C230 Sport Coup

I'm a menace to society!!!! Good thing you're on other continent or I might blind you!!! As soon as they finish that bridge..... Look out!!!

I did see on the w203 Service DVD a retrofit procedure...
couldn't find it to post it, but yeh, it calls for the washers, sensors etc.
A 5 grand upgrade minimum.

maverik259

haha ya forget all that...the auto leveling isn't a big deal...i'll just have to remember to adjust them ever so often...any idea why bix need constant adjustment as opposed to halogen?

e1000

It's not constant, it's just at startup or if there is a significant change in the angle of the lights. The concern is that HID's give off so much light that if they are pointed up they will blind oncomming drivers in the other lane.

Glyn M Ruck

You probably have your lights mounted/adjusted conservatively. At the standard Benz Bix setting they really do blind awfully with the shutters up. I think Europe is correct to legislate auto leveling.

A bloody Audi caught me in it's Bix the other night. My car was clean when I went out but I live right on the coast & had collected a slight salt mist on the windscreen by the time I was going home. I could see nothing. Just jumped on the brakes. My eyes have normal recovery time.

Television

As the Xenon use an electric motor to level it should be simple to make a little box to control them from the dash

maverik259

lol nah, im not interested in that kind of retrofitting... ill be more than fine w/o the leveling, no biggy!

Glyn M Ruck

The auto leveling is a biggy. People on this forum are quick to jump down peoples throats for speeding, DWI etc etc. I hear much pontificating about breaking the law - our children sharing the road with irresponsible youth etc.

But hey, it's OK to break the law by installing headlights that don't conform with the potential of blinding an oncoming motorist which could result in a fatal accident.

I simply don't comprehend the logic

maverik259

well the logic is that I will manually control the leveling and also already spent the major loot on purchasing them...I'm not gonna just leave them in my garage to rot, plus I want bi-xenon!!!! besides there not gonna blind people just because i dont have the auto leveler...when i install them i will set them to the correct height and check them weekly to start to check how much they deviate from the correct level...and from there i will make the appropriate adjustments!

thanks for the concern!

e1000

Yes the autoleveling feature is a good thing. Especially with the light outputs of HID systems. In reality though, with thier reaction time, and how stiffly sprung the 2005+ sport sedans are, how much do they really come in play? I'm not so sure if I would ever be truly out of spec if my lights stayed fixed.

Another thing to consider is that he bought OEM bix. This should at least give him a nice cutoff and headlights that give off a respectable beam pattern. There are MANY ways that this type of upgrade can be done and give off much more glare.

maverik259

yep i opted to drop a "few" extra bucks for the oem

DarthR8er

I installed a set of OEM Bi-Xenons on my 2007 C230 a few months ago and they look amazing at night! I did the basic installation without getting them set to Xenon-present. I do get an error message if I turn-on the lights after I turn on my car, but if I turn-on the headlights before I start the car, I get no error message (weird!). I don't have the leveling you guys are talking about, but the headlights shoot the beam perfect. I'm very happy with these lights. I just don't understand why the W203 Bi-Xenons are the most expensive of all Mercedes-Benz? Even the Bi-Xenons from the W204 C-Class & E-Class are less expensive. Oh well, at least I got mines for a good price.

maverik259

sounds good man...

splinter

You’re correct, as incorrectly aimed HIDs are annoying and indeed a potential hazard to oncoming motorists. Our NHTSA’s FMVSS stipulates that xenon headlamps must be self aiming.

Mr. Stern’s treatise regarding glare.

The vast majority of professionals in my neighborhood pilot vehicles originally equipped with xenon lighting. As they bobble along our pockmarked streets, encounter a dip in the road and rebound, or crest a rise, their high-end lighting is readily identifiable to any enthusiast and, I suspect, most mundane commuters. They should not project untoward glare during steady-state conditions, but instances when it occurs are a given – as with any headlamps.

I’ve personally helped a bro fit bi-xenons to his W203 which was originally equipped with halogen lamps. Not long thereafter, my frosty OE xenons were ditched for proper European-specification bi-xenons. It’s a kick to watch them cycle through their aiming limits from high to low against the garage wall before settling in on their preprogrammed focal point upon startup. Nonetheless, they’ve necessitated mechanical aiming and sensor adjustments as it’s gone through its various suspension and ride height (rake) iterations during my stewardship. Several stateside have completed similar upgrades. Most are responsible and mature representatives of the marque, as their lamps are correctly aimed downward from the static point of origin. There is not, as I understand it, any dynamic aiming capability whist underway with our chassis, save for those equipped with MB’s aiming thumbwheel adjacent to the headlamp switch.

It is not a realistic or sensible ROI to insist one retrofit MB’s leveling paraphernalia during a HID upgrade, as doing so would require an expenditure approaching or exceeding half the market value of the entire car in many instances. One should insist that they be aimed correctly with due respect to fellow motorists and then be on his merry way. IMHO, of course.

Glyn M Ruck

Hi John,
Unless I've been grossly mislead - There is certainly dynamic adjustment taking place continuously on my installation. My WS manager is an affable & knowledgeable man who took me through the nightmare wiring diagram of my car to explain the system to me.

You have constant input from the front, rear & yaw sensors feeding the processor which interpolates the inputs against an algorithm & outputs to the actuators (headlamp motors) - Standard Bosch or Hella modules

The reaction is not instantaneous but I've certainly seen the cutoff lower on my car under the right circumstances that was not just hitting a speed bump etc.

Some generic data without Yaw sensor in my installation.

TemjinX2

just aim them correctly and you should be fine. There are lot of oem cars with hids without auto leveling. s2000, tsx, tl,is300, previous gen maxima, 350z, g35, prius, cts, mazda 3 with hid option, rx8, evo 9...the list goes on.

Most new DOT head lights with hids have frensel lens to reduce glare, flicker and actually kills a lot of the intensity which sucks.

Just remember its usually from 25', you want the cut off at 25'' off the ground or where the cut meets the center of the projector.

Glyn M Ruck

Mike - this might be so but not in Europe

maverik259

exactly like i said before...my '06 350z had the bi-xenons and they were not self leveling! dang I miss my car...lol

maverik259

ok so if i back my car 25' from my garage the light should be hitting the garage at 25" from the ground? is that what your saying?

UK-C200

'tis interesting - the 350's here sure have auto-leveling xenons!

Glyn M Ruck

As I've said numerous times on numerous threads on this forum. No auto leveling - No Bix in Europe. It's the law and it's right. It's also the law in UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Reunion Island etc.etc. etc. The US is right about many things. This one they got wrong.

Read this - this was 2001 & the rest is, as they say - history

maverik259

they got wrong about what exactly? the invention of bix?

Glyn M Ruck

Glare & blinding reduction regimes

billbugger

The Law. He was saying that auto-leveling should be a law here in the US as well.

Glyn M Ruck

That too

Glyn M Ruck

By the way the US did not invent BiX

All the early patents for automotive HIDs are owned by Philips & later some by Osram.

Philips only make BiX lamps (Ultinon etc.) at one plant in the world in Aachen
in western Germany. I have been in the plant - fascinating place

So if it's not made in Aachen it's a rip off !!!