W204 headlights

[NDFR]

A little advice please if possible.

I have a problem with poor lighting on my C Class. Main beam is fine but on dipped the lighting is poor. The problem is the cut off is very close to the car even when adjusted as high as the adjuster in the cabin allows. I have fitted night breakers and the situation is a little better but certainly not as good as every other car I ever had. The headlight units have been checked and are not faulty in anyway.

I have projector headlights.

What are my options?

Thanks.

 

[Stardelta]

Really stupid question but are the lamps in the lampholder correctly as mine weren't when I purchased the car

 

[NDFR]

Really stupid question but are the lamps in the lampholder correctly as mine weren't when I purchased the car

Yes they are seated fine. All have been changed by me.

Thanks for the reply though.

 

[Stardelta]

Are you sure they are the right way round as they do go in upside down and look correct but give out a almost none existent light output, so with correct fitting and a set of nightbreakers my lighting is back to normal

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Rotate them, I did the same and after a few nights pulled over on the A45 and rotated them and everything was fine. Mine were Nightbreakers also, and I initially seated them the exact same position as the previously installed bulbs

 

[NDFR]

Thanks for the suggestion I'll go and try that now.

 

[renault12ts]

Try adjusting them...and I don't mean with the adjuster in the car.

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Thanks for the suggestion I'll go and try that now.

Needs to be done in the dark really, you can keep engine running and lights on etc. When rotating you'll see the correct cutoff as they spin round and hey presto!

 

[gabriel81]

I have also found that the bulbs on my W204 were the incorrectly fitted! I wonder why? Noticed straight away when I bough the car how bad the headlights were.

Have now fitted Philips Extreme bulbs the correct way around and hey presto, much much better.

 

[NDFR]

OK for anyone interested, today was the first opportunity to check the lights following these suggestions.

I checked the installation of the bulbs and indeed you can fit them into the holder wrongly rotated.

With that corrected and upgrading to night breakers the light are adequate. Not brilliant but OK at least.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Stardelta]

Glad you are sorted

 

[gabriel81]

Thanks for the update. Sadly the Nightbreakers will blow quite quuickly in my experience so have a spare one available.

 

[MWEY]

When you say "the wrong way up" do you mean the bulb is the wrong way up in the holder, or the holder is the wrong way up in the outer headlamp unit?

One would suggest electrical polarity was the problem, the other would suggest physical orientation.

 

[Chrishazle]

Physical orientation, it's disturbingly easy to get bulbs installed 180 degrees out of correct orientation (guess how I know!!). Symptoms are as above - crap lighting after installing new bulb. Happened to me once, after that I knew to carefully check orintation as I remove a headlamp bulb and make sure the replacement goes in the same way. If you're not 100% sure, first check the holder with an inspection mirror to see where the tab goes !

BTW, I've had NB Ultimates in my car for about 2 years now, in the dips which are on whenever I'm driving, so far (touch wood) no failure. I also have NB Lasers in the mains and find them no better than the Ultimates so IMHO not worth the extra money.

 

[MWEY]

Which way up should the tab be?

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Which way up should the tab be?

You need to park up in a lay-by at night to really see if they’re the right way round. When I installed NB’s on my previous car I drove around for a few days thinking they were ****, pulled over one evening and adjusted them, you notice right away!

 

[fixingstuffup]

Wow, this thread is a few years old, but I am dealing with the same problem. New dipped headlight bulbs are not casting sufficient light from my W204. I see what a potential solution is - fitting the bulbs the correct way around. With that, is there a way of fitting the bulbs without having to go through a trial-and-error process, literally in the dark, to ensure they are fitted correctly?

I have to say, I hope there is a special place in hell reserved for the designers who make fitting new bulbs to a car difficult. This should be so easy.

 

[markjay]

Wow, this thread is a few years old, but I am dealing with the same problem. New dipped headlight bulbs are not casting sufficient light from my W204. I see what a potential solution is - fitting the bulbs the correct way around. With that, is there a way of fitting the bulbs without having to go through a trial-and-error process, literally in the dark, to ensure they are fitted correctly?

I have to say, I hope there is a special place in hell reserved for the designers who make fitting new bulbs to a car difficult. This should be so easy.

Does your car have Halogen H7 bulbs, or Xenon/HID headlights?

If the former, then 4 x Osram Night Breaker H7 is all you need. All 4 bulbs are easily replaceable on the W204.

 

[fixingstuffup]

Thank you. H7 bulbs. So, regarding the Night Breakers, is it fair to say that it doesn't matter how those bulbs go in they will still be good?

 

[markjay]

Thank you. H7 bulbs. So, regarding the Night Breakers, is it fair to say that it doesn't matter how those bulbs go in they will still be good?

I don't quite understand the question.

An H7 bulb can go in only one way, there's a small tab at the base of the bulb that fits into a notch in the back of the headlamp. This is true for all H7 Halogen bulbs.

The Osram Night Breaker are a series of bright white bulbs that are better than standard H7 bulbs. There are other manufacturers who make brighter H7 bulbs.

But they all still fit in the same way.