W211 E320cdi Bi-Xenon bulb fitting advice

[chesterpiglet]

I’ve decided to try upgraded D1S bulbs in the car to try and eek some more light out of the headlights .
Just been out to have a look at the cars access for bulb fitting .
Apart from safety advice of either disconnect the battery or pull the lighting fuse wearing eye protection and gloves they appear to be normal bulb fitting .
The access looks to be the issue. Passenger side looks fine with removal of the coolant overflow tank , drivers side looks too tight for human arms .
Does anyone know is It headlight housing out to do it , or maybe fitting from below the car ? Front slam panel removal :shock:
There are no clues in the manual other than get Main dealer to do it .
Haynes just talks as though there are no access problems at all .
Anyone done it themselves ?
Thanks

I did mine a few months ago. The 1st one took a long time but the 2nd one was much quicker & when one did not work(ballast gone) I swapped the bulbs over to see if it was a defective bulb in a couple of minutes. It's like a lot of things- much easier when you have done it once. I'm 6'3" & have quite big hands too. Watch the YouTube videos so you know exactly what you have to do & wear long sleeves with packing tape around as I scraped my arms on one particular clip(I think associated with the bonnet release). I just turned the ignition off & all was well. Mine just came with the bulbs & not the square lower part but a quick Google & it was easy to remove the clamp. Also re attach the wires before putting it back in the lamp as you cannot see where the back is due to the cramped access. I forgot to say that if you want the number of actuations the bulb has had reset it must be done on a Star machine. Good luck.

 

[W1ghty]

I did mine a few months ago. The 1st one took a long time but the 2nd one was much quicker & when one did not work(ballast gone) I swapped the bulbs over to see if it was a defective bulb in a couple of minutes. It's like a lot of things- much easier when you have done it once. I'm 6'3" & have quite big hands too. Watch the YouTube videos so you know exactly what you have to do & wear long sleeves with packing tape around as I scraped my arms on one particular clip(I think associated with the bonnet release). I just turned the ignition off & all was well. Mine just came with the bulbs & not the square lower part but a quick Google & it was easy to remove the clamp. Also re attach the wires before putting it back in the lamp as you cannot see where the back is due to the cramped access. I forgot to say that if you want the number of actuations the bulb has had reset it must be done on a Star machine. Good luck.

That’s for that buddy , maybe there is hope for me yet , I’m neither 6’3 or have big hands

 

[chesterpiglet]

That’s for that buddy , maybe there is hope for me yet , I’m neither 6’3 or have big hands

Believe me…… if I can do it then you can. I must admit I was petrified before I started but how difficult can it be to change a bulb??? The key is knowing which way the cover turns & how to remove the bulb holder- just go for it!

 

[W1ghty]

Believe me…… if I can do it then you can. I must admit I was petrified before I started but how difficult can it be to change a bulb??? The key is knowing which way the cover turns & how to remove the bulb holder- just go for it!

The moment the saga which is the hall redecoration is done , I’m all over it buddy

 

[350cls]

The moment the saga which is the hall redecoration is done , I’m all over it buddy

Come on W1ghty what's keeping you "man"

At least your hands are still intact to finish the decorating. As if you tackled the bulbs first you may need time for them to heal .

 

[W1ghty]

Ok finally got it done and working .
A week ago i started with some new cheapie bulbs , after an age of finally figuring out how to get them in they both flickered and went out
The dashboard showed L and R dipped beam faults .
With my new found bulb fitting experience I refitted the old Osrams and that was that .
After a refund on the cheapies, I ordered some OEM Osrams which arrived yesterday .
Taking advantage of the sun .

I disconnected the main battery negative lead
For the passenger side I popped out the holding plug thingy for the coolant tank and lifted the tank to one side .
Removed the bulb electrical plug
Anti clockwise turn and the bulb pulls out .
It’s fitted with a plastic collar which need to be removed and fitted to the new bulb , sounds easy when you know how it comes apart but it took me 15 mins to figure it out .


New bulb back in 15 degree clockwise turn to lock it in place …don’t touch the bulb glass !

On to the drivers side bulb you can get access for an arm down under the bonnet release cable. You can increase room by pulling the bulkhead cables for the lights off their bulkhead pin/screw .
The best access I found was to have the back of your right forearm against the ABS unit , coming in from the side .
Disconnect the bulb power cable , anti-clockwise turn to free it . Old surround fitted to new bulb . Clockwise turn to lock it , refit cable .
Then drop the lighting housing cap down into the engine so it takes 15 mins with duct tape on the end of a mechanics extending mirror pole to fish out (very Apollo 13 ! How do you get this out of that only with this ) . Feel free to skip this part .

Battery reconnected and the Osrams now work .

 

[W1ghty]

Road test , BIG improvement , well pleased for the £60 for the 2x Osrams

 

[ChrisEdu]

Road test , BIG improvement , well pleased for the £60 for the 2x Osrams

Just to check, you replaced the xenon bulbs?

 

[DSM10000]

Just to check, you replaced the xenon bulbs?

What else?

 

[W1ghty]

Just to check, you replaced the xenon bulbs?

Yep buddy , Osram D1S Xenarc bulbs (Bi Xenon)

 

[350cls]

Ok finally got it done and working .
A week ago i started with some new cheapie bulbs , after an age of finally figuring out how to get them in they both flickered and went out
The dashboard showed L and R dipped beam faults .
With my new found bulb fitting experience I refitted the old Osrams and that was that .
After a refund on the cheapies, I ordered some OEM Osrams which arrived yesterday .
Taking advantage of the sun .

I disconnected the main battery negative lead
For the passenger side I popped out the holding plug thingy for the coolant tank and lifted the tank to one side .
Removed the bulb electrical plug
Anti clockwise turn and the bulb pulls out .
It’s fitted with a plastic collar which need to be removed and fitted to the new bulb , sounds easy when you know how it comes apart but it took me 15 mins to figure it out .

View attachment 122974
New bulb back in 15 degree clockwise turn to lock it in place …don’t touch the bulb glass !

On to the drivers side bulb you can get access for an arm down under the bonnet release cable. You can increase room by pulling the bulkhead cables for the lights off their bulkhead pin/screw .
The best access I found was to have the back of your right forearm against the ABS unit , coming in from the side .
Disconnect the bulb power cable , anti-clockwise turn to free it . Old surround fitted to new bulb . Clockwise turn to lock it , refit cable .
Then drop the lighting housing cap down into the engine so it takes 15 mins with duct tape on the end of a mechanics extending mirror pole to fish out (very Apollo 13 ! How do you get this out of that only with this ) . Feel free to skip this part .

Battery reconnected and the Osrams now work .

Nice one W1ghty,

Great right up and good work. Do the newer bulbs definitely improve over the original bulbs you had in place. Did you go for the same bulb outputs/ colour.

Thanks

 

[clk320x]

Nice one W1ghty,

Great right up and good work. Do the newer bulbs definitely improve over the original bulbs you had in place. Did you go for the same bulb outputs/ colour.

Thanks

4200k is actually the best for light output AFAIK although lots of people fit higher kelvin bulbs for better aesthetics.

 

[350cls]

4200k is actually the best for light output AFAIK although lots of people fit higher kelvin bulbs for better aesthetics.

I think the 4200k are the bulbs that come as standard on the 211 with the bi xenon lamps. I would be tempted to go 5000k

 

[clk320x]

I think the 4200k are the bulbs that come as standard on the 211 with the bi xenon lamps. I would be tempted to go 5000k

Yes 4200k are standard.

 

[clk320x]

I think the 4200k are the bulbs that come as standard on the 211 with the bi xenon lamps. I would be tempted to go 5000k

I went for Osram 6000k on my W212 brilliant bulbs

 

[350cls]

The w212 I find is spot on lol. The w211 is so much better now I've cleaned up the lenses. I would like to freshen up the lamps all across the front. Not sure what I'll go with yet. I'm thinking around the 5k mark as anymore you lose the visability aspect over the blue looking lamps.

 

[W1ghty]

Nice one W1ghty,

Great right up and good work. Do the newer bulbs definitely improve over the original bulbs you had in place. Did you go for the same bulb outputs/ colour.

Thanks

Yes , definitely an improvement over the old ones , I went super standard OEM after the cheap bulbs didn’t work on the car .
Osram D1s 3200lm 4200k (from memory) , 35w .
When you read up on these bulbs , they do age out , I think Halfords suggest that after 3 years they are down a healthy percentage on light output .
I am well pleased for the £62 outlay .