Tracey

Hi:

There's a loaded '02 we like at the dealer, but it doesn't have bi-xenon headlights. I could wait on an '03 order that would include it, and I can't decide what to do. I've never experienced driving with bi-xenons, so I wonder just how much better they are compared to regular. I don't drive a whole lot at night, but when I do, it'd be nice to see "better".

Anyone with xenons or driven a car with them, can you tell me what you think regarding that option. I'd appreciate it very much. Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Tracey

Buellwinkle

If you are talking the coupe, the '02 is a far better car because of the much larger motor and you can get aftermarket Xenon's for it. Xenon's are about 3 times brighter than stock headlamps, this is nice to have if you live in a rural area with very little street lighting, if you live in a big city that's well lit the Xenon's are more for show than practicality. Also you can get somewhere in between the stock bulbs and Xenon with the Phillips Visions Plus for about $40 shipped from the UK. That's what I use and I'm happy with that. If after you have your car you decide to get Xenon's, several kits are available and I recently saw group buy on another forum for $320. I doubt you would have to pay more than $400. Also, some people are retrofitting the '03 Xenon lights into their coupes. Most are doing it more for looks, personally I think it looks a little busy and Japanese for my tastes, not as nice as the Xenon projectors on the Jag or BMW.

kompress

For me, it would all depend on the price. I prefer the '02 for other reasons (namely, the engine), and I never really valued the xenons for what they generally run ($1,000+). They look nice and are bright. But if I could get a deal on an '02 AND not pay for xenons, to me, you would be way ahead. In fact, with what you could save for getting the '02 and with the prices of xenons going down, if you retrofitted in a year, you would still be ahead of the game-- and with the bigger engine.

bagwell

even if the car - the 02, DOESN'T have xenons, you can retrofit as I did - the BI-XENONS are a direct retrofit...complete plug and play !!

the lite output versus regular xenons will be close but, the look is so much better with BI-XENON !!

the light output will only be better with the hi-beams on...even tho the Bi's DO NOT HAVE a xenon hi beam.

kompress

Whoa, $320?? Hmm. Now I would consider the conversion. Have people had luck with the install? I know there was some difficulty before. Everything resolved (once you get the setting changed from the dealer)?

FrankW

Buell, u assume too much...lol, she's talking about the C240.

IMO the Bi-xenon doesn't do much except some people like the new look of the projectile lense. I have the 02 xenon which is already bright enough to get the cars coming towards me think i have the high beam on and flash their hi beam at me. If it's me i would get the 02 with discount because the only difference between a 02 and 03 is the bi-xenon instead of the xenon. Of course you can always retrofit the bi-xenon onto the car.

bagwell

der..I corrected my post above...was just skimming it...didn't see that it didn't have xenon.

what about COMAND !!??

FrankW

don't see what's wrong with your previous post

btw, is it really plug and play? does the auto leveling works?

JeT

No it doesn't.

Buellwinkle

I didn't assume, I said IF she's talking about a coupe. I think the Bi-Xenons look more out of place in the sedan than the coupe. How do you know it's a she? Tracey, like Pat, Randy, Lynn can be male or female names. Also there are things missing in the '03 C240 over the '02 like vent controls.

FrankW

ok..i gotcha...i know it's a she because i have seen her other post where she said she and her husband is shoping for cars.

btw what vent controls?...didn't know that one. i know there are some option differences but didn't pay attention to which they would be.

Buellwinkle

The vent control for fresh air in between the center vents is gone and the upper vent control is supposed to be gone.

R4ND0M_AX3

The top center vent (the big vent on the top of the dash) control is still there on the 2003. But the center fresh air wheel is not.

The 2003 is also missing the mechanical key lock on the trunk.

Tracey

Okay, so the '02 is better than the '03 (even without the "discount")? I noticed the MSRP is lower for '03--is that because of discontinuing the "panic buttons", or whatever they're called? I only have the new brochure booklet, so I don't know what's different between the 2 models.

We're off to drive it ('02) again here in few minutes. Hope we can over come our indecisiveness.......

BTW, yes I'm a "she". One of you is on your toes remembering my only other post.

Thanks for the responses.

Regards,
Tracey

potatobbq

I was faced w/ the same decision a couple weeks ago and decided to order a '03 with the bi-xenon. Took me a while to decide also but I think the main reason I ordered an '03 w/ the bi-xenon is that the headlight housings themselves are different. I figured if I really wanted xenon later I could retrofit, but the '03 bi-xenon housings cost somewhere around $2k so might as well order an '03 with them for $700 more.

young

love xenon lights - aesthetically as well as functionally. would definitely wait for the 2003 model w/ the bixenons.

good luck w/ your decision.

bajaiman

This is up to each individual but personally I like the bi-xenon look on the W203 so if I were you, I'd get the 03 with bi-xenon with only US$700 option. To retrofit the bi-xenon on 02 model would cost more.

FrankW

but the blue light up vent control during the night is so cool...how can they do that

bajaiman

Don't your C32 do that??... the C32 we have has the blue illuminated central vent control, not on the C200K tho

FrankW

yes, i have that blue vent control thingy, just didn't know what is was called till now. I check the manual, it says that thing controls the air flow. I always thought it's for switching from a/c to heater, like those on my bro's bimmer and my previous car.

bajaiman

I did play around with it a few times. I too think it was there to control how cold/hot is the air coming from the central vents only. Is this only available for C32 or every W203??…certainly not on my car tho .
Sorry…this is a little bit off topic from the bi-xenon.

icecold911

I heard if we get aftermarket xenon our c class computer sensor will sense it, but it will show on the screen that the bulbs have burn out... Is that true? thanks

FrankW

yes, that is true. As of what i heard.

bajaiman, in the U.S. market 2002 brochure, all the model has that blue turn ***.

todd

Hey, my blue knob don't light up.... :{

Anyone else's C230K do that?

(that is ripe for induaendos now that I think about it)

oggle

Xenons ROCK!! Have you ever seen the light of a regular "peanut" light and that fitted with xenon? The non-xenon version looks so damn crappy after you've seen the ones with the xenons in them. Btw, I'm talking about the look of the clear glass and projection bulbs during the day, not how the light glows in the dark.