Taiwanese

The light bulb on my 2003 C230 with factory HID went out. I am actually surprised at how fast. The car is 6-1/2 years old but I hardly use that car at night.

I have been reading and researching and looks like I've only got 3 options:

1. Buy a bulb from autohausaz.com - $84/bulb
2. Buy Philips bulbs from eBay - $80/2 bulbs
3. Buy no brand bulbs from eBay - $20/2 bulbs

According to here I need D2S.

Do I just get the one says D2S for OEM Xenon? What do you suggest?

LILBENZ230

You should replace them in pairs so the color will match, as HID bulbs color shift over time. I would buy two OEM bulbs. D2R is for a reflector, D2S is for a projector - that's the extent of my knowledge about it. Apparently there are D1S bulbs, too, so I'm not sure what you need but Sylvania site should be pretty accurate.

02C32guy

LILBENZ is correct in everything he said. You're going to want to replace both of them. The differences between the brands is quality and color. Each brand burns a slightly different color and lasts a different amount of time. The Chinese cheapies will last the shortest amount of time and the Osram OEM's are said to last an average of 2000 hours. If you don't want to spend the money for the Osram's (who also makes Sylvania) than go with the Phillips. I'd just stay away from the really cheap bulbs because in my experience they constantly blow out.

e1000

2003, do you have the "frosty" OEM Xenons? If so I believe they need D2R's. Not sure about back in 2003, but OEM bulbs are now Philips 85122 or 85122+ 4300K bulbs.

Taiwanese

2003 is the clear fish-eye type of projector. I think I will get some quality D2S bulbs.

Taiwanese

For some reason my left head light is OK now.

I did get the error message on the dash yesterday. I hope the bulb is OK for sure.

gitusukka

My passenger side flickered and sometimes momentarily turned off for about 6 months. Now it is completely dead, ballast or igniter bad. When I first got the car in 2005 brand new, during the 1st year, my driver's side did the same thing. I complained to the dealer and they replaced the complete headlight & ballast under warranty, after that no problems. Just wish my passenger side did that before my warranty expired.

Taiwanese

You can determine which part is bad by taking the bulb from good side then try it on the bad side.

If it's just bulb then it's a cheaper fix.

Kwikdog

This is probably just the bulb. I had the same thing happen, read up on how BiX works it's rather interesting. Basically, as the bulbs age the voltage required to maintain the arc goes up. As the lamp gets hot, resistance increases...which means the ballast has to output more... eventually you exceed the ability of the ballast, the lamp flickers and goes out. Once it cools back down, the resistance drops and the lamp re-ignights, the cycle then repeats.

if you swap bulbs, the problem should follow the bulb, if it doesn't then it's related to your ballast/ignightor.

jturkel

first off, i'm a complete newb when it comes to lights and after reading most of all the threads about lighting, i'm still a bit confused.....

so my right headlight lowbeam just went out on my 02 C32. i have the OEM Xenon Frosty lights. IIRC, the bulb i need is a D2R. 35W i think. now is this different than the H7 thing i keep reading about? or is H7 and D2R both describe different characteristics of a bulb?

also....size, what size do i need? and is 5000k ok? iirc, stock is 4000 or 4500k.

TIA

fookoo303

the D2R is different than the H7. You will need a D2R for your car. OEM will use a 4300k color which has the brightest output but will have a slight yellow color to it. 5000k will be completely white in color with a minimal amount of loss to your output. If you go any higher than 5000k your light output will get lower but you will get more color. hope that helps

jturkel

thank you. that was very helpful! i greatly appreciate it!

jturkel

Anyone know how well the Apexcone HID D2R 6000k bulbs work? or anyone used that brand before? is that brand ok? i noticed they're super cheap

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/HI...lacements-Pair

fookoo303

i have had bad experiences with those bulbs. the colors are always different and more often than not, i have seen the glass part of the bulb is set in crooked which really affects the output. My suggestion is to buy a phillips set just because i dont know of any decent aftermarket companies that make D2R. but check out theretrofitsource.com and contact matt about getting a d2r set. They only sell D2S but he might be able to get you a set of D2R.

jturkel

thanks again!

johnand

D2R is the Xenon bulb for your headlights. The H7 is the supplemental bulb for high beams and is separate. It is the one above your W5W city light.

Taiwanese

I went to eBay and purchased OEM Phillips.

samaritrey

+1 i have a good seller that i have bought two sets of bulbs from and great custemer service. PM me if you want a link

02C32guy

Most of the cheap bulbs are crappy Chinese manufacture and will need to be replaced more frequently. I've read on here anywhere from about half the life to just a few months. IIRC, Moosejaw has had some experience with them. I'd go with Phillips or Osram (who is owned by Sylvania now).

mtnman82

Just went through this. Did some searching on EBay and got some new Phillips 85122+'s. Very happy with them and would recommend to anyone.

DUC916

What would be the keyword to search or purchase the bulb product you purchased?

fookoo303

if your car has projectors you will want phillips 85122 or 85122+ bulbs but if its just a standard reflector type headlight you will want phillips 85126

mtnman82

These are what I bought:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PAIR-...Q5fAccessories

But, they were $95/pair when I bought them (might want to try making an offer).

Taiwanese

eBay does not keep history long enough.

I searched again and I bought from this seller "hidbulbzrus". So far so good.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pair-...item4396f6048a

samaritrey

+1 this is the same guy i bought mine from