cnotesbenz

Yeah man just buy some Depos projectors and do a retrofit with some oem bi-xenon projectors and a xenon kit for under $450. You still will get the same Bi-Xenon output for less. Bi-Xenons OEM cost $1300. Save yourself $850 going this route instead.

06c230hwd

Have a goodun!

BavarianPride

I agree with KEV, projectors do look better than stock, but be carefull what you put your HID kit in to.
I read through a ton of posts about this light issue before i did what i did.
I'm very satisfied with the outcome of my install and do not have a light pattern issue, nor do my lights give off unpleasant glare, i did check out all concernes mentioned after my install.
I had planned to buy Depo projectores as well, but decided against it after doing my research here on this forum.
Good luck with whatever you do deceid to do.
T.

04C320

Is there a visable way to determne if Bi-Xenon's are from a coupe or sedan? I've inquired into a set of used OEM BIX and haven't heard back from the seller yet. Other than part number, are there visual differences? Also, if anyone has the part number for OEM BIX for a sedan, please post it up for my reference.
Again, thanks for all the help.

kevblah

the sedan headlights have a more rounded vertex where the 'circles' meet and the coupe headlights have a sharp angle. overall, completely different shape if u look closely, just hard to describe in words.

04C320

Gottcha. It's hard to tell from the pics since I'm not sure it it was stretched/ skewed. I'll have to wait until I hear from the seller.

Thanks.

kevblah

post the pics

04C320

I just spoke to the seller and they confirmed they are from a sedan.

I bought them over the phone and should have them within the week!!


Now to find a place to program xenon=present

coin

Just a reminder, don't buy C55AMG headlights even though it's a sedan

Bixenon's definitely a good investment.

04C320

Thanks, but it would be a little late now I suppose.


Flippin dealers are killin me with prices. I called another dealer (Wagner) and asked about the service A and was quoted $250. A little less than the other MB dealer but still over priced. I then asked about the program for xenon=present and the woman had no idea and said... "well, I'd assume at least an hour, so $115". I've started a search for a local independent repair shop with MB experience but thus far have come up short. I suppose I could call back and see if she meant a minimum of 1 hour charge or if it would a fraction of an hour if that's all it took.

I'll continue to look and ask around but fear I'll have to be over charged for the xenon=present.

Mu9enx

just print out hte instructions for the star diagnosis program. include the pictures to make it dummy proof and just give it to your SA and tell him to help you out. the whole process should take mere minutes and in the end, hopefully he'll just let you go. dealer told me they were gonna charge 50$, but i just came and asked for hte SA, showed him the detailed instructions, was in and out in bout 5 minutes and left with the 50$ in my pocket. he was surprised on how easy it was. good luck bro.

andy_meng1024

My dealer only charges the hourly rate when they installed bi-xenon for me and did not charge to program.

splinter

Congratulations on doing your lighting upgrade properly. You’ll get along just fine with the mod fanatics around here!

04C320

Another question...

Do I have to wait until I install the BIX to have the xenon=present set or can I have it done THEN install? Meaning, if I went to the dealer on Friday afternoon and had it set, could I then install the lights Saturday or even Sunday?

Thus far with the few calls I've made to local shops, not one said they can set the xenon=present and every one of them suggested the dealer. I'll probably bite the bullet and pay their inflated fees.

kevblah

you can get it coded, then install. that it what i did

04C320

Great, thanks again.

jello

IMHO OEM Bi-x are the better option, and definitely worth the investment. They look great, and you have the comfort of knowing that they are OEM and will work perfectly. You're also guaranteed a perfect fit, every time.

Steve and Wanda are amazing, and anyone wanting Bi-x should go with them. Yes $1300 may seem steep, but you are getting brand new MB parts, so definitely worth the investment. Put it this way, it's like a $1000+ option when you used to upgrade the car with Bi-x when buying from the dealer.

I found installation to be tricky, as no stealer wanted to do it. I took it to a highly recommended shop in the Toronto area, but they didn't have MB Star diagnosis so I had to pay the stealer to change the computer.

If you install them and then code it, your lights will mainly not work, or flicker. It doesn't do any damage, just you can't really drive at night.

C230 Sport Coup

What one needs to ask when the call around is
"Do you have the Star Diagnosis computer for mercedes?"

Asking if they can code Bix is like shining a spotlight on a deer on a dark night...

Once you've determined they have the computer, ask whats their hourly rate is..hopefully it's close, drive there with your bix in hand (or rather, trunk) Show them the lights, explain what you're doing and hand them the coding sequence from this website, and ask how much? Hopefully a 50 dollar bill in cash will be enough. Cash is good.

Asking if they can code Bix, they probably won't say yes, if they've never done it before.

An yeh, get it coded in advance.
I tried to get my local guy to do it, but he went,
uh...whats this? I told him. And he was like, "that doesn't sound safe" and refused, though I was paying him to connect the computer, but for other reasons (clearing SRS errors) . But then I don't have Bix...just figured I'd get it set since it doesn't seem to have a bad effect if you don't have them, and if I got them later, I'd be ready to go.

04C320

Thanks for that tip. Sometimes the obvious isn't so obvious.

I actually stopped by one of the local independent shops to speak to one of the tech's and I started talking about the star dignosis. He started to explain they recently upgraded their scan system and specifically added the MB and BMW software. I'm not sure what that means but I did mention the pics and detailed instructions (thanks for that tip as well and kudos to JohnCL for posting that ). Anyway, I'll bring that in and they'll see if their system can do it. Worst case is they can't and I'm off to the dealer, again, with pics and detailed instructions in hand.

Wish me luck and a huge thank you to all that helped with my questions.

C230 Sport Coup

hehe
We'll see how long these last...
Too bad I don't have a sedan...
complete set of Bix for...
$275 including shipping, but something about a cracked housing?
How bad can it be? A little glue maybe?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OEM-W...ayphotohosting

04C320

I wouldn't based on his description

"...on a pair of Mercedes-Benz Genuine C Class W203 Bi-Xenon Headlamps.

This is an OEM version from Mercedes..."

kevblah

you're overanalyzing
they're factory bi-xenons, he even listed the part #'s

C230 Sport Coup

He wrote me back and said both housings are cracked, he has no more pics.
Sounds like collision damage...

I wonder...is there any way to disassemble them, and put the inards into the coupe stock headlight housing?
Hmmmmm.....

Well, doesn't matter....they're sold.
Lasted about an hour....

04C320

Well, after many calls to various local shops, no one seems to have the Star Diag. with the exception of the dealer. The good news thus far is one dealer "estimated" the time to be 30 minutes at a cost of $62. They set aside time Thursday morning for me to come in. I will still bring the printed pics and instructions and see if I can't get that $62 to at least half. I figure worst case is it will cost $62 but it'll be done right.

slammer111

Gotta pay to play. But you won't regret it one bit. Look at my list of mods; the Bix were by far the single best one. Enjoy!