Pink Xenon Light

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mbenz76

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Messages
1,055
Car
E350 AMG Night Edition Premium Plus Saloon
On way home tonight noticed drivers side headlight had gone a deep shade of pink as it reflected off a white car in front.

Parked up and checked and sure enough, light is glowing pink. Turned off and off and it starts ul white/blue as normal and quickly fades to pink.

Any clues on what it could be?

Car is just over 4 years old with 45k miles.

The lights are the intelligent bi-xenon ones.

Also, I have a Tier 1 extended warranty on the car, is this something likely to be covered or can they claim wear and tear? I had xenon lights on a crappy Renault Laguna years ago and never had an issue - expected better from MB.
 
Lamp is on the way out.

Best to replace them in pairs so the colour temp is the same as they change over time.

Doubt warranty will cover light bulbs
 
Would it fail instantly. It went from white to almost red in seconds.

Starting to see lots of issues on this car now it has hit 4 years old. Putting me off MB to be honest.

I have never liked how the car turns the headlights on as you unlock it if it is dark), the opening the door turns them off (almost instantly usually as I unlock stood next to car), then I start car and the come on again. That cannot be good for longevity of parts.

Anyone know if pink light is going to get me pulled over by plod until I get it sorted. Going to work and coming home in dark at the moment.
 
You could always turn off the "welcome light" option?

You will get pulled over for having a defective headlamp, pink or not!
 
Would it fail instantly. It went from white to almost red in seconds.

Starting to see lots of issues on this car now it has hit 4 years old. Putting me off MB to be honest.

I have never liked how the car turns the headlights on as you unlock it if it is dark), the opening the door turns them off (almost instantly usually as I unlock stood next to car), then I start car and the come on again. That cannot be good for longevity of parts.

Anyone know if pink light is going to get me pulled over by plod until I get it sorted. Going to work and coming home in dark at the moment.


You can turn off the light on function when unlocking the car, on the menus button on your steering wheel. You could also leave the headlamp switch off auto this may also work.
 
You can de-activate the surround lighting which comes on when the car is unlocked.

Bulbs can blow on the day that the car leaves the factory, you shouldn't judge the car reliability due a blown light bulb.

Try the suggested - buy two Philips or Osram bulbs (£50) and replace your current bulbs.
 
Bulbs aren't made by MB , probably by Phillips , could happen to any car.

Might get you pulled. Depends if plod got out of the wrong side of the bed.

Don't buy them from a dealership unless you have bottomless pockets , lots of aftermarket sellers that are much cheaper for exactly the same parts.

4 years from a lamp is good going surely ?
 
The car is just lighting the way home for you, and lighting the way to the car as you walk over. The range of the fob is dozens of metres, so you're supposed to unlock the car from afar and use it's light to make sure you don't break your neck in the dark, but as said you can turn it off if you don't want that nice modern feature.
 
Buy branded bulbs off Amazon, cheap enough at ~£60/pr. Avoid the £20/pr china imports..

No warranty would cover a service part such as bulbs
 
Thanks everyone

Got to take chances with plod tonight as I have to go pick the wife up. Will plead ignorance if stopped and hope they let me continue home at least.

Off to MB dealer in morning so they can assess. I have a good relationship and they will price match on most stuff (even online sometimes) so may not pay through nose.

If it is bulb and I go the DIY route, does anyone know how easy they are to fit as I have the intelligent lights and assume they add a level of complexity. I thought when I spent £50k on a car that my DIY days would he behind me.

Still hoping they will find something like ballast or controller at fault which I imagine are warranty items.

Re the welcome home lights - I didn't know they could be turned off. Thanks for the tip.

I know I shouldn't judge MB by a few faults, but my crappy Renault never had the xenons fail after many more miles and years, and I have just had to replace all 4 tyre valves and TPMS sensors as they couldn't separate them from valves - never happened with Renault. Told it is down to crappy alloy valves.

I am actually considering replacing car and was thinking of new E but a bit put off now.
 
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I'm surprised the 'Welcome' function turns on the xenon headlamps.

On my CL it's the fog lamps that illuminate and I assumed that was to reduce the impact of on/off switching of the xenons.
 
Yup, fogs lamps on my CLS and the 203 before it
 
Xenons and DRLs come on (and puddle lights under mirrors). I have no welcome home option but do have a surround lighting option. Haven't tried turning it off yet.

It can't be good going on and off though like that.
 
mbenz76 said:
On way home tonight noticed drivers side headlight had gone a deep shade of pink as it reflected off a white car in front. Parked up and checked and sure enough, light is glowing pink. Turned off and off and it starts ul white/blue as normal and quickly fades to pink. Any clues on what it could be? Car is just over 4 years old with 45k miles. The lights are the intelligent bi-xenon ones. Also, I have a Tier 1 extended warranty on the car, is this something likely to be covered or can they claim wear and tear? I had xenon lights on a crappy Renault Laguna years ago and never had an issue - expected better from MB.

Had this on my sisters a class. Nightmare in the end as both sides went including bulbs and ballasts. Check both before changing but if the bulb is pink that's gone.
 
Same happened on my C55. It turned out to be a loose retaining clip on that bulb. However as I discovered both bulbs had become dimmer over a four year life. I replaced with DS2's from MB. £80 a pair and they are pure white and very bright. NB on here I was advised NOT to buy from MB as they would bankrupt me. They price matched what I could find in big brand names.

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK
 
It can't be good going on and off though like that.

Perhaps a strongly worded letter to the dealer principal or the head of MBUK would help ?

You don't have to DIY on a £50k car , just pay the dealership to do it for you if you can't do it :)
 
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I don't want to do DIY, but if it is £500 at MB and £100 for parts then I will get stuck in. I just don't know how to do it and there is no Haynes manual for the W212.

MB Sheffield have always been reasonable with me and have said they will price match on other items, even online sellers, so hoping for a good price. People always assume dealer will rob you blind (including me) but it is often surprising how well priced they are - I think they realise there is competition out there. We are lucky in Sheffield as we have a dealer and an official workshop so I often bounce one off the other for prices.
 
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My local dealer (Greenoaks, Ascot) will not charge labour to change bulbs and batteries (with the odd exception which is listed on a nice big poster in the parts department)

Richard
 

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