Euro driving lights

[Jon.P.R]

Hello I have a 2008 C320 cdi with intell xenon lights. The stealers want £68 to switch for my trip to France. Can I do this myself. Cheers

 

[Shude]

While it is possible to move the lever on the back of the lamps yourself; If you break one (they can be brittle) then you might have to buy a new headlamp (~£800).

 

[Jon.P.R]

While it is possible to move the lever on the back of the lamps yourself; If you break one (they can be brittle) then you might have to buy a new headlamp (~£800).

Thanks, will the Eurolites stickers be sufficient.

 

[Shude]

Thanks, will the Eurolites stickers be sufficient.

Not pretty but they would likely work. All the lever on the back of the lamp does is lower a shield/filter over the top/bottom (I forget which on projectors!) to block off the top of the beam. Using those stickers or making some yourself from duct-tape would do the same thing

 

[Jon.P.R]

Not pretty but they would likely work. All the lever on the back of the lamp does is lower a shield/filter over the top/bottom (I forget which on projectors!) to block off the top of the beam. Using those stickers or making some yourself from duct-tape would do the same thing

I think the Duct tape would be ok for Blue Peter fans, but NOT on my Silver Lady. Pretentious Moi.
Thanks,

 

[amwebby]

My local dealer has performed this several times for free. Having had it demonstrated I now do it myself.

 

[davidjpowell]

£68 for what I suspect is 2 minutes work in the car park seems to be taking the michael slightly. I suspect that I would be keen to talk to the service manager, and point out that he might be forsaking all future profit from you for the sale of £68.

Do dealers do nothing now to prove themselves helpful to car owners. Any they wonder why their customers have no loyalty.

 

[Brian WH]

£68 for what I suspect is 2 minutes work in the car park seems to be taking the michael slightly. I suspect that I would be keen to talk to the service manager, and point out that he might be forsaking all future profit from you for the sale of £68.

Do dealers do nothing now to prove themselves helpful to car owners. Any they wonder why their customers have no loyalty.

Depends whether you bought the car from them eh?

If so they are more willing to assist as they see you as a "good" customer.

I have never paid for small jobs like this, including fitting wheel centre, which involved removing four wheels.

The job is easy enough, but as Shude said, just be delicate with the lever. Remove cover, find lever, usually towards the centre of the car, of the lamp holder, move up/down and that is it.

 

[Jon.P.R]

Depends whether you bought the car from them eh?

If so they are more willing to assist as they see you as a "good" customer.

I have never paid for small jobs like this, including fitting wheel centre, which involved removing four wheels.

The job is easy enough, but as Shude said, just be delicate with the lever. Remove cover, find lever, usually towards the centre of the car, of the lamp holder, move up/down and that is it.

Thanks all,
MB insists it takes a tech boffin 30-45 mins to complete, and will not do it for free. I purchased the car in London as got a better part ex on my old car.
But did purchase my wifes C180 coupe from them recently. Maybe I will try the loyalty angle, as I have at least 3 other MB dealers close by. But due to past MB experience I feel I will be...

 

[davidjpowell]

Depends whether you bought the car from them eh?

If so they are more willing to assist as they see you as a "good" customer.

If they are the local dealer, even if somebody bought the car elsewhere they are likely to go back to them, if they feel that they have gone the extra mile.

In fact, given that someone has bought the car elsewhere and this is possibly the first impression you would think that it would be the time to go the extra mile...

 

[crockers]

Jon - just looked at your avatar...what is a C320 cdi AMG ???

 

[Jon.P.R]

Jon - just looked at your avatar...what is a C320 cdi AMG ???

Its the C320 cdi (Sport) with AMG body kit, drilled disks, brakes wheels, interior, black pan roof. Will post pics soon. Not a C63 though.

 

[crockers]

Its the C320 cdi (Sport) with AMG body kit, drilled disks, brakes wheels, interior, black pan roof. Will post pics soon. Not a C63 though.

Sounds nice -- the drilled brakes aren't standard on the "sport" - so it looks as though someone had added them afterwards or paid for a £650 sport pack. Does it also have the Silver brake calipers with Mercedes written on them?

 

[pos.k]

Thanks all,
MB insists it takes a tech boffin 30-45 mins to complete, and will not do it for free. I purchased the car in London as got a better part ex on my old car.
But did purchase my wifes C180 coupe from them recently. Maybe I will try the loyalty angle, as I have at least 3 other MB dealers close by. But due to past MB experience I feel I will be...

I too am in Cheshire, and found my most local stealership in Warrington most unhelpful - so I now travel to Macclesfield - 30 miles away.

 

[Howard]

Thanks all,
MB insists it takes a tech boffin 30-45 mins to complete, and will not do it for free. I purchased the car in London as got a better part ex on my old car.
But did purchase my wifes C180 coupe from them recently. Maybe I will try the loyalty angle, as I have at least 3 other MB dealers close by. But due to past MB experience I feel I will be...

If they insist on charging you , you should insist on watching them perform the change ( bear in mind that they won't know that you know now how to do it ) ...

See how long they can pad out moving a lever from A to B .....

Then make a real fuss ....

 

[AndyPCD]

Hi
I can assure you it is a two second job to do and if a dealer is trying to charge you that they are trying to have you over.
I do this sort of thing on a regular basis and it can even be done in the car park without any special tools.........

 

[Jon.P.R]

Sounds nice -- the drilled brakes aren't standard on the "sport" - so it looks as though someone had added them afterwards or paid for a £650 sport pack. Does it also have the Silver brake calipers with Mercedes written on them?

The car was an ex demonstrator so was fully loaded with the sports pack added. Dealers in London were excellent gave me 4k more for my old car on part ex, and then knocked off £1500 off the sticker price for the C320 without any haggling.
and a full tank of fuel to get me home, a Merc lighter, Merc teddy bear(For my Daughter) and paid for the 12 months Tracker fee. I have also asked them about my lights and they have said on my way to Dover call in and they will do it for free.
"North West dealers take note"

 

[Jon.P.R]

Sweating Merc Technician.

If they insist on charging you , you should insist on watching them perform the change ( bear in mind that they won't know that you know now how to do it ) ...

See how long they can pad out moving a lever from A to B .....

Then make a real fuss ....

Excellent idea, now that would be funny watching the Tech trying to stretch the job out.

 

[robpow]

MB insists it takes a tech boffin 30-45 mins to complete, and will not do it for free.

It just took this complete novice all of 5 minutes to do it, 4 1/2 of which were spent trying to find the lever itself using a small mirror and torch... I recon I can do it in under 60 seconds now that I know where they are!

Matt

 

[st13phil]

I have also asked them about my lights and they have said on my way to Dover call in and they will do it for free.
"North West dealers take note"

Personally I think your local dealer is being very shortsighted in trying to rip you off and you should avoid them like the plague (as you did when it came to the initial purchase of the vehicle) but we should all remember that dealerships survive by making a profit from their activities, which - Shock! Horror! - involves them actually charging money to do work. In this particular example the time to do the job is trivial and any reputable dealership could and should show you how to do it for free, but where does one draw the line?

So, opening up the discussion a bit, what would we expect our dealer to do on the forecourt for free? Change a tail-lamp bulb? Fit wiper blades we'd just bought? Both reasonable I would have thought, but how about changing a foglamp bulb that would require a bit of dismantling/reassembly? Still reasonable to expect that for free? Where would each of us draw the line?