Xenon Headlamps
 

Obviously this applies to the newer cars, if you are in a market for the 1996 to 1999 E calss diesels watch for this trap. On my E320 one xenon headlamp started acting and eventually died, it needed a new bulb and the supporting electronics, when it was finally fixed the total bill came to $1000 including the labor, just one headlight mind you, not bad at all when compared $15 needed to replace the headlamp on my 240D euro-lights.
Soemething to think about, or in my case to avoid on my next car.

Thanks,
Vahe

I've always thought Xenon discharge headlamps were serious overkill, on top of unneccessary and WAY too expensive.

After all, we COULD deliver international mail by rocket around the moon if we wanted to -- the question is why waste all that time and money.

Peter

but in my opinion a heck of a lot better looking...both from inside and outside the car...and by the way is that not what MB is about..over engineered products?


Warren
1992 300Sd 177K
Columbus Ohio

You purchased a used car and decided to have someone else replace, your option.

Considering the fact that it probably wasn't your bulb though, but most likely the ballast, now you have two different color headlamps when they are both turned on?

Then again xenon bulbs are made to last a few thousand hours or so. Try to get that from a halogen based lamp and the output from one.


Did you search on these forums for information regarding xenon lamps?

I'm sure if not I then someone else would have chimed in about repair so you wouldn't have had to pay that outrageous amount.

BTW, did they issue you an entire new lamp? For $1000 you can get both xenon lamps brand new including all bulbs and ballast, just drop them in.

I still don't like Xenon lamps.

They are too bright, causing a number of drivers in other cars problems, even when aimed properly. They bother in in DAYLIGHT even -- the blue and near UV is painfully bright to me, and to many other drivers as well.

They are normally single beam, right? This means that either you sacrifice long distance vision or blind oncoming drivers. Bad choice either way.

As for bulb life, I'd take 1000 hrs with a grain of salt to start with (output will drop long before the bulb fails, for one thing), and I've only replaced a handfull of halogen bulbs in the 30 years I've been driving. I just replaced the factory lamp on the 280 SE a couple months ago -- quite old. The high beams appear to be original, car is 32 years old this month and has 187,000 miles.

Here's a quick list of the headlights I've replaced:

Toyota Crown (three years of ownership): None

Audi Fox (six years of ownership, 80,000 miles) 1

Dodge Aires (six years, 70,000 miles) 3. One stone chip, learned the hard way that cheap halogens die fast in Canadadian winters.

Buick Century (four years, 30,000 miles) none

Volvo 740 (seven years, 70,000 miles) 2, both non-halogen.

MB 300TE (four years, 20,000 miles) none

MB 300D (three years, 30,000 miles) 1 Hit a deer.

I haven't spent enough to buy a xenon bulb yet.

Looks, in the long run, are pretty much immaterial. Benz has gotten on the styling jag just like American manufacturers, and appears to be building similar, disposable cars. New, trendoid clones every couple of years, function going to the bad place.

Just my opinion.

Peter

Don't knock it till you try it. The low beams carry so wide and so far, that the high beams are virtually useless, except to flash.

Your eye naturally draws itself to a pair of HID lamps because they are so distinctive from halogen lamps. I feel it's a matter of getting used to not staring at the lamps as they are oncoming....

Just a helpful suggestion

"You purchased a used car and decided to have someone else replace, your option."

This happened @ 39K miles, the $1000 bill was mostly covered by extended warranty at the MB dealer, I had to pay only $160, but next time I need to be a little more creative or do the work myself.
I suppose it is time to get a shop manual for this car.

Thanks,
Vahe

Or a w210 Information CD....

Different is the word -- painful is another description. I feel very strongly that xenon lamps need to be filtered to reduce or eliminate the near UV output, along with a goodly amount of the blue. Having to look off the side of the road to the left or close my eyes isn't a matter of "being attracted to different lights". They hurt. They also (along with black lights) make my corneas or lens fluoresce, so I see lots of "white fog". Not cataracts, either, since I noticed this more than 20 years ago.

Blue light destroys night vision. Not a concern in city driving, perhaps, but in unlit areas, lack of night vision will severely restrict visibility no matter how bright the headlamps are. I suppose you could always use a carbon arc searchlight, but be prepared for the idiot who has one going the other way.....

Peter

Since somehow I end up leading my friends when I drive, I've driven in front of their BMW E46s.

The 2003 M3 w/ the Bi-Xenon headlights look nice and bright in the back and definitely not annoying at all.

The 2000 323ci with the low-beam only Xenon however, is blinding and annoying... and they are both aimed properly it seems.

Maybe the M3's a little lower?

speaking of halogen lights, those F150s, Dodge Pickups, whatever else is unbelievably tall... are really annoying when they are behind me.

onto the original problem, I would think it's the ballast too..

The bluish hues that are evident are from the glass in the projector housing. This is very prominent in Audi's.....

IT looks pretty to some and painful for others.

I'd say xenon has its pro's and cons.

I like them because of the bluish hue, the brightness emitted, they just look very modern.

I don't like them, however, when there's a Escalade or some sort of SUV, raised a little higher than normal, and its xenons hit your rear view mirror full force. Even with the anti-glare tab flipped up, its still very bright and hard to drive with. I haven't noticed this with oncoming traffic, unless its a taller vehicle also. Another thing is that they don't cut through fog. If your one of those that thought it would be cool to put in blue fog lights, good luck. If they are to go bad, big $$$ to get them fixed.

There's probably more of each, but I'll leave it at that. Will I get xenons? Probably, i'm a sucker for blue :rolleyes: but I'll still say regular halogens are fine. Currently I am running a pair of xenon gas filled headlights that plug right into the H4 connectors.

Blue-hued lights are completely stupid, dangerous, and (in my opinion) should be illegal.

Shorter wavelength light (blue and violet) scatters much more easily than longer wavelength light - hence the sky is blue, thanks to the blue wavelengths in sunlight getting scattered all over the place in the atmosphere. (This is also the reason blue lights won't cut through fog).

It doesn't happen just in the atmosphere; it happens in your cornea and the vitreous (clear jelly) of your eye. On top of that, the eye (like any other lens) is subject to chromatic aberration - different wavelengths focus at different angles. Long and medium wavelength light (reds-yellows) remain close together and the eye is optimized to focus there (except up close). Blue wavelengths are not focused as tightly and remain slightly blurred. In the dark, when your pupils are at their largest, this problem is maximized.

You will notice this especially when you look at a blue or purple neon light at night (maybe the "open" sign at your favorite restaurant) - it will have a major blurry haze around it.

Now replace that weak neon light with a high intensity headlight - the glare is horrendous! Even when the overall brightness is the same and the lights are aimed properly, a bluish headlight will result in much, much more glare for the oncoming cars. Some people are more affected by this than others; when I see an oncoming car with bluish headlights, the light is ALL I see. The glare/haze blocks out everything around the light to the point where I can't properly see anything else on the road in front of me.

But go ahead and use those blue lights if you really think blinding oncoming traffic is the way to go...

Andreas, I totally agree.

Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

Xenons are physically painful to me, very hard to keep my eyes open, even on a divided four lane.

Of course, when I was younger I could drive on moonlit nights without my headlights, too, so I don't need really bright headlight, either.

Peter