Failed xenon? Comes on, flashes, goes off - C43

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Gridlock

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
1,707
Location
Bucks
Car
C43 AMG
Hi all,

OK, thought my windows were kaput but turned out to just need resetting - fingers crossed there's a simple/cheap solution here; I really, really don't want to find out what Merc charge for a ballast. (I have had the batery disconnected for an hour or so over the weekend.)

Turn on lights after work, 'bulb out' light comes on. Turn lights off and back on, notice the nearside xenon comes on, goes through the levelling, flashes a couple of times and then powers down - bulb failed light then comes on on the dash.

I've had a quick poke around and it all seems connected etc - so where next?

For what it's worth the light does seem slightly weaker than its counterpart, this might just be psychological though.

Any ideas?

Really had enough of cars this week, first the road smashes my golf underpinnings and now this. One of those weeks where it feels like the world's conspiring against you :(

Thanks in advance,
 
Could just be a bulb on the way out .

Always best to replace them in pairs , as there can be variations in colour temperature between old and new bulbs.
 
Have to help a brother out here - I have no experience of the witchcraft that is xenons - they're just normal bulbs then? Normal as in, I go to Halfords, look in a Bosch book and walk out with a pair of bulbs?
:bannana:
 
No.

They are a special fitment , they aren't like H1 or H7 or anything like that.

Worst case you have to go to MB and i think they are about £90 a pair.

There are specialist suppliers , i think the C class uses D2S fitment , and then looking at Autobulbs website , they will be £70 a pair , which is more bearable.

D2S Gas Discharge HID Bulbs

Don't order any though until someone who knows what they are talking about comes along :eek:
 
Cheers - I'll put my dancing banana on hold then, but at least my concern that it's either a ballast or nothing seems slightly pessimistic :)
 
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Blimey !! £90 each ?
 
Theres 2 options you have here. As Howard as already highlighted you need to change both bulbs otherwise you will get a colour variation garanteed due to colour shift which seems to take place after many hours of use in a gas discharge bulb.

There are 2 OEM manufacturers you could go for if you want an OEM quality bulb and they are Philips or Osram both are equally good and equally expensive. They start burning at around 4100K when new and gradually colour shift to about 4300K+

Alternatively you could go for a generic part but quality may not be as good and colour shift may vary:

HID XENON D2R 4300K BULBS (PAIR) High Quality on eBay (end time 02-Apr-10 12:50:36 BST)

Also being non-projector pretty sure it should be DR2 but im sure someone can confirm
 
I guess I can pull them out and find out. Am going to visit the stealers tomorrow (I could do with a laugh) as it's gotta be OEM all the way, I'm perfectly happy with the colour and tbh going away from OEM will just make it look like a retrofit - I like the little things that mark it out as an AMG and this definitely includes the xenons.

Once I have an idea of cost there I can do my iPhone thing and see what it looks like with a bit less margin on it...

Cheers for all the advice guys... Was in a foul mood after work and then she goes and does this to me on the way home :devil:
 
Yep .... the backbox on mine is £1245 + VAT !

If someone had told me that at 17 , i'd have laughed at them.
 
To be fair, aged 17 (12 years ago) I spent £600 on welding to get my MG Metro through an MOT so I probably wouldn't laugh, just roll my eyes :D

Luckily I've not had to replace this exhaust though, I even have some of it in the garage for safe keeping :)
 
It's an AMG one :eek:
 
I had a similar problem under warranty. The dealer replaced the ignitor/capsule (bulb) and ballast but the problem remained. It was only fixed when the headlamp unit itself was replaced although the dealer suggested that there was no reason that the headlamp unit could have caused the problem.

It was an expensive business - IIRC - the capsule was £80, ballast several hundred, and headlamp unit £1000 - all plus labour, etc.
 
Sometimes it's better to keep things like that to yourself :eek:

:)
 
Hi,
The complete Headlight (Xenon version) for the W202 is in the region £800, and I don,t believe it comes with any lamps either, in the case of the W202 Xenon, it does have an electronic unit in the headlight and these are quite a common fault, probably more so than the external Ballast/Control Unit, but MB don,t sell them separatly, though I believe it can be removed and a part sourced directly from Bosch, the external Ballast/Control Units are apparently the same as an Audi TT possibly others though you may have to fit your units brackets to it, and lengthen the the cable loom.
If either of the Ballast/Control Unit (external) or the electronic unit (in the headlight) was to fail on mine rather than pay MB's completly unrealistic prices I would buy the Bosch Xenon kit for the W202, which comes complete, 2 new headlights (with the internal electronic unit) 2 new Ballast/Control Units (externally mounted) and 2 new lamps, this I believe is in the region of £550-700 depending how much discount you manage to get out of the supplier.
Take the items you want and flog the the rest on E-Bay, Nic at Euromerc had a brand new headlight on the site for £250 so they fetch good money you might even be able to sell the remainder of the kit and manage to make a profit.
 
So you doubt it's a bulb? Does diagnosis involve first replacing the bulb, then swearing and spending £600 on a full kit? :eek:
 
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So you doubt it's a bulb? Does diagnosis involve first replacing the bulb, then swearing and spending £600 on a full kit? :eek:

Swap the bulbs over first and see if the fault follows. Then you will have to swap the controllers. The controllers are difficult to get to on the C43 as you have to remove the bumper to get to them.

The unit inside the headlamp is the igniter. It is unavailable from Bosch.If it fails you have to replace the entire headlamp.

The external unit is the controller which is available from Bosch at approx £130.
 

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