jbaker1121

Hi all:

I am having an issue with my '05 c240. Tried switching out the low and high beams to LED bulbs. The driver side works great and looks great. However, the passenger side will not stay on. They will come on for a second, then shut off for 5 seconds, then on again, off again, etc.

When the engine is OFF - the headlights and highbeams with STAY ON.
When the engine is RUNNING, the passenger lights will NOT STAY ON.

I am not sure what the issue is. Additionally, I am getting some other light error codes that I know are false like the side mirror bulb, license plate, brake light, etc.

It seems the LED bulbs are tripping up the warning lights for OTHER bulbs, but not for their own bulbs.

I did buy the bulbs that say they are error free.

I had a similar issue in the past when putting LED parking lights in. They would work but would trip up the warning lights for other lights.

German cars are annoying.

tjts1

The LED bulbs you installed have to consume the same 55 Watts as the halogen bulbs you removed. If the bulbs consume less than 55 Watts, the bulb out warning system goes into overdrive. 35W hid conversions run into the same problem. 55w hid or 55w led (if such a thing exists) is your only option.

As a general rule of thumb all aftermarket LED headlight bulbs produce a lot less light than the halogens they replace. LED conversion is pointless.

jbaker1121

The driver side one works absolutely flawlessly and the light output appears "better" than my sylvania replacement halogen bulbs. This may be placebo because of the whiter color but to be honest I am fine with the output of the driver side. The driver side alone is brighter than the two stock halogens. Again, probably just from the glare and color difference.

That being said, These 'should' work on both the driver and passenger side.

Perhaps i need to add a resistor to the passenger side bulb to assist with the issue?

If someone with advice/experience with this type of issue has some advice that would be beneficial. I would love to run factory bulbs but the Halogens SUCK and the Bi-x are stupid expensive.

tjts1

That's how the bulb out warning system is designed to work from the factory. If the bulbs consume less than stock the driver's side works continuously while the passenger side keeps trying to re ignite the halogen bulbs. If you put you 55w halogen bulbs back in the lights will work agan.

Yes you can use resistors but that defeats the purpose of using more efficient LEDs.
If you're willing to put in the work and research you could have bi xenon projectors in your car for less than $100.
https://imgur.com/a/4qKBv

jbaker1121

Thanks for the info about the bulb out system. Now it makes sense why that is happening. I did not get the LED for efficiency I got them for their color to update the look of the car, plus a little extra throw from the lights.

I have done the "research" and know about the world of retrofitting but I do not really have the time nor the tools or workspace to start creating custom headlights. Nor do I want to go buy a set of Depo lights or the like.

Most of the purpose of the LED was to get the truly white light with some extra light throw and visibility. The factory lights, even with 'expensive' new halogen bulbs, have terrible throw and color to them. I am used to bi-X lights etc.

Do you know what sort of resistor I can use in order to fix the issue? Is there some sort of plug-and-play option or will I need to cut and solder the resistor to the lighting harness?

Luckily the way these LED units currently are, I can have them in place and keep the factory 'cover' on the back of the headlights. I am not looking forward to any cutting etc or the like.

I would have thought that buying the "error free" LED lights would have not caused this issue - I am fine with throwing some resistors in. Still much easier than taking apart the lights and retrofitting projectors in hoping they come out correctly aligned, etc.

GrandPrix

jbaker1121

I have successfully replaced the license plate bulbs and dome lights to LED and have had zero issues with them. Thank you for your help.

kanbisk

Hi All,
I have also changed all (map lights, front and back) interior lights licence plate lights and front parking lights to LED with built-in CANBUS.
All working fine and so far no problems last 2 years.
😁😁😁

AZN Optics

Just need canbus enabled leds, not just any generic LEDs. Otherwise, they won't play nice with the SAM.

kanbisk

Yes.
That is correct.
CANBUS LED's have build in resistors.

jbaker1121

I bought "error free" LED bulbs that supposedly work with Mercedes / CANBUS cars.

These are the lights I bought for the low/high beams: (driver side stays on with engine running. Passenger turns on and off - not flicker)


and these for fogs (do not turn on at all)


and these for reverse (turn on for a second then shut off)



I am thinking I need to wire in additional resistors for the low/high beam ones to work properly.

AZN if you have bulbs you can guarantee will work I'll buy them from you for low/high/fog/parking/reverse, PM me.

tjts1

If they consume the same amount of power and the halogen bulbs while out putting less light, what's the point? LED interior bulbs also won't dim and light slowly the way the original halogen do.

jbaker1121

I am not sure it is correct that they "put out less light"

With the LED bulb in the headlight/high beam the light is a "better" white color, seemingly brighter, and throws further down the road than the stock halogen. I am not sure how this is seen as negative.

I bought them to have brighter, whiter light not to save on energy (?)

Rochelle Q

I am having the same problem on my 2006 c230. I am curious if you ever found out what the problem was or if you happen to find a way to by pass the issue and use the LED lights.

Anything to help me figure out this issue..

jeremyf1

I ran into the flashing passenger light issue last year when installing GTR gen3 LEDs I bought from Headlight Revolution. Awesome lights BTW!!!

We first tried resistors, which worked, but they get so hot, they must be installed outside of the housing, which I did not want. Headlight Revolution then sent me these FOC.

https://headlightrevolution.com/gtr-...le-connectors/

Worked like a charm and do not get hot at all, so they got stuffed into the light housings.

Scorpion34

My interior LEDs work just fine dimming.

Scorpion34

Are they CanBus?