weird pic request ...
anyone have a pic with the xenons on? Would love to see the blue.
Let me know gang!
Danke

 

Your going to be disappointed. MB Xenons don't look that much different than the regular projection beam headlights looking head on. I have them on my ML and they do light up more area and travel a longer distance than the standard projection beam lights. But if your thinking of the color of the Xenons in say Audi's, Acura's or even BMW's these aren't those, my ML's are more of a white color than a blue.

 

nooo ...really? I thought I saw the E and S looking blue-ish ... even the old C-AMG looks kinda blue.

damn

 

it depends on the class. They use different projectors for different model cars. the old C-Class (W203) Bi-Xenon projectors are identical to the E46 Bi-Xenons, giving identical output

 

Sort of hard to take a picture of headlights, but I think you can tell that theres only the slightess hint of blue in them, its more of a whiteish blue if you want to go that far. The ML is made in Alabama so they could be using a different supplier than the other models, but I'm just going by my car.

 

they tend to get bluer as the bulb gets older

 

Here's ours

 

Here is my C350 with Bixenon on . I did a European Delivery so here is a picture of the car inthe Austrian Alps.

 

don't judge the color of the xenons my the pictures.
they are surprisingly blue on the new c-class.
i saw one behind me on the highway and they looked amazing.
they werent aftermarket either cuz some old guy was driving it. he didnt look like a modder. and i also turned em on at the dealership and they are nice looking!

 

For the whole bulb to be the "blue" that you want, those are just bulbs with tinted glass. They are inferior and put out less light than those with a clear lens and give the appearance of brighter light because of the higher kelvin (color temperature). The blueish or purplish color that you see from every projector light is from the cutoff line. If you go up against a wall and have the lights on, you will see that the bluish color comes from the edge. There are methods so that the cutoff line has more color but if you want the light itself to be more blue, then get a different bulb because most OEM bulbs are 4300 kelvin. You are looking for 6000k or 8000k

 

I was somewhat disappointed in the bi Xenons.

They're not as bright as the headlights on the 2001 Buick LeSabre that I traded in.

 

HID light sources (Xenon and Bi-Xenon)

Xenon projector low beam headlamp illuminated on a Saab 9-5.HID stands for high-intensity discharge, the technical term for the electric arc that produces the light. Automotive HID lamps are commonly called 'xenon headlamps', because of the xenon gas used in the lamps. The xenon gas allows the lamps to produce minimally adequate amounts of light immediately upon startup and speed the warmup time. If argon were used instead, as is commonly done in street and other stationary HID lamps, it would take several minutes for the lamps to reach their full output. HID headlamps use a small, purpose-designed metal halide lamp which produces more light than ordinary tungsten and tungsten-halogen bulbs. The light from HID headlamps has a distinct bluish tint when compared with tungsten-filament headlamps. The high intensity of the arc comes from metallic salts that are vapourised within the arc chamber.

HID headlamp bulbs produce between 2,800 and 3,500 lumens from between 35 and 38 watts of electrical power, while halogen filament headlamp bulbs produce between 700 and 2,100 lumens from between 40 and 72 watts at 12.8 V [2][3][4]. Because of the increased amounts of light available from HID bulbs, HID headlamps producing a given beam pattern can be made smaller than halogen headlamps producing a comparable beam pattern. Alternatively, the larger size can be retained, in which case the Xenon headlamp can produce a more robust beam pattern.

HID headlamp bulbs do not run on low-voltage DC current, so they require a ballast with either an internal or external ignitor. The ballast controls the current to the bulb. When the headlamps are switched on, the ignitor provides rapidly pulsed current at several thousand volts to initiate the arc between the electrodes within the bulb. Once the arc is started, its heat begins to vapourise the metallic salts within the arc chamber, and the ballast gradually transitions from startup operation to arc-maintenance operation. Once the arc is completely stabilised, the ballast provides 85 V in conventional D1 and D2 systems, or 42 V with Mercury-free D3 and D4 systems.

Despite marketing claims to the contrary, HID headlamps' light output is not similar to daylight. The spectral power distribution (SPD) of an automotive HID headlamp is discontinuous, while the SPD of a filament lamp, like that of the sun, is a continuous curve.

The arc within an HID headlamp bulb generates considerable short-wave ultraviolet (UV) light, but none of it escapes the bulb. A UV-absorbing hard glass shield is incorporated around the bulb's arc tube. This is important to prevent degradation of UV-sensitive components and materials in headlamps, such as polycarbonate lenses and reflector hardcoats. The lamps do emit considerable near-UV light.

European vehicles equipped with HID headlamps are required by ECE regulation 48 also to be equipped with headlamp lens cleaning systems and automatic beam levelling control. Both of these measures are intended to reduce the tendency for high-output headlamps to cause high levels of glare to other road users.

HID headlamp bulb types D1R, D1S, D2R, D2S and 9500 contain the toxic heavy metal mercury. The disposal of mercury-containing vehicle parts is increasingly regulated throughout the world, for example under US EPA regulations. Newer HID bulb designs D3R, D3S, D4R, and D4S contain no mercury, but are not electrically or physically compatible with headlamps designed for previous bulb types.

The arc light source in an HID headlamp is fundamentally different from the filament light source used in tungsten/halogen headlamps. For that reason, HID-specific optics are used to collect and distribute the light. Installing HID bulbs in headlamps designed to take filament bulbs results in improperly-focused beam patterns and excessive glare, and is therefore illegal in almost all countries.

 

thanks for the pics guys ... I actually was driving in front of one today and they look pretty white. Not bad though. Man that car is sweet ... seeing them more and more these days.

 

It's still a white-ish color. It's just the way/angle you look at it; like a holographic card. I have projector halogens on my ML, but when I see it driving toward me from a distance I can see purple, blue, yellow, white, etc. from the curvature of the road changing the angle from which I see it.

 

Anyone know the difference of Philips and Osram bulbs at 4300k. Which one is more inferior than the other, or brigther?

 

I haven't noticed much difference in both of them. In terms of brightness or terms of color temperature, the Philips look more warm. By that i mean that Philips has a more whitish tint. The Osrams are pretty yellow and not exactly 4300K. Instead probably about 4200K, which again as i said earlier is a minute difference in the two. Just my opinion

 

Thanks Nik, I think that was the answer I was really looking for, if Philips were a bit whiter. Thanks!. I agree that the Osrams are a bit on the yellow side, not sure why they claim it to be 4300k. From the pictures above, my headlights looks alot whiter than that, but it could possibly just the the camera. I am really considering changing my bulbs to Philips just to see the difference. Does anyone know a DIY on changing xenon bulbs or is something that need great caution.

 

Well i haven't really come across a pictorial for the DIY. But you have a DIY on changing D1S bulbs on iJDM. They haven't done it on a merc though. I'll be changing mine soon so i'll see if i could probably donate something to this forum. You could follow the link for iJDM's DIY (Mind you its not a merc):-

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Articles.asp?ID=162