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W211 Facelift - Xenon Ballast Issue & Replacement - 2118709026 / Hella 5DC009060-00 5DC009060-011

pretzelmeister

New Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Messages
18
Car
2007-facelift E220 Cdi Estate
Looks like I have to replace bi-xenon ballast (passenger / LHS) on my W211 2007 facelift E220Cdi estate, with:
  • 618 BI-XENON HEADLAMPS FOR LEFT-HAND TRAFFIC
  • 619 CORNERING ILLUMINATION
Existing Part# is A2118709026 - which has been superseded by A2118705585.
Believe Hella was OEM, and part# was 5DC009060-00, but that is discontinued and has been replaced by 5DC009060-011.
Hella part is pricey - upwards of £200. There seem to be few floating about on Amazon UK (none with reviews) and also on eBay - for £50-£100.
Does anyone have any experience to share please with the cheaper 'unbranded' (presumably Chinese clone) units?

History

  • Last Xmas - LHS low-beam error on dash.
  • Got bulb supplied & fitted at Halords beteween Xmas & New Year - all good.
  • Come May, get low-beam error on dash again. Bulb had come out of holder. Reseated, all good again.
  • June, get low-beam error on dash again. Bulb had come out of holder again. And circular screw-on cover on back of light had come loose. Reseated, all good again.
  • Sep, get low-beam error on dash again. Reseated bulb, no joy. Orderd and fitted new buld (D1S), still no joy.
  • This weekend:
    • removed LHS ballast. Was full of water - emptied maybe 100ml? Connections very grubby.
    • Removed LHS headlight unit. Checked for leaking seal - all looked good - and to my surprise, no pool of water sitting in the lens cover. Can only assume had all already leaked down in to the ballast!
    • Sprayed contact cleaner on connections on ballast and ballast connection on headlight. Put them in a small space for few hours with a 1 kw fan heater and a dehumidifier to dry them out nicely.
    • Hopefully - rather than expectantly - refitted and switched-on lights. Alas - still no joy. :-( I really hoped that the empty & drying may have done it.
    • Swapped the LHS & RHS ballasts over - problem followed the ballast - light on passneger side with driver's side ballast.
Hence:
  • Now looking for replacement ballast.
  • And trying to find someone who can code it for me, and understand what will / won't work if it doesn't get coded. To start with, I just want to get the car legala & safe again - i.e. dipped beam comes on. If is only cornering illumination that won't work - but I guess also potemntially aim adjustment with the self-levelling suspension - without coding, then can follow-up with that with less urgency.
Going Forward:
  • have ordered some dessicant gel sachets, which I plan to tape to the inside of the circular headight covers.
  • But I think really, what the problem has been, is that I haven't properly secured the headlamp cover after reseating bulb - and water has got in to the lens housing, and dripped down the wiring and through the connector in to the ballast.
  • So to be sure, I will add some tape to the headlight cover after making sure is properly closed - so as not to fry my new ballast.
Ballast Removal
  • Driver side is no problem - front section of undertray off then easy access from below to the 2x T20 screws and off it pops.
  • Passenger side was much trickier - because ar compressor for the self-levelling rear suspenion is in the way - and even if remove that, the bracket that it is mounted is still in the way.
  • That said, I did manage to remove it from below - awkward, fiddly access with flexible extension - and once screws removed - managed, with a bit of wiggling, to get it out the passenger wheel arch with the front part of liner removed.
  • I already wasn't fancying my chances of managing to reinstall that way, and whn I found it was full of water - and I wanted to inspect the headlight unit - I opted for front bumper removal. Wasn't as bad as I had originally feared, but it still wasn't particluarly quick! (But then, I'm still pretty much a noob at this stuff.)
  • And that certainly made swapping the ballasts over easier too.
Pics & Links
I took a few pics while I was at it, and have several links to relevant youtube vids.
Please shout if they may be of interest.

Coding In Glasgow
And if anyone can recommend someone in Glasgow who can code the new ballast for a reasonable rate, please let me know.
- I will give my local Indy a call in the morning, and see what they say.

Cheers,

P
 
Looks like I have to replace bi-xenon ballast (passenger / LHS) on my W211 2007 facelift E220Cdi estate, with:
  • 618 BI-XENON HEADLAMPS FOR LEFT-HAND TRAFFIC
  • 619 CORNERING ILLUMINATION
Existing Part# is A2118709026 - which has been superseded by A2118705585.
Believe Hella was OEM, and part# was 5DC009060-00, but that is discontinued and has been replaced by 5DC009060-011.
Hella part is pricey - upwards of £200. There seem to be few floating about on Amazon UK (none with reviews) and also on eBay - for £50-£100.
Does anyone have any experience to share please with the cheaper 'unbranded' (presumably Chinese clone) units?

History

  • Last Xmas - LHS low-beam error on dash.
  • Got bulb supplied & fitted at Halords beteween Xmas & New Year - all good.
  • Come May, get low-beam error on dash again. Bulb had come out of holder. Reseated, all good again.
  • June, get low-beam error on dash again. Bulb had come out of holder again. And circular screw-on cover on back of light had come loose. Reseated, all good again.
  • Sep, get low-beam error on dash again. Reseated bulb, no joy. Orderd and fitted new buld (D1S), still no joy.
  • This weekend:
    • removed LHS ballast. Was full of water - emptied maybe 100ml? Connections very grubby.
    • Removed LHS headlight unit. Checked for leaking seal - all looked good - and to my surprise, no pool of water sitting in the lens cover. Can only assume had all already leaked down in to the ballast!
    • Sprayed contact cleaner on connections on ballast and ballast connection on headlight. Put them in a small space for few hours with a 1 kw fan heater and a dehumidifier to dry them out nicely.
    • Hopefully - rather than expectantly - refitted and switched-on lights. Alas - still no joy. :-( I really hoped that the empty & drying may have done it.
    • Swapped the LHS & RHS ballasts over - problem followed the ballast - light on passneger side with driver's side ballast.
Hence:
  • Now looking for replacement ballast.
  • And trying to find someone who can code it for me, and understand what will / won't work if it doesn't get coded. To start with, I just want to get the car legala & safe again - i.e. dipped beam comes on. If is only cornering illumination that won't work - but I guess also potemntially aim adjustment with the self-levelling suspension - without coding, then can follow-up with that with less urgency.
Going Forward:
  • have ordered some dessicant gel sachets, which I plan to tape to the inside of the circular headight covers.
  • But I think really, what the problem has been, is that I haven't properly secured the headlamp cover after reseating bulb - and water has got in to the lens housing, and dripped down the wiring and through the connector in to the ballast.
  • So to be sure, I will add some tape to the headlight cover after making sure is properly closed - so as not to fry my new ballast.
Ballast Removal
  • Driver side is no problem - front section of undertray off then easy access from below to the 2x T20 screws and off it pops.
  • Passenger side was much trickier - because ar compressor for the self-levelling rear suspenion is in the way - and even if remove that, the bracket that it is mounted is still in the way.
  • That said, I did manage to remove it from below - awkward, fiddly access with flexible extension - and once screws removed - managed, with a bit of wiggling, to get it out the passenger wheel arch with the front part of liner removed.
  • I already wasn't fancying my chances of managing to reinstall that way, and whn I found it was full of water - and I wanted to inspect the headlight unit - I opted for front bumper removal. Wasn't as bad as I had originally feared, but it still wasn't particluarly quick! (But then, I'm still pretty much a noob at this stuff.)
  • And that certainly made swapping the ballasts over easier too.
Pics & Links
I took a few pics while I was at it, and have several links to relevant youtube vids.
Please shout if they may be of interest.

Coding In Glasgow
And if anyone can recommend someone in Glasgow who can code the new ballast for a reasonable rate, please let me know.
- I will give my local Indy a call in the morning, and see what they say.

Cheers,

P
I’ve done the same job on a pre facelift and it was just plug n play, no coding required. Try it first? ( got the new 2nd hand ballast sub £100 from Latvia )
 
I’ve done the same job on a pre facelift and it was just plug n play, no coding required. Try it first? ( got the new 2nd hand ballast sub £100 from Latvia )
Yeah. Managed to get hold of a used genuine Merc ballast / control unit. Fitted it - worked no problem, no coding required.
Wasn;t exactly the same hardware & software revisions as my original unit, but evidently close enough.
 

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