights and oncoming headlights and automatically points the lights down. Also great. My problem is that if there is any ambient lighting, such as an occasional street light, the lights stay low. Too low in my opinion! There is a crisp line between the lighted area and the dark on the road about 60 to 80 feet (20 to 25 meters) in front of the vehicle. Where it is really noticeable is if you are following another vehicle at 50 mph (80 kph). If you are staying back a safe distance, the headlights don't illuminate the back of the vehicle ahead. There is an unlit bit of pavement between where your headlights finish and the rear of the other car. Your headlights won't show up in his mirrors! I can live with all this. What I think is dangerous is the light placement when on a poorly lit road. You can't see far enough ahead to properly identify people or animals at the side of the road. You can pull back on the light handle and "flash" the high beams, but you can't manually turn on the high beams. I took the car in to the dealer to have the lights adjusted "up" a bit. They tell me that there are no adjustments that they can make! I'll try again at a different dealership in case the first dealer wasn't up to speed on the new technology. If there really isn't any adjustment, then I can only hope that enough people complain to Mercedes to get the firmware/software updated to put a little more light on the road.