capflam

Hi,

Suddenly the left low beam of my 2009 C350 died. It had to happen but my problem (as newbie) is where do I buy the replacement bulb?

On my car invoice it says Bi-xenon headlights. Well I thought that they were separate, therefore just "Xenon", so now I'm really confused.

Can someone please advise as to which bulbs I should buy and from where?

Thanks

mac911

If your car has xenon, it should be the D1S (xenon bulb D1S).

Like you suggest, both sides of the car should have it replaced to match. Don't worry about it being bi xenon. That happens by it automatically shifting the D1S bulb a little and turning on a halogen high beam. You don't have two xenon on each side of the car, just the 1 D1S on EACH side of the car.

The dealer would charge a lot for these bulbs, but you can go to Amazon for example for as little as $50 per bulb. I'd just get one that is intended for OE replacement, like the basic models, don't get a high color temperature (more than 5000 that looks a funny color).

Local auto parts stores will carry them too, but they start about $100 per bulb.

Be careful changing them, I've never changed OEM xenon bulbs yet. There are warnings all over the car and manual that it's dangerous to do? Many people do DIY it seems, might search youtube for possible DIY videos.

If you go to ebay, I think you can get bulbs even cheaper, really watch the color temperature there though. And I'm not sure about the quality. Others can chime in. There are decent savings though if you can sort through them all and find good bulbs/sellers. 4300K temperature should be stock looking.

Of course, if you're trying to get the car fixed today, online might not work.

snowmuch

I hope its just the bulb. Happened to me recently it turns out its the control module/

AZN Optics

We carry top shelf Morimoto D1S bulbs if interested. They retail for $75/set and come with a 5 year warranty. 5000K is pure white.


http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=74

capflam

Thank you all.
Finding the part on Amazon is not going to be an easy task apparently, there seems to have tons of possibilities.
I watched a video on Youtube and it seems easy enough but I will tke out the dead bulb first to make sure I know how to do it correctly.

@Snowmuch > yeah I hope not!

@AZN > how fast do you ship?

MJ50

put the right bulb on the left just to confirm it's the bulb that's bad...

mac911

Finding it on Amazon isn't too hard. It's a D1S, pick your choosing, just get a normal color temperature 4300k to 5000k. Get a brand like Philips or Sylvania (osram).

The advertiser above would be fine, not a horrible price. OEM look will still be more like 4300k I think though.

MJ50 had a good point!! MJ50 suggested swapping bulbs first to make sure it's actually the bulb that is the problem.

capflam

As it turns out Snowmuch was right.
It's not the bulb, it's something else....OMG how much will this cost again?

Did someone have a problem like this with the control module or something and could tell me how much it did cost?

Thanks

snowmuch

The control unit is also the ballast for the xenons so it could be that. You need to find out what part number yours have. A new unit from dealer probably cost about $400. I got a used one from ebay.de for about $120 and swapped them out myself.

capflam

@Snowmuch>
How did you figure out that it was the control module?
And was it difficult to swap? (any videos that you are aware of, I don't even know where that thing is)
If I can do it myself I will. Now that I've seen how easy it is to swap those Xenon bulbs and how much MB wanted to charge for this, unbelievable...

snowmuch

The service adviser told me that after briefly looking at my car. Here is a video that teaches you how to remove the bumper and headlights, the control unit is located on the bottom of headlight with 3 T25 screw. Took me 15 mins to replace the thing, fairly easy process.

capflam

Thanks Snowmuch. It would take me more than 15 minutes though.