Lane assist + variable headlight range control - any good???

Hah! Same happened to me! I spent the week after my order second-guessing everything. I can't advise on the features you ask about but I think I still regret not throwing in the hold assist for peanuts.

lane assist can turn the wheel to correct and keep the lane, it can turn in light bends also, but don"t ask it to do all the turns for you.

I think it's a great add to the car.

for the lights, why not just take the LED headlights ? they already have all the gizmos that are optional with xenons

high beam assist works well by the way. but if it wasn't included into a package I took, I'm not sure I would have bothered.

Lane assist is great, but mine does sit quite far over to the left in a lane (going to try and get this sorted though if possible), and does often think you've let go of the wheel when you haven't - eg on straight bits of road. Variable range light control works very well, though it doesn't always see distant cars in front of you (a long way off). Works brilliantly though otherwise.

I have to say though, one thing that I haven't figured out yet is a decent way to turn the variable range assist off... It's easy enough to turn it on (just push the indicater stalk back and let it return), but to turn off you seem to need to switch to full beam (push the stalk back again and let it return), then turn off from there (by pulling it towards you and letting it return). Annoying if you have to do it around other cars because they think you are flashing them!

I might try switching the headlight switch to headlights then back to auto again next time to see if that works.

In some ways the lane assist is better than I expected. It sometimes spots the edge of the road when there is no paint, just grass. However, it's not something you can rely on. Probably best if you drive on motorways a lot (sweeping curves and good lane markings). I find myself switching it off on country roads now, as I might want to wander out of lane to avoid a puddle, or a jogger, or a cyclist. It doesn't stop you, but you have to apply more force to override it and then it vibrates the steering wheel as you leave your lane.

I don't have the variable range headlight control, but I do have the High Beam Assist. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. It's mostly useful if you drive on country roads a lot. Most of the shortcomings of the system are it turning the high beam off when you want it on, rather than the other way round. You can always manually override it and it will revert to auto soon enough. As Cemerson says for the variable range control, there isn't a way to switch it off (at least not that the manual is willing to say). However you shouldn't find the need to turn it off. I used it last night for a country road near the beginning of a journey. Left it on for another 20 miles of motorway/dual carriage way/town driving and it (correctly) never turned the high beam on.

I see you've ordered adaptive cruise. That's the best of the assistance systems IMHO. I use it so much and on pretty much any road type. Combined with the S Tronic (which I don't have) it must be even better.

cemerson said:

I might try switching the headlight switch to headlights then back to auto again next time to see if that works.

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Confirmed tonight - this does work. Switching the headlights off 'auto' (to 'headlights') switches the variable range headlights off 'auto' mode while keeping the beams dipped. Then you can switch the headlights back to auto and they stay off. I'll be doing this from now on, far less fiddly than using the stalk to do it!