Hi beam adjustment possible on W210
 

Subject car: 1999 E300D fitted with USA OE HID headlamps

Guys, is there any way to adjust the high beams on an early W210 car? I can find the height and lateral adjusters for the main beam but can't see any method to adjust the inboard high-beam units. Am I stuck with the high beams as-is :o

Thanks.

AFAIK it's a solid unit and the headlight adjustments move the low AND high beams simulaneously.

low beam (outboard lamp only):

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5127/lork0.jpg



high beam (inboard and outboard lamps):


http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/498/hilowop3.jpg

You're suggesting the mechanism moves both inboard and outboard units at the same time meaning no independant tweaking is possible :confused:

The halogen lamps are that way. I've never seen the HID's, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Matt, thanks for your note. I've adjusted the headlamps on both our 1999 and 2002 E Class cars. I had assumed the high beams were fixed and could not be adjusted. I guess in the era of cost-cutting, using a single aiming mechanism for both hi and low makes sense. :(

It's easy enough to verify. I'll check it.

On my 1999 car, the HID is low beam only. Our previous cars had bi-xenon (hi and low) and that's how I expected the Benz to be set up. :o

I really dislike having tremendous illumination in the foreground, provided by the HIDs, and very weak hi beams projecting down the road. There's almost no change apparent in overall lighting when switching to high beams under this design. My eyes don't like it and it's hard to get accumstomed to.

My wife does not have HIDs on her '02 wagon and the lights are great on that car - - both high and low beams - - at least to my eyes. I'd never complain about the uniformity of illumination.

Sounds like I am stuck. Glad I don't drive that much at night. :rolleyes:

Seems like a bit of a nice engineering innovation. Saves your time, too.

I think this is all correct also. The high beams are adjsuted along with the low beam. I don't think the angle of the high beam is the same as the low beam, but the angle of the high beam changes sympathetically with the low beams. In other words the angle difference between the low and high beam is fixed relative to each other. I don't think you will find a seperate set of adjusters for each beam. The owners manual gives pretty thourough description of the adjustment procedure, including where the adjusters are located. I'd check there for some good info. If there is an aim problem with Xenon HRA, often the dealer needs to go into the HRA module and do some checks or reinitallize the level sensors. Especially true if any suspension mods have been done!
Gilly

Gilly, thanks for your reply. No level sensors on this baby! The headlamps were fitted after the fact.

I have been told that the high beam has no adjustment whatsoever unless it's completely disassembled. This was relayed to me by a person who has dissected the entire headlight unit.

Again, no adjustment possible of the high beam.

Thanks to all who have responded. :)

Yeah see what the owners manual has to say about it, probably the best resource there is on the topic of headlight adjustments bar none.
Gilly

And Gilly wins the prize !! :)
 

When all else fails: RTFM !!

I checked the OM index for headlights and it describes how to turn them on and use of the standing lights. However, when scanning the "Practical Hints" section, I did come across a nice bit on "Adusting Headlamp Aim" and they state the hi and lo beams are adjusted simulataneously.

Halogen procedure:

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/6697/hallai8.jpg

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4796/halrei6.jpg


HID procedure:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/9762/xenonleb6.jpg

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/792/xenonrpr6.jpg

(WOW, I can't believe the effort to get such a simple question answered.)

It's strange, my car doesn't have part #9 pictured in the diagram. I think my wife's car does.

HID assembly:

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/5918/lampstl4.jpg

Best info available for aligning the lights is the owners manual. I dug out the cars owners manuals more than once trying to figure out a new model aligning procedure, couldn't even find it in WIS a few times.
It seems like the manual is showing a different model where it shows that part #9. I think I see it in your pic, maybe not. In the pic you have the 2 big gray clips that hold the lense on, if you look behind the clip on the right (in the pic) I think I see it there just ahead of the white painted radiator support, it's down low in that gap.
Gilly

re RTFM.... {sheepishly} after 3 yrs of owning my E320 i disocover that there
is a dash readout for engine oil level. stumbled across it last week as I was
resetting the service change msg. guess it's time to plow through that manual
again. :) along those lines, i wonder how many 'easter eggs' folks have
discoveredover the years. i've read of backdoor menus or resets, some of which
were useful. the more they're block boxed equipped, the more likely they'll have
undocumented toggles, I guess.

Update: I ultimately determined the poor lighting I was experiencing on high beam wasn't due to height adjustment. I removed the bulbs and found that "MADE IN KOREA" label. The bulbs were those blue tinted type. Upon removing them and installing traditional bulbs, I found the high beam illumination to be quite good :)