[Michael Sierra]

Does anyone know where the sensor is for the brake assist? I put a rho-plate on the front of my car and I think it is interfering with the sensor. I'm driving on the highway or side streets and it thinks I'm going to hit the other cars.

 

[gs23]

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the radar sensor for brake-assist is behind the 3-pointed star in the grill. There are proximity sensors around the front bumper for the park assist, which may be blocked by a license plate holder, thus triggering a warning.

I've ordered a Platypus-Pro mount from Cravenspeed (Mercedes Platypus Pro-Series License Plate Mount - CravenSpeed Online), which is supposed to be designed to avoid interference with the parking sensors. It's due to arrive Monday, so we'll see how well it works. I may not have time to install it until the weekend.

 

[gs23]

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the radar sensors for the brake assist are behind the 3-pointed star in the front grill. If the space between the points of the star are infilled with dark plastic, they are concealing the sensors.

There are proximity sensors along the bumper and lower grill elements for the park assist. Your rho-plate may be interfering with the park assist sensors and triggering the warning.

I ordered a Platypus-Pro plate holder from Cravenspeed (Mercedes Platypus Pro-Series License Plate Mount - CravenSpeed Online). It is due to arrive on Monday. Supposedly it is custom designed for the GLA to avoid interference with the parking sensors. We'll see if that's true, after I install it, which may not be until the weekend.

 

[gs23]

Hmm, I tried replying to this thread twice, but it hasn't appeared yet. Here's hoping the third time works.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the brake assist radar sensors are behind the 3-pointed star in the center of the grill. If your star has dark plastic infill between the points, then the sensors are behind it.

There are park assist proximity sensors on the front (and rear) of the car at bumper level. Your plate holder may be affecting the park sensors and triggering a warning.

I've ordered a different plate holder (Platypus-Pro from Cravenspeed) that the manufacturer claims is customized to each MB model to avoid interfering with the park sensors (only recent models). It's due to arrive on Monday, and I probably won't have time to install it until the weekend, but I'll report back once it's done and tested.

 

[gs23]

Here's the link to the Platypus-Pro plate holder for Mercedes:

Mercedes Platypus Pro-Series License Plate Mount - CravenSpeed Online

 

[Michael Sierra]

lol third time's the charm! I don't have distronic so the star doesn't have that plastic fill. I also don't have park assist for parking sensors. Anyway's keep me posted

 

[Michael Sierra]

Hmm, I tried replying to this thread twice, but it hasn't appeared yet. Here's hoping the third time works.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the brake assist radar sensors are behind the 3-pointed star in the center of the grill. If your star has dark plastic infill between the points, then the sensors are behind it.

There are park assist proximity sensors on the front (and rear) of the car at bumper level. Your plate holder may be affecting the park sensors and triggering a warning.

I've ordered a different plate holder (Platypus-Pro from Cravenspeed) that the manufacturer claims is customized to each MB model to avoid interfering with the park sensors (only recent models). It's due to arrive on Monday, and I probably won't have time to install it until the weekend, but I'll report back once it's done and tested.

Have you installed your plate holder yet?

 

[gs23]

Been pretty busy...hope to install after I get home Wed. evening. Stay tuned!

 

[gs23]

Have you installed your plate holder yet?

Here are the photos. I used some teflon tape on the threads of the extension and the bolt that fastens the plate to minimize having threaded parts frozen in place, if and when I want to remove it. I used a little pocket level to align the plate horizontally. I should find out tomorrow morning if the plate interferes with the parking sensors.

 

[gs23]

The Platypus Pro plate holder does interfere with the parking sensor about 5-10% of the time while driving around town, triggering a false warning despite the claim that each model is tailored to specific cars to avoid such interference. Turning off the Park Assist eliminates the false alarm annoyance, but then I have to activate the Park Assist when I need it...just one more push of the button. I need more time with it to see how often it falses while parking in close quarters.

 

[Michael Sierra]

ok thanks for the heads up! Great pictures by the way. I didn't get the auto park feature lol, so idk if mine works the same. Keep me posted oh how it's working.

 

[gs23]

CravenSpeed wrote back to me suggesting that I bend the plate so it was more aligned with the slant of the bumper. I did that but it only brought the holder closer to the sensor (see pics) and it falses all the time. I just wrote to them suggesting they redesign the plate to move it 1-2 inches closer to the center of the bumper. They've tried to be very helpful so far; we'll see how much more customer service goodwill I continue to get.

 

[AMGz]

I hope this was an honest mistake they made in designing it and not some generic plate holder that they claim is GLA specific. Clearly they failed to ensure sensors won't be a problem.

 

[Michael Sierra]

I think whatever we do, it will interfere with the sensor and trigger false alarms. I think the only way to prevent this is just install the front plate that came with the GLA. Currently, I get no warning because the plate must be right over the sensor and will not trigger.

 

[gs23]

CravenSpeed is sending me an extension arm and a plate with a center mounting hole to try out, free of charge. I'll post again when I've been able to try it out.

 

[Michael Sierra]

Glad to hear they are working with you!

 

[gs23]

CravenSpeed is sending me an extension arm and a plate with a center mounting hole to try out, free of charge. I'll post again when I've been able to try it out.

Well, I tried various mounting positions using the extension arm and center-mounting plate, but they all generate occasional false park assist signals . So, I'm returning it for a refund. CravenSpeed included a priority mail envelope and prepaid return label with their additional parts!

I think the Rhoplate V2 looks promising. Anyone tried it?

 

[Michael Sierra]

I thought I wouldn't need the V2...I still think it will interfere.

 

[gs23]

I got my Rhoplate v2 this week and...SUCCESS!
It took trying about a four different mounting positions to get it to work without interfering. I drove around for about 6 miles after the lastest install and no false signals on the street and no false signals backing out of and pulling into my garage. I tried the active park assist at three different parallel parking spots...the first time was not successful (car didn't countersteer in time to avoid the rear tire running into the curb), but the second and third tries worked fine.

The correct mounting position is somewhat counter-intuitive. One would think that the plate holder should be mounted as low as possible and angled to hug the bumper. But not so; this generates horrible false signals. The functional position is actually as high as possible and orthogonal to the car, or at least as close to the bumper as you dare at the inboard edge of the plate holder. See attached pictures.

 

[Michael Sierra]

Hey thanks for the pictures! Looks good. Keep us posted if you encounter false alarms. I'm going to see if I can move my Rho-plate to match how yours is mounted...before I go out and spend the money on the V2 Rho-plate.

Looks like you mounted it using the center mounts and not the side ones. Gonna go move mine now!