It is hard to say without having it in front of me, but the socket looks pretty bad. If the metal contacts are burned away then you would have to replace the socket. I don't know how common that problem is. I think BMW used that kind more than Mercedes. Not sure. You might also search on the BMW forum here and see if anyone knows anything about it.

Hard to say how difficult it would be to replace the socket if you have to. When searching you should probably also search on "HID".

__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra