Driving abroad: dipped-beam headlamps

[tony jr]

Hi,

I am planning to drive my ml270cdi (registered Sept 2003) in France in a few weeks time and want to know what I need to do to my dipped-beam headlamps to make them legal in France. In the past with other cars I have always used those stick on headlamp converters. These worked well on cars with glass headlamps where it was easy to position and remove. However, on cars with plastic headlamps they are difficult to position and almost impossible to remove from the car when back in the UK. I read the following section in my user manual that implies that on my car you can some how adjust the dipped-beam headlamps:

“In countries where vehicles are driven on the opposite side of the road than in the country in which the vehicle is registered, you must change the position of the headlamps to symmetrical dipped-beam. On-coming traffic will then be dazzled less. Detailed information about this is available from any Mercedes-Benz service Centre.

Remember to convert the headlamps back to asymmetrical dipped beam headlamps if you then return to driving on the same side of the road as that of the country in which the vehicle was registered.”

However, I have just been to see the service manger at my local dealership and he did not know what I needed to do and just suggested buying some headlamp converters!

Can anyone help?

 

[Shude]

If you have HID/Xenon headlamps there may be a lever inside the lamp which lowers a shutter over the top of the beam to cut off the bit that will dazzle oncoming cars. Not really a "converter" but certainly adequate for a short trip. Not all cars have them though.

On my last trip abroad I just aimed down with the cabin adjustment but that's not possible on a lot of cars and my car is pretty low to the ground, yours is comparitively not!

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Or do as I do and just don't drive in the dark.

Why would you want to drive when there's a lot of good wine to be sampled?

 

[kwakdonut]

Don't bother - how many foreign vehicles do you see in the UK that do???

 

[jpwilliams]

Or do as I do and just don't drive in the dark.

Why would you want to drive when there's a lot of good wine to be sampled?

Not driving in the dark will not prevent the French Police from fining you for not having your headlamps adjusted.

I drive to and from Spain via France twice a year and purchase the adhesive beam deflectors from Care4car.com.They are effective and come off easily if you leave the headlamps on for 10 mins or so before peeling them off.
Enjoy your trip.
Regards

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Not driving in the dark will not prevent the French Police from fining you for not having your headlamps adjusted.

I drive to and from Spain via France twice a year and purchase the adhesive beam deflectors from Care4car.com.They are effective and come off easily if you leave the headlamps on for 10 mins or so before peeling them off.
Enjoy your trip.
Regards

Agreed, my comment was a bit tongue in chhek.

However, the projector lenses make fitting the beam benders very hit and miss. I have used them on another car and they were useless and a pain to remove on return.

I wonder how a roadside inspection would show if you had not adjusted the beam from behind the headlight?

 

[tony jr]

I don't have Xenon lights just standard halogen if that helps

tony

 

[C240Sport97]

was just looking at the interactive manual for the E class coupe ..

if you have the intelligent light system (i.e. Xenons), you can switch to "tourist mode" (i.e. not blind the continentals when you are over) simply by pressing a few buttons on the steering wheel.

PROGRESS!

 

[pos.k]

was just looking at the interactive manual for the E class coupe ..

if you have the intelligent light system (i.e. Xenons), you can switch to "tourist mode" (i.e. not blind the continentals when you are over) simply by pressing a few buttons on the steering wheel.

PROGRESS!

small matter of the 40 grand to be able to do this....that's a lot of stick on plastic!!

 

[Beetnik]

I call in at my local dealership the day before I go and the day after I get back, sit and have a coffee while they make the adjustment, and ponder that whilst they do it free of charge I'm really paying for it in servicing costs but hey - it's all part of the 'Mercedes Experience'.

 

[hygt2]

Is your the facelift model or the original?

The facelift model with halogen lamp has projector headlamps with a plastic lever at the bottom of the bulb holder to cut off the part of the beam that dazzle other drivers.

Unfortunately with pre-facelift models there is no such feature and you'll need the stick-on converter.

 

[Diesel Benz]

was just looking at the interactive manual for the E class coupe ..

if you have the intelligent light system (i.e. Xenons), you can switch to "tourist mode" (i.e. not blind the continentals when you are over) simply by pressing a few buttons on the steering wheel.

PROGRESS!

That is just a copy feature from a previously released car:
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/779523-post6.html


Shouldn't they activate that feature once navi figures out which country the car is driven? I guess it is reasonably safe to assume that UK would not change like Sweden "recently".

 

[kay7]

You need adhesive deflectors to do that . It is compulsory now in Europe! In France you could be fined 200 euros , Spain 300, Germany 200, Switzerland 200, Italy 200, Austria 300. There is a huge fine list about these things. Do no ignore them ! U`re on UK plates so everyone`s looking at you .
Drive safe!

 

[IrishHussar]

Is your the facelift model or the original?

The facelift model with halogen lamp has projector headlamps with a plastic lever at the bottom of the bulb holder to cut off the part of the beam that dazzle other drivers.

Unfortunately with pre-facelift models there is no such feature and you'll need the stick-on converter.

Is the anybody who can post a picture showing the lever please??
I have a C220 CDI SE 2013 reg with normal headlights and will be driving to Germany in Dec. There is a lot of conflicting info in this thread and I would appreciate a "non hearsay" reply.


Regards

 

[lim]

There is a lot of conflicting info in this thread and I would appreciate a "non hearsay" reply.

IH,

I am away from the car at the moment and so cannot furnish a photograph. Actually, it would be quite difficult to get a useful photo as, IIRC, the lever is enclosed by the headlight housing.
On my 2011 W204 there is a horizontal metal lever underneath the bulb assy. It feels like the end of a screwdriver with rather sharp edges (think cross-section of junior hacksaw blade) and it can be moved in a horizontal sense by a few millimetres.
In dim or dusky lighting the dipped headlight pattern (say on a wall or the garage door) will extend upwards to the left from the beam's centreline. Moving the lever will mask this upwards-outwards part of the beam and the upper extremity of the light pattern will become horizontal. I did this 3 years ago before a trip to France and left the setting as 'Symetrical' ever since; I don't think it makes that much difference to illuminating my bit of the road.
With regard to the stick-on options, I have used 'Eurolites' successfully in the past. These are not deflectors, or beam benders but simply diffusers which allow the light out of the headlights but diffuses that part of the beam which would tend to dazzle the on-coming opposition! These were also left on for subsequent trips abroad as I found they had little effect on lighting the road ahead.

Regards, lim