DiamondNoir2K5

Hi Folks,

As I wrote a couple days ago, I ordered some bulb replacements for my 230 sedan. Silver coated 1156 for front signal, silver coated 7507 for rear signal, and white-color W5W for the city lights.

The 7507 and W5W work just fine (but it's a serious b*tch getting the W5W bulb socket out of the lamp housing).

The 1156's don't seem to work though. When I plug them in, I get a warning, and they don't illuminate. I put the original bulbs back in, and it worked. Put in 1156 again, didn't work. Now looking at the two bulbs, the OEM bulb seems to have two filaments, while the 1156 bulb I got has only one filament. I'm not an electical expert, but my understanding is that a single filament bulb surely has a different draw than a dual filament bulb, which is what is probably causing the bulb out sensor to trip.

My question is, did I get the wrong bulb? The manual says 1156A is the right bulb for the front turns. Is the manual wrong? Did I not really get 1156 bulbs? Anyone who has replaced their front turn signal bulbs, I would appreciate any help.

Thanks!

Kev04C320

Do you have BiX? If you did, you should have 2357A double filaments bulb instead of 1156A. Try replace them with 2057A and see if that works for you (credit goes to the Vitamin C Coupe owner)

DiamondNoir2K5

Sorry I should have mentioned that. I do not have BIX. These are the standard halogen lamp assemblies.

CitronC230K_03

maybe the new halogen housing require dual filament bulbs like the BIX housings!

DiamondNoir2K5

Alright y'all, I've figured this out now with a little help from Citron.

For those of you with '05 sedans fitted with standard halogen light housings, if you are looking to replace your front turn signal bulbs, THE MB MANUAL IS FLAT OUT WRONG.

The manual says these bulbs should be 1156A. 1156A is a 12V, 27W single filament amber colored bulb. This might have been correct for pre-'05 cars, but it is definitely not correct for '05. I think they made a mistake in the manual.

If you take the factory-installed front turn signal bulb out from your '05 sedan, the bulb actually has 2357 imprinted on it. It should go without saying that 2357 != 1156. The most important difference is that 2357 is a dual-filament bulb, which draws significantly more power (37W) than a single-filament bulb such as the 1156 (27W).

I tried plugging an 1156 bulb into the socket, and the car complained of an undercurrent on the turn signal circuit. So clearly 1156 won't work, and it is the wrong bulb replacement recommendation.

What you really need if you are replacing those two bulbs are 2357A, ideally.

Now what prompted me to get into this was I was looking for silver-coated "stealth" bulbs that would not give the so-called fried-egg effect. Well it turns out that none of the normal silver-coated bulb manufacturers seem to have 2357 bulbs available. Maybe because they are a newer spec, I don't know.

What you *will* be able to find, and what are suitable substitutes for 2357, are 1157 and 2057. Both are dual-filament bulbs, but draw slightly less power and are less bright than the 2357. The 1157 is 36W and the 2057 is 31W.

Although the 2057 runs at 6W less than the 2357, Citron has used 2057 bulbs in a dual-filament socket, and says it works fine. According to specs, the 1157 is a bit closer to the 2357 in terms of brightness and current draw, so I went with 1157. Those work just fine in my car.

If you want a recommendation on what brand of silver-coated amber signal bulbs to go with, I would say Sylvania Silverstar, this is what Citron used as well. The truly silver coated ones seem to let less light pass through. The Sylvania bulbs use something called "euro diadem", which is a much more translucent iridescent blue treatment. It appears to let much more light through, and kind of has a cool blue shimmery effect.

Anyway, I hope this helps other '05 halogen owners. Maybe I should call MBUSA and let them know there is a big boo-boo in their manuals.

800/203/271

this is CitronC230K_03. trust me its a long stroy and forgotten passords, trying to email webmaster@mbworld.org for support several times, and till nothing. so here i am under my alias, 800/203/271. BIX hosuings have the same indicator seetup as the 05 halogen indicators. ive tried using 1156 bulbs , a subsutiture for PY21W philips silver vision for the front inditactos. but since they didnt work i went and used the 2057 bulbs for the silver stars. they work great, shine bright enough, and visully it doesnt look like it is not lighting any less. a side by side of 2357 and 2057 you might be able to tell, but 4 candle power is very little to notice.

Saprissa

yeah, I'm using SYLVANIA SilverStar 2057 also on my Bi-X front signals. Dual filament is the way to go on these things. I love 'em. Super bright & shiny.

Thanks for the clarification DiamondNoir2K5 for all the 2005 halogen headlight people.

Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com

CitronC230K_03

silverstar's look great in the indicators of the BIX housings.

DiamondNoir2K5

Yes, now that my 1157's are installed in my front indicators, I really really like them.

Thing is, I cannot for the life of me find Sylvania Silverstar's in 7507 PY21W bulbs for the rear indicators.

I have found OSRAM 7507 silverstars, I guess they are the same thing since OSRAM is Sylvania's parent company.

CitronC230K_03

yeah, i went with the philips silvervision in the rear. those came in PY21W bulbs. i initially bough 2 pair, one for front and rear. as you well know, i couldnt use the ones up front so thats how i stumbled upon the silver star's which im very pleased with. try the silver vision. you will get a clear look, not the blueish hue like the silver stars.

DiamondNoir2K5

Thanks. The pictures I've seen of the philips silvervision make them look like the bulbs are still kind of amber. But I guess the proof is in the pudding (your pic).

Anyway, I think I will actually try the OSRAM silverstar 7507's. I kind of like the blues iridescent hue. The blue goes with the color of my car.

CitronC230K_03

diamond, yeah, i remember, blue!

personally i like the clear look in the rear with the blue in the front. it suits me.

Saprissa

I've got PHILIPS SilverVision in the rear too, and I don't see a single hint of amber at all. Highly recommend PY21W Philips SilverVisions for the rear blinkers, and SYLVANIA 2057 SilverStars for the front blinkers.

Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com

CitronC230K_03

yeah i dont see orange at all in mine either. the silver vision really look nice back there.