Service B Shock

[320's Plenty]

Well my car went in for it's B service yesterday, the dealer uses fixed price service charges, which for mine was £255.

I had a list of problems for them to look at, the dealer phoned late last night to say all the problems had been dealt with apart for two items, low speed steering grinding noise which they could not replicate and headlight beam setting, which they say is correct.

I was concerned about the lighting issue and queried this further, to which the dealer said they would change the bulbs, but I replied they are xenons, then the penny dropped with the service guy who said that I didn't have xenons but they were projector type and I was not the first who had had a problem with their lights and didn't know they were no xenons. We didn't test drive the car in the dark, as we bought it in the summer!

In all seriousness I would not have bought the car if I had of known this, but would have sourced another one.

Anyone, been fooled like this.

 

[crockers]

change your bulbs Phillips extreme. Will make a difference. But xenon was a cost extra on this car.

 

[x332race]

In all seriousness I would not have bought the car if I had of known this, but would have sourced another one.

Anyone, been fooled like this.

Really....you would not have bought the car if you knew that it did not have zenon lights?

I have 2 mercs, one with and one without zenons, and to be honest in normal night conditions I would be hard pushed to notice the difference. Zenons nice to have but not a deal breaker for me.

 

[npuk]

Unless it was advertised wrongly as having Xenons then I dont see how you can say they fooled you into thinking it had Xenons.

 

[fuzzer]

Well my car went in for it's B service yesterday, the dealer uses fixed price service charges, which for mine was £255.

I had a list of problems for them to look at, the dealer phoned late last night to say all the problems had been dealt with apart for two items, low speed steering grinding noise which they could not replicate and headlight beam setting, which they say is correct.

I was concerned about the lighting issue and queried this further, to which the dealer said they would change the bulbs, but I replied they are xenons, then the penny dropped with the service guy who said that I didn't have xenons but they were projector type and I was not the first who had had a problem with their lights and didn't know they were no xenons. We didn't test drive the car in the dark, as we bought it in the summer!

In all seriousness I would not have bought the car if I had of known this, but would have sourced another one.

Anyone, been fooled like this.

Easy way to tell is ....

Next to the headlamp switch , if theres a level adjuster 1,2,3 etc its halogen , if its missing its xenon.

Also lifting the hood , there should be 25000v stickers round the lights and also when turned on the lights should do a wee dance up and down and left and right ( if they are adaptive)

Also the car with xenons has headlamp wash.

And yes i wouldnt have bought your car without xenons either.

 

[st13phil]

change your bulbs Phillips extreme.

My experience of the Philips Extreme bulbs in my W204 (I'm assuming that the OP's car is a W204) was that they did make a marginal difference on main beam, but precious little on dip beam which is what I really wanted

Also be aware that they have a considerably shorter life expectancy than the standard bulbs, so carry a spare!

 

[BTB 500]

I put Philips X-treme bulbs in all three of our vehicles three and a half years ago, and only one (out of eight - the Vito has H7s) has blown so far. So I don't have any complaints about the life expectancy

 

[crockers]

Not sure on204 but on 203 it takes 4 bulbs. Did you change all 4?

 

[Hammy]

Not sure on204 but on 203 it takes 4 bulbs. Did you change all 4?

£255 for a B service is cheap if my local MB dealer is anything to go by. I have just been charged £300 for the same service and this was only after haggling.Initially they wanted £360! - I received a customer feedback form afterwards and awarded them 5 stars for everything, but caveated that in the comments section, stating that at £300 for a glorified oil change it bloody should be excellent service!

 

[markjay]

I had Xenons on my previous car which i ran for 7 years. Don't have them on the Merc. they are a nice toy, but not buying the car because of that...? And clearly, if you haven't noticed anything so far5. e.g. insufficient light etc, then surely what you have now is fine?

 

[A160DSB]

Excuse the ignorance.... someone explain the difference between xeonons and normal lights?

 

[billywhiz]

Unless it was advertised wrongly as having Xenons then I dont see how you can say they fooled you into thinking it had Xenons.

Indeed a few non clued up salespeople were like this. I know this from experience - from the outside projector style do look very much like Xenons.

For me Xenons are very important - I drive a lot of dark country lanes and they DO make so much difference.

It was on the top 3 of my car shopping list to the point I'd never buy a car without them.

 

[RAG]

Indeed a few non clued up salespeople were like this. I know this from experience - from the outside projector style do look very much like Xenons.

For me Xenons are very important - I drive a lot of dark country lanes and they DO make so much difference.

It was on the top 3 of my car shopping list to the point I'd never buy a car without them.

Couldn't agree more, I am surprised to hear people saying they cant tell the difference, an absolute must have for me, night and day difference (pardon the pun!).

 

[markjay]

Excuse the ignorance.... someone explain the difference between xeonons and normal lights?

The bulb commonly known as 'Xenon' is actually called HID (High Intensity Discharge ). It does use Xenon gas, but then so do other non-HID bulbs, which is why the term 'Xenon' can sometimes be misleading.

 

[markjay]

Headlamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[newboyuk]

T'was on my list - No. 2... of 3...

 

[JLR1969]

To save money on your service take your own oil, it will save you about £60+

 

[gIzzE]

I wonder how many people are comparing xenons with halogens from 5 or more years ago?

I have been driving a 520d recently for a few days and the lights on that are great, you can see an arc of light up above you, they are very good. I then read that the really bright angel eyes are only on cars with xenons, to my surprise it turns out this 520d has halogens, they are every bit as good as the xenons on my E320cdi and just shows how much headlight tech has moved on, even when using older style bulbs.
They are projectors so we could put an HID bulb in and pass an MOT, but really don't feel the need.

Now, up until last week, when I noticed the above, I would have said I wouldn't buy a car without xenons, however, now it would be case of trying it out.

 

[gason]

i have no problem with normal bulbs but hate the idiots that drive around blinding other drivers with there over bright lights

 

[Colin_b]

I had Xenons on my previous car which i ran for 7 years. Don't have them on the Merc. they are a nice toy, but not buying the car because of that...? And clearly, if you haven't noticed anything so far5. e.g. insufficient light etc, then surely what you have now is fine?

Depends where you drive, I guess. I live in the middle of nowhere, lots of B/C & D roads without street lights. I wouldn't have a car without them now, the range, superior cut off and clarity are so much better. An essential for me.

Urban use, I'd agree they are less beneficial.

That said, my MB HIDs aren't as good as my Vauxhalls AFL HIDs which are the best headlights I've ever used...