rbrylaw

I didn't see a thread on this, but I found it very interesting to read the IIHS gave the C Class Poor grades for headlights:

http://blog.caranddriver.com/iihs-he...nl&date=040216

I find it interesting because while I do have the Intelligent Lighting System in my C300 Sport, I have found them to be nothing short of fantastic. Night vision with them, especially with the cornering capability they offer is amazing.

The Toyota Prius was the ONLY car that got a good grade. Something just seems off to me in these test results.

What are your thoughts?

RemmyZero

My headlights were aimed incorrectly from the factory. That made a huge difference when I had it corrected but overall I have to agree that the headlights aren't that great. I have the LED package but the distance and degree of coverage just isn't good at all.

rbrylaw

I find mine infinitely better than the lights on my 2012 E350 Coupe. They seem to light the road far further to my eyes.

StanNH

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...iihs-test.html

apcs

I'm not surprised. This W205 is our first M-B for a while, and we love everything but the static LEDs. My wife's last four cars were BMWs with active xenons, and my last two were i3s with static LEDs. All were/are WAY better than these. They are low, and they are dim, and our old eyes need all the help we can get. Not imagining it - the very first night we both independently noted it. We are taking it to dealer to check aim, but SA has already said there is no factory bulb with more wattage. Any collective wisdom in this group to help?

Njriedel25

jj33low

This might sound weird, but I've never driven at night with mine. I have a '15 with the LED headlights. Now I'm curious to see how they perform.

gfmohn

I have the top-of-line (in the US) LED headlights. They were aimed too low, as delivered. The cut-off is very sharp, and on the narrow, winding, slightly hilly, suburban roads I often travel, it was like driving under a low-hanging bank of dense, black smoke! The dealer then aimed them too high, and a local independent shop aimed them too low. After an accident that required replacement of one assembly, the collision shop that was part of the dealership empire aimed them first too high and then too low. I finally located the adjusters and did it myself. In the shop, the technicians are guessing. Go to a parking lot bordered by trees and aim at the trees. Now they work great. Terrific range, and my 77-year-old eyes can see the fog line at the right edge of the pavement even past oncoming cars (on the same narrow roads).

Njriedel25

gfmohn

You're in the wrong forum. This forum is for W205 series C-Class sedans, 2015 on. I can't tell you anything about your W212 E-CLASS. Nonetheless, your dealer's statement is nonsense. SOMEBODY has to be able to adjust the headlights! MB certainly doesn't encourage owners to do it. The information is not in the Owners Manual (at least the W205 C-Class manual). Your dealer apparently knows only what is in Owner's Manual (if that). These two photos of my C-class engine room may at least show you what you're looking for. (They may also help any C300 owners with the same problem.) Look for white nylon disks that take an allen wrench:


2015 C-class passenger-side headlight adjuster
The bulbous container on the lower left is the coolant tank

2015 C300 driver-side headlight adjuster
The driver-side headlight adjuster is hard to find even if you know what to look for and where is should be! Get your head over the air cleaner as far as possible and look diagonally toward the back of the the driver-side headlight assembly.

Njriedel25

RUNSGR8

Not a W205 sedan, but the C205 coupe. I've been thru way too many rims and have finally settled on these:

gfmohn

You have the wrong forum. This one is about headlights.

RUNSGR8

Ah crap. Mods feel free to remove my post. I meant to post this in the pictures thread.

fbsdmd

The fixed LED's in my 2016 C300 are, to coin a phrase, night and day better than the halogens in my 2015 GLA250. I have 78 year old eyes and driving at night is fun again, following several years of awful head lighting attached to the GLA and the BMW that preceded it. My wife has a 2015 Lexus RX, and it is better than the C300 by a little bit.

Doa

never had any issues with the LED's but i live in belgium so you can't really find a place at night where there is no light at all

CJG

The adaptive leds are amazing. Like driving in the day. I do a lot of freeway driving (usually in the fast lane). My headlights wash out the lights of every car I pass. I even took pictures to show my wife, but I don’t know how to post them here. 🙄

CJG

[img]webkit-fake-url://e73d6007-6ef1-4ea1-92ee-080cc6fc7b87/imagejpeg

well pasting doesn’t work.

Wraakian

I am having a terrible experience when night driving in my 2018 C200 convertible and took it to my dealer who stated that they were aligned correctly for the UK. I can easily drive at night in my wife's Toyota without any problem at all but when I go out at night in my own car, I cannot clearly see ahead, especially on unlit roads? Surely Mercedes must have been informed about this problem? I don't really know what to do about it?

Greg52

I’ve got the intelligent lighting system, best lights I’ve ever had

Wraakian

I thought I had the intelligent lighting on my C Class cab when I purchased it only to find they are the static lights, my previous E class cab had intelligent lighting and they were fine too. Don't know if I could get the static lights changed now but I'll ask my dealer.

Greg52

I think it’s possible to get them retrofitted but it would be very expensive

superswiss

For your model year, there are three headlights. Standard Halogen, LED and Full LED (ILS). First would be figuring out which headlights you have. I'm guessing you have the standard Halogen lights. See visual comparison below, although those are the sedan, but I believe the coupe/convertible lights are same/similar. My wife's car, not an MB, has Halogen and compared to the new multibeam LEDs in my 2019 C63S Coupe I feel like a blind mouse whenever I drive her car at night. The full LEDs in the 2019+ are even brighter and better. They have 80 individual LEDs to light different parts of the road ahead.

Short of investing money into trying to retrofit the LED or Full LED headlights, you are stuck with what you have. Either way, these things are not a direct fit. Especially the Full LEDs are integrated with the camera in the windshield.

W205C43PFL

Honestly, even the static headlights are very dim, it is just slightly better than the halogens. I had the static ones on my C 300 before selling it for the C 43 and got ILS on the latter. The C 300 headlights was pretty much unusable if there is no streetlight traveling outside the city. As for the angle of the lights as mentioned I think, there are adjustment screws.

netboy

if you in USA and have ILS, upgrade to ILS+ is a must !
before ILS+ , i always get annoyed that the headlights is aiming too low, hard to drive fast when you cant see that far away.
now with ILS+, it turns on adjustable high beams more often even when cars in front of you on freeway.