Why don't newer Mercedes' have yellow fog lights?
 

I was just wondering why the newer Mercedes' don't have yellow fog lights like those of the mid 80's to early 90's? From what I have noticed, the newer cars fog lights are white lights that are located near the bottom of the bumper. Does anybody know the reason for the absence of the yellow fog light?

Brian

Research in Europe
 

mentioned in _Road and Track_ a decade or so ago indicated that the yellow fogs (and yellow headlights in France, Switzerland, and (long ago) in Sweden) weren't the unalloyed advantage that they had been thought to be, but that for many people yellow light confused their depth perception. Also, for foglights to be used for their real purpose, the closer to the ground the better, so the type like I have on my '85 300TD are inferior on two counts.

Does anybody know what's the effect to the car in the front, if I turn on my yellow fog lights at night even without fog, will they be disturbed?

I feel the head lights on my W124 400E are too dim even with the new bulbs, when it rained at night I nearly hit a pedestrian several months ago, also nearly ran over neighbour's black cat once, that was very scary, I feel turning on fog light helps a lot.

Thanks.

I think when the new xenon lights became maintstream, their superior lighting refuted the need to use the old amber units...

i still prefer the yellow lights, i see the road better.

One of the reasons the yellow bulbs/filters are being phased out is because cadmium is used in the coating, and is on environmental watch lists. I had the stock US headlights with the yellow filter, and the Euro lights with no filter. Personally I felt I could see better with the yellow, so I installed yellow h3 bulbs, no longer available. When I had the yellow fog lights on, no oncoming traffic ever 'flashed' me. With the white bulbs they just assume it is hi beams, and flash me all the time - PITA.

The only real solution to not seeing pedestrians, however, is the euro lights with their superior low beam pattern and light output. Fog light beam patterns are so close to the car that they will only let you identify what you just hit.

EDIT: Here is what I was told by Ken Beard at Susquehanna motors when I inquired about replacement H3 yellow bulbs:

"The yellowstars are no longer made in Europe - as of the first of last year, it was illegal to equip a new car (from the factory) with them and also illegal to manufacture them (an environmental issue since the process uses cadmium). The French were the ones who required the yellow lights so they were seen all over the Continent. With the homogenization of the Continent - the yellow had to go - by democratic vote I'm sure"

I have done a fair amount of off roading in jeeps in the mountains, in the worst of weathers. Believe me, in heavy fog, if you have a white beam of light, it just adds to the fog. A yellow light beam is able to penetrate it, somewhat. For the photography enthusiasts, ever used a yellow filter to increase contrast in overcast conditions? Its the same principle.

For me, fog lights have got to be yellow. That's why I like the older benzes more.

I like the yellow lights better. Especially in foggy coastal area it helps a lot. On coming cars can see me better too.

So is the real reason environmental or because they were ineffective being too high off the ground? I thought that fog lights should be used in visibilty less than 100 yards, so the white light of your regular beam doesn't reflect off the fog. From what I understand, in visibility less than 100 yards, the yellow fog lights penetrate the fog deeper and allow better vision. They are not to be used for regular driving because their light beam pattern is only designed to put out light a few yards in front of the car. To me, they seem to work just fine so I'm not quite sure why Mercedes changed them. I think I might send an e-mail to Mercedes and see what they say.

Brian

you are absolutely correct, Brian. Fog lights are to be used when visibility is in fact less than 50 feet. Their beam MUST be aimed down, to improve visibility over only the next 20-30 feet, no more. But for that, they don't HAVE to be positioned lower. The angle of the beam is far more important than where the light is physically positioned. In fact, higher is better since you can beam it down, so that the reflection off the fog will not come directly into your eyes. And white light is a waste in the fog, so I also wonder why Mercedes made the shift!

Maybe for those who like to turn on fog lights regardless of the weather, it looks cooler than the ancient yellow lights, hehe.

So There is no chance..
 

So there is no chance in locating "yellow" headlamp bulbs for my 89 300e?

foxraul13

if you have euro lights, i know where you can get "yellow" h4 headlight bulbs.

standard wattage is pretty inferior [imho]

peter

"yellow lights"
 

foxraul13

a picture installed

peter

Since the fog light bulb is H3. Why don't you try the expensive PIAA Ion Crystal H3 bulbs? I am thinking of getting them.

Not sure how they'd look though.