E350 W212 Bi-Xenon lights fading - and confusion...

[kiwimike]

Hi all. we have a W212 E350 with bi-Xenons - the '621' lamp option with ILS. Done 135k miles.

Full spec here: Car report for WDD2122232A467270 VIN number

AUTOMATIC HIGH BEAM SWITCH (IHC)
CORNERING ILLUMINATION
HEADLAMP WITH ILS, LEFT-HAND TRAFFIC

Everything's working fine - they move around at startup, automatic dip & cornering works etc - but they seem really dim compared to other car lights. My wife agrees - the crap 07 LDV minibus she drives for school work has much brighter lights.

So my questions are:

Will changing the bulbs make a big difference? how much do they fade over say 135k miles / 10 years of driving? We have them on in the daytime too, since buying the car used at 80k miles. I've read that HID bulbs are only good for 2000hrs - which at a 40MPH average, the past owner and us would have gone way over

And secondly, should I attempt this myself? I've read horror stories of lost skin/blood, hours removing wheels and wheel arch trim, etc. I'm pretty competent at 'leccy stuff and mechanical in general, but is this best left to a proper MB shop? We have a great independent nearby, and I'd be happy to bung them £60 to save myself hours of swearing. Looking at the back caps on the main bulbs, there's no way on earth my paws will fit in there.

Thirdly - the 'inner' pair of lights next to the grill look like they are LED's - I can see hundreds of wee white dots inside the lense. Are they in fact LED's so there's no bulb to change in there? So the car actually only has two Xenon headlight bulbs? Opening it up, sure looks like an LED, with no HID bulb in sight.

Powerbulbs say the car needs two pairs of D1S bulbs, so £336!

Thanks everyone for any thoughts/advice.

Cheers

Mike

 

[55AMGCLK]

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Quick search on google. Take the bulb out to double check what you need or get your garage to do this. D1S bulbs are under £50 on eBay and not much more from Halfords.

Osram D1S Xenarc Original Xenon HID Single Pack

 

[Abcan]

I did mine last year. Near side wheel off and partly removed the wheel arch. It took less than an hour to do both. I got my bulbs from amazon for £33 each. Still the same price:

OSRAM XENARC ORIGINAL D1S HID Xenon discharge bulb, discharge lamp, OEM quality OEM, 66140, folding carton box (1 unit) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HWWX7R2/?tag=amazon0e9db-21

 

[DSM10000]

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Quick search on google. Take the bulb out to double check what you need or get your garage to do this. D1S bulbs are under £50 on eBay and not much more from Halfords.

Osram D1S Xenarc Original Xenon HID Single Pack

£55 with Halfords or £32 on Amazon!

 

[Larkone]

Osram Xenarc Nightbreakers Laser Pair - these are the brighter ones - compared to the standards Xenarc £134 /pair
D1S OSRAM Night Breaker Laser Xenarc +200% Bulbs - Next Generation (Pair)

If your bulbs are original then they will have lost output - up to 70% over 10,000 hours

If you buy on ebay then watch out for fakes. If you do buy then you can check if they are original here OSRAM Trust Program | OSRAM Automotive

That is not LEDs in the pic, just a design feature of the projector

 

[kiwimike]

Thanks all - OK, sorted!

£60 for the pair of Osram D1S standard bulbs from Amazon (read LOTS of reviews, that people couldn't tell the difference between the £30 standards and the £90+ 'Laser' ones. £10 for a kit of plastic fittings.

You have to drop the wheels out - trust me, this is by far the easiest/fastest option. And there's zero risk of damaging the long fragile bulb filament.

The three plastic arch clips aside were re-usable by me. I needed to fit a few extras, to replace ones that had vanished over the years.

Four nuts need removing each side, I think 6mm and 8mm. Then the front of the arch comes out easily.

Then you have great access to the back of the light. Cover off, quarter-turn anti-clockwise to remove the bulb, press the metal tab to gently remove the power lead.

Align the bulb with the new one on a benchtop, remove and swap over the plastic locking ring taking care the wee plastic indentations align.

Wearing clean gloves to avoid touching the bulb, carefully re-insert the new bulb at 45-degree angle canted anticlockwise, then turn clockwise a quarter-turn to lock on. Then back cover back on, wrestle the arch cover on and replace the clips and nuts.

Was blown away by the difference in light. Should have done it years ago.

 

[Sicario]

Ive got this job on Thursday, my near side head light keeps flickering and going off so im hoping its just the bulb, my MB2 says my headlights are xenon so im assuming i need the H7 bulbs, sound right>?

 

[55AMGCLK]

Ive got this job on Thursday, my near side head light keeps flickering and going off so im hoping its just the bulb, my MB2 says my headlights are xenon so im assuming i need the H7 bulbs, sound right>?

Xenon bulbs are usually D1S, H7 are halogen.

 

[Sicario]

I`ll have to pop one out of the drivers side to see which ones i have fitted i guess, ive no idea, thanks though

 

[Sicario]

Im having a reyt nightmare with this head light, the car dealer sent me to the garage they use as my n/s low beam kept flickering on & off, so they replaced it, now i have no beam pattern on that side and i dont even think hes fit it right, standing at the front of the car with the lights on it kinda looks even and ok, parked up to a wall, the side that does work is a bright white light with a beam pattern, the new bulb is a creamy light with a hole in the centre of the beam pattern. I text the mechanic and he said that my headlight needs adjusting even though i said i dont think the bulb is sat right as the headlights auto adjust with the ILS (intelligent lighting system)