Flickering xenons both sides clk55

[JackBvmb]

Hi, the Mrs has just come back from using my car and said the lights are flickering. I took it out to check and they are.
It seems like its both light at the same time so I'm not sure its a bulb or a ballast as I believe it would normally just happen on one side???
Any ideas out there?

I know there's plenty on here about flickering xenons but I can't find much about them both flickering.

Also, another note, I have the annoying 'click from behind the dash. It sounds like its coming from behind the glove box. Is there anyway to get at it through the glove box or are all the stepper motors a dash out job?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JackBvmb]

I should add that at the moment its a quick as a flash off and back on probably every 2-3 minutes when driving or parked up.

 

[55AMGCLK]

Have a look at with following for the clicking noise, post has a couple of things you can try.

Clicking noise in dash | Interior

Can anyone help with this one ? I have a CLK W209 which has a clicking noise in the dash when the ignition is turned to position 2, it only lasts for about 30 seconds. Someone has suggested it is the air distribution flaps being set and thinks there is a way of doing a re set to stop the noise ...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

 

[Blobsta]

Are they they factory units? I only ask because they are known for this with aftermarket units and some cars need to be coded so if yours have been retrofitted with factory units it may need to be coded. I recently did a retrofit on my car and had them coded just in case.

 

[55AMGCLK]

As for the flickering lights, I doubt the ballasts or the bulbs will go faulty on both sides at the same time.

These cars are very sensitive to battery condition and throw up all sorts of issues when the battery is low. Take mines for example, when the battery is low, the dash goes blank and the xenon lights turn on and cannot be turned off.

I would check the battery if fully charged and the see if you still have the issue.

 

[JackBvmb]

Are they they factory units? I only ask because they are known for this with aftermarket units and some cars need to be coded so if yours have been retrofitted with factory units it may need to be coded. I recently did a retrofit on my car and had them coded just in case.

Yes, they're factory.

 

[JackBvmb]

As for the flickering lights, I doubt the ballasts or the bulbs will go faulty on both sides at the same time.

These cars are very sensitive to battery condition and throw up all sorts of issues when the battery is low. Take mines for example, when the battery is low, the dash goes blank and the xenon lights turn on and cannot be turned off.

I would check the battery if fully charged and the see if you still have the issue.

Thank you. I did wonder about the battery. I'll check it when I have some free daylight time.
Any ideas how to check the condition of the battery?

 

[whitenemesis]

Check the front SAM unit for damp?
Getting the car on STAR would stop the guessing.

 

[JackBvmb]

Check the front SAM unit for damp?
Getting the car on STAR would stop the guessing.

You'll have to excuse me, but what is a SAM unit?

 

[whitenemesis]

You'll have to excuse me, but what is a SAM unit?

It's the Signal Acquisition Module. Basically a programmable fuse box. It will have fuses and relays on board but most importantly it carries the coding required for systems to work correctly.
Using the MB diagnostic program STAR, one can interrogate the system and read error codes but also reprogram the unit.
Get a good independent MB specialist to scan the car and see what's going on

 

[JackBvmb]

Sorry all, after looking myself, it is the drivers side light only that is flickering. Seems worse on start up for a few minutes then settles but still flickers... any ideas?

 

[whitenemesis]

As first mentioned in post #5 bulb or ballast. Try swapping side to side and see if problem follows.
Still recommend a STAR diagnosis..

 

[Blobsta]

Sorry all, after looking myself, it is the drivers side light only that is flickering. Seems worse on start up for a few minutes then settles but still flickers... any ideas?

When I did my first projector retrofit, the CANBUS decoders that I bought still weren't ok and it was the driver's side that caused me the problems exactly as you describe. Apparently, MB program the car the gently increase the voltage up to 12v for halogen headlights but if the car is factory fitted with xenons then it is give 12v straight off to ignite the HID with the ballast. I simply cannot fathom the thinking behind this engineering to protect a £3 H7 bulb! Initially, I ran two decoders in series to trick the car with the additional resistance so that it didn't error or flicker any longer and when I did the second set I had my car coded so that it now has Xenons and thus the problem went away.

The reason I explained that lot was to see if you can identify where the failure actually is or what may have changed. From my research, some cars seem to suffer worse than others with these retrofits and I accept that you say your car had Xenons from the factory, it may not have it's original SAM (assuming that is where this is coded) and that could have been overlooked or equally it may have had a replacement lamp at some time, could also be a simple earth fault. As others have suggested, getting it on a STAR will help. I absolutely hate the fact that you can't replicate STAR in any way as it means there is so much that you have to rely on a good indy for or take it to MB where they will rarely make changes by request.

Does the car show an error for the lamp failing at all? If not, I would suspect as others have suggested it will simply be the bulb or ballast. You can swap the bulbs easily from side to side but I think the ballasts are under the headlamp and that will mean you need to remove the front bumper to be able to swap them over. It's not a hard job but it's not 5 mins either.

 

[JackBvmb]

When I did my first projector retrofit, the CANBUS decoders that I bought still weren't ok and it was the driver's side that caused me the problems exactly as you describe. Apparently, MB program the car the gently increase the voltage up to 12v for halogen headlights but if the car is factory fitted with xenons then it is give 12v straight off to ignite the HID with the ballast. I simply cannot fathom the thinking behind this engineering to protect a £3 H7 bulb! Initially, I ran two decoders in series to trick the car with the additional resistance so that it didn't error or flicker any longer and when I did the second set I had my car coded so that it now has Xenons and thus the problem went away.

The reason I explained that lot was to see if you can identify where the failure actually is or what may have changed. From my research, some cars seem to suffer worse than others with these retrofits and I accept that you say your car had Xenons from the factory, it may not have it's original SAM (assuming that is where this is coded) and that could have been overlooked or equally it may have had a replacement lamp at some time, could also be a simple earth fault. As others have suggested, getting it on a STAR will help. I absolutely hate the fact that you can't replicate STAR in any way as it means there is so much that you have to rely on a good indy for or take it to MB where they will rarely make changes by request.

Does the car show an error for the lamp failing at all? If not, I would suspect as others have suggested it will simply be the bulb or ballast. You can swap the bulbs easily from side to side but I think the ballasts are under the headlamp and that will mean you need to remove the front bumper to be able to swap them over. It's not a hard job but it's not 5 mins either.

Thank you for this. I have a huge stack of receipts for almost anything ever bought for the car from screenwash through to waterpumps and there isn't anything about a SAM unit.

I'll have a go at switching the bits over to see.

Thank you all.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Check the earths.

Be VERY careful as the voltage on high intensity lights can be extremely (18,000-30,000 volts) high - don’t stick your fingers in there with them on if you don’t know what you are doing.

go to your local indie and get it checked on STAR

if you swap bulbs and fault stays same side then it’s probably the ballast, if it moves it’s the bulb.

 

[JackBvmb]

The problem solved itself. Could it be a loose wire?