anakin14

I have a 2006 C280 with the non-HID reflector headlights. Anyway, I'm amazed at how bright and white the stock lights are. I replaced the stock bulbs with Sylvania SilverStar and guess what, the SilverStars are dimmer than the stockers so I switched back.

Does MB use some type of special high output bulbs or something?

diamondblak05

Non-hid bulbs bright? Just wait until you compare your silverstar or any regular halogen bulb next to a hid bulb then you'll know which is really bright. But yes, in stock form, the halogen reflectors are pretty good.

anakin14

Oh, I know that HIDs are bright..no doubt. However, in my experience stock halogen bulbs usually stink and must be replaced ASAP.

Believe me, I would love to install a HID kit but from what I've read it shouldn't be done with a reflector housing (and I don't want to replace my stockers with projector beam housings).

rrpnow

my 2006 c230 ss lights dont seem BRIGHT... like low beam, high beam is plenty bright, or is this just me? maybe since im not really comparing, i dont know...

patrick_y

I have the 05 C230 SS with the Bi-Xenon Lighting Package option. I was driving in the rain about a month ago and I thought I had not turned on the main headlight (and was only on side markers), but then I realized that I did.

Have another E320 without the bi-xenon headlights (normal halogen). Not a big difference between the two. The Xenon lights aren't brighter, but they spread out more evenly. That's about all the difference that I can think of between the two.

BabyBenz6spd

For some reason I find regular headlights seems to be more visible in the rain compared to bi-xenons. I would guess it's the color output. Yellowish light seems to be more visible in rainy days.

patrick_y

You know what, I think I agree here. Come to think of it, I never had a problem with the E320 (with normal halogen headlamps) in the rain.

Overall, I still think that xenons are good, but I think that there's too much hype about them and people only like them because they're "cool" looking. However, Xenons and Halogens, they've got to make something even better than both of them.

Xeon

ermm, the new lexus LS 600 uses LED lightings!

e1000

I disagree, the light output of HID's and xenon bulbs are roughly 3 times that of a halogen bulb (3000 lumens vs. 1000 lumens).

e1000

Contrary to popular belief, aftermarket "super white" bulbs are almost always dimmer than a normal halogen bulb. This is due to the fact that to achive a bright white light, a colored coating must be applied to the bulb, therefore filtering out some light.

ddua

I have the same car as anakin14 and I am glad that I didn't buy the HID/lighting package coz the stock halogen is bright enough for me. I was suprised too when I drive the car home from the dealership.

eckc21

Why don't you want to replace your stockers with projector eam housings? You don't like its look or..?

anakin14

Why? Too much hassle and too much money to replace the housing and then add an HID kit and then go to the dealership and pay $100 to have the computer set to HID on.

Outland

I have BiX, and I did the retrofit...its not that hard...but as nice as the genuine BiXenon projectors are, blue white light and all, I would classify this under if you like the look, go for it. I did it for cosmetics. The fact that they were brighter was a bonus...the stock halogens were pretty bight to begin with- high beams for sure.

anakin14

I'll stick with the stock lights. I must say though that the stock halogens in my C280 are the brightest/whitest stock halogens I've ever seen.

amdeutsch

1) Why do you think most hunting/shooting glasses have a yellow tint?
2) Why do you think a lot of fog lights are yellow?
3) Heavens forbid; but the French at one time had a requirement for yellow headlights on their OEM cars.

BabyBenz6spd

perhaps Yellow HID is the answer?

diamondblak05

Philips do have yellow HID D2S/D2R bulbs...for foglights. They're rated at 3000K, which is a crisp yellow color.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-New...5337QQtcZphoto

dlkc

Hids are pretty useless during rainy days and foggy conditions. You can't really see anything during these conditions, hids actually make the fog look brighter and thicker.