sb1919

I have an '02 C32. One of my headlights has gone out and I don't know if it is the bulb or the ballast. I was able to pull the bulb but I couldn't tell if it was blown or not. There was nothing glaringly wrong; the little "sphere" in the middle was a little grey. I've never seen a bad HID bulb before.

If the ballast is bad, and I have to pull the bumper to replace, I was thinking that I might try to upgrade(?) to the bi-xenons listed on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-07...item231305c609

The previous owner had installed aftermarket xenons, I think that they are Depos (Depo is written on the lens) but I can't find any model number. They are different from what is linked above in that my set has wires that run through the center of the black cap on the back of the housing.

My question, did my car originally come with HID? Is there any way to tell? I do know that after the new headlights were installed there are some female plugs behind the passenger side headlight that are empty. What does that mean?

Thanks guys, this whole headlight thing has been incredibly frustrating.

Glyn M Ruck

In the US C32 came with and without Xenon's - You would have to check your car against it's VIN or look for the self leveling gear.

Early cars like yours could have had Xenons with frosted lenses & self leveling.

From 2003 onward Bi Xenons were available with clear lenses from Benz & self leveling.

Bix cars all came with headlight washers behind flaps like in my pic.

Sounds like your car has Depos same as link. They are OK but nowhere near as good as genuine. Genuine costs a lot more.

The easiest way to tell how your car came new is to look for the self leveling apparatus on RHS front sway & RHS rear axle.

Should you decide to fit genuine BiX I have the full WIS retrofit instruction for you.

sb1919

Thanks for the reply Glyn. My car does have the headlight washers, but I didn't notice anything that looked like self leveling gear and the headlights don't currently self level.

I'm still curious about the empty female plugs behind the passenger side headlight. Is it possible that the aftermarket lights that were installed were not true "plug and play" types and that some sort of wiring harness was needed?

I've attached a photo of the bulb, it doesn't look damaged to me, anyone else have an opinion? Behind the bulb to the right is one of the empty female plugs I have mentioned.

I agree that factory bi-xenons would be the best and I appreciate your offer of instructions, but I don't think it's worth it to put more than 10% of the value of the car into new headlights.

Glyn M Ruck

Your car came with Xenon headlights frosted & self leveling. It's had Depo's fitted that dont have the leveling gear in them which is why you have the spare plugs. Your best bet would be the to look out for a reasonably priced set of used BiX which would be plug & play & give you the full factory set up. Otherwise you could just fit new Depo's & forget the leveling which makes you a bit of a menace on the roads & you are not really allowed to do that but many do of course. In Europe you would be pulled off the road.

One can't see from your pic if that Zenon lamp is OK. With time the gap in the lamp grows between the two electrodes where the arc is struck by the ballasts & the light becomes more blue to look at until it will no longer strike. So you could have a lazy ballast or a buggered lamp.

I recommend the genuine Philips Ultinon lamps. Samaritrey has posted their P/N's frequently.

ggbenz

I have a C230 kompressor with bi-xenon projection headlights and they have recently started pointing down and they are not self leveling they are directly pointing down at the ground and not moving like they used to... does anyone know what causes this or how to fix this problem????

Tania T.

[QUOTE=sb1919;4804174]I have an '02 C32. One of my headlights has gone out and I don't know if it is the bulb or the ballast. I was able to pull the bulb but I couldn't tell if it was blown or not. There was nothing glaringly wrong; the little "sphere" in the middle was a little grey. I've never seen a bad HID bulb before.

try to
1. connect the "default" bulb with the working ballast, to see if bulb works.
2. connect the "default" ballast with the working bulb.
As your describe "the little "sphere" in the middle was a little grey", I think it might be the bulb does not work, as our experience, sphere is black, we could make sure it is bad.


For bulb replacement, you only cost less than $50 for new and brighter bulb, you also could install it by yourself, very simply.

johnand

You have a problem with the leveling sensors. You need to check to make sure they are operating correctly, then reset the zero level via a STAR diagnostic system.

sb1919

I would start with the simplest possibility. Is there a fuse for the automatic leveling motors?

Glyn M Ruck

The Philips lamps come from their state of the art plant in Aachen Germany. They make the best & last the longest. Sunlight is approx 5500 Kelvin on a bright day. Do not exceed this or you move to the blue end of the spectrum where the human eye is less sensitive so you loose effective lighting.

If you have no Star available. Mark leveling arms where they mount front & rear. Detach them & with power on cycle them to their extremes in both directions & remount exactly where they were. This will usually reset the system.

Otherwise it's a Star & a lighterbox.

Glyn M Ruck

Fuse is number 51 in front SAM.

ggbenz

Thx, Fuses have already been checked and are fine

sb1919

[quote=Tania T.;4806673]I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I can't figure out how to remove the bulb. It doesn't look like a D2S bulb. Are they H7s? I can get it out of the housing, but I can't get it off of the plug.

The only way to access the ballast is to remove the bumper and headlight assembly, correct? I don't have the time to be removing and installing the bumper just for troubleshooting.

My original thought was that the ballast was bad, but I'm not really sure. I also am not sure what type of ballast to buy.

I guess this is the problem with aftermarket parts.

sb1919

So guys, are we positive that the car's original equipment was the frosty HIDs with self leveling? I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-07...item1c1e1a808c

I know it's hard to diagnose something without seeing it in person, does anyone need more info from me to help confirm the original set up?

Thanks

Glyn M Ruck

If your car has headlight washers then it had Xenons with self leveling. It is easy to check. Look on RHS of front sway & you can see where the sensor arm is mounted or crawl under the tail & you can see the center mounted sensor arm with a rod running to the RHS suspension. Those are the correct lamps from Depo. Also see pdf attached.




https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...harness-1-.pdf

ggbenz

Thanks alot Gyln...the pic is VERY helpful. I do have bi-xenon's but only have front spray washers under my headlights no actual washers though... my c230 was looked at and i was told the self leveling sensor/motor is around front passenger side wheel...meaning if i turn my wheel all the way u can see it from there. would this be correct?? and do you know what causes this? and is it easy to fix? I know i prob have to let mercedes benz hook it up to their system?

Glyn M Ruck

Yes - It's on the RHS of the front sway.

Do I know what causes what?

ggbenz

Do u know what causes this leveling sensor not to work? so u are telling me there are leveling sensors in front and back under car? or just one? and if u are saying there is one in front and one in back then could both of them be the problem?

Glyn M Ruck

There are leveling sensors back & front so that the processor knows the attitude of the car & can average values from both & set the headlight range appropriately so as not to blind oncoming motorists.

The sensors either fail - not common - or the system looses calibration over time much as the auto side mirrors, sunroofs, HVAC etc do.

Recalibration is then needed by cycling the sensors to their extremes so that the processor relearns the stops or resetting with a Star.

capt_paul

I installed bixenon lights shortly after getting my car in 2005, and I am now in the process of installing the auto level system. The hardest part was installing the wire harness that runs from the headlights to the rear connection in the trunk.

Next week, I will be installing the front sensor, follwed by the rear sensor.

As Glynn indicated, I will have to take the car to a dealer to zero out the lights with a star.

My estimate is about $500 for the complete install of the level system with all new OEM MB parts, an a lot of labor and scrapped hands.

Glyn M Ruck

Hope this helped you with the harness install.

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...harness-1-.pdf

ggbenz

I understand... thank u very much Glyn for your time... i am going to take it to mercedes. It just stinks cus i paid extra for these headlights when i bought the car factory from mercedes benz. i will let u know the outcome... thanks so much

Glyn M Ruck

Yes - The BiX added about $1200 to the price of my car.

ggbenz

Glyn- WOW! they added $800 to mine. Hopefully this wont cost me a fortune to get fixed...

sb1919

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their helpful replies, especially Glyn.

I was all set to buy the Depo bi-xenon with the self leveling on ebay, but then I realized that they call for the original ballast. I don't think that the ballast is original on my car. I feel like I am left with two options;

1. Try to find an OEM ballast. I believe it is part numbers 1 307 329 088, but I'm having trouble finding an online source. Does anyone know of a reputable source for this part?

2. Try to use the bi-xenon without the self leveling. These come with their own ballast. Would these be plug-and-play?

Thanks

samaritrey

Well does your c32 have halogen or xenon lights right now? If they have xenon you will be fine. but otherwise you would need to find the Ballast there are others besides that one pn.