C220 Xenon headlight condensation

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AntC43

Active Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2015
Messages
114
Location
Hampshire
Car
W205 C43 in Polar white
Shocked i didn't pick this up when i inspected the car, both Xenon headlights have bad condensation which the dealer assures me is normal however i am not so sure. My previous cars with Xenon headlights did have some condensation but this is a little extreme!

What is the best way to manage this?

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Photo bucket isn't resizing pictures again so apologies if the image is a little large.
 
The light isn't sealed properly. Its not normal. Some lights will do it over time, but not a newer MB. You won't notice it in the summer..
 
Misted headlamps are not a fault recognised under WIS. Headlamps should have a ventilation tube/hole in the rear of the unit.

The misting will clear with use. It happens if the ambient temperature drops rapidly after high humidity.
 
Never seen that on any of my cars. Maybe the lenses have been off at some point?
 
Same happened on my 2001 330ci m-sport. It comes and goes, like decent women
 
Mine don't looks like that or any other car I have had Xenon's on
I'd be going back to garage and asking for it to be repiared
 
Mine are exactly the same.
If I let the car stand with the lights on they clear, but leaving a residue on the internal surface
 
Kilham5 said:
Mine are exactly the same. If I let the car stand with the lights on they clear, but leaving a residue on the internal surface


Same here on my w204 it's normal and is mentioned in the owners manual.

Have had mine checked twice to be told on both occasions they were normal.
 
I have the same on the E63. I'll address it next week at the first service and see what MB says and report back.
 
As The Don said, it's covered in the manual so must be normal and nothing to worry about. I've noticed it occasionally on my C350 after I've washed it on a cold day. Since the auto headlights seem to be on most of the time on our regular dark days, it soon clears.
 
take the rear covers off and this will sort it. If you are too worried / fussy ( its no issue atall ) to leave the covers off, then stick silica gel packets to the internal of the cover cap to absorb moisture.


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take the rear covers off and this will sort it. If you are too worried / fussy ( its no issue atall ) to leave the covers off, then stick silica gel packets to the internal of the cover cap to absorb moisture.

I ran with covers off an e60 530d m sport with no issues in 2 years.




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10g packs on ebay do the trick!


Sent from my iPhone
 
I also have this problem although not as severe as OP. Just bought 5 packs of 10g. Hopefully this sorts it!
 
BMWs are infamous for misty headlights, but not usually Mercs.

Folks are right about condensation, it should not be a serious problem in the long term.

On the otherhand, water drips running down the glass lens probably means a leak at the light body/lens junction where a waterproof gasket has failed. I know this as I am currently repairing the same gasket on one side of my SL!

There are loads of videos of Youtube on curing water ingress, but yours doesn't look too bad IMO.

Incidentally, is it misty after you have left it stationary for a day or so, because most mist dissappears once those hot light bulbs have been on for half an hour!

Cheers,
Robert
 
Although it is common I wouldn't say it is normal. Mercedes York replaced my headlights with no questions and it never happened again on my C Class!
 
I had this problem on my E90, although it had halogens. It's not as straightforward a fix as you might hope. I was told mine had a cover missing inside the wheelarch and that was where the water was getting in. There was a puddle insight the light unit and condensation inside the glass. I don't know if a C Class would be the same, but my 3 series had to get the bumper taken off and the whole light unit taken out and dried with a hairdryer type thing. I seem to remember it cost me about £150 ish to get the problem fixed.
 
This is normal this happens even on new S63 AMG cars :)
 

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