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Gripe: Headlights not bright enough

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Old May 9, 2019 | 09:46 AM
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Gripe: Headlights not bright enough

My C63S, I feel like the headlights are not bright enough. Almost feels like I am out drive the headlights. Anyone have same issue and figured something out, or added fog or driving lights to their car?
If so what kind etc.

Oh and pics of my car because reasons...



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Old May 9, 2019 | 09:54 AM
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yes. i can upgrade you to oem ILS fairly easily on the C63. pm me if interested. the light output is much better on the ILS vs static led as you have 4 lens on all the time instead of just 2.
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Old May 9, 2019 | 12:36 PM
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Nice ride. Thanks for the pics.
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Old May 9, 2019 | 02:43 PM
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No issue with my lights. Car looks smart !
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Old May 9, 2019 | 03:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Star4life
yes. i can upgrade you to oem ILS fairly easily on the C63. pm me if interested. the light output is much better on the ILS vs static led as you have 4 lens on all the time instead of just 2.
Any chance you have the facelift ILS euro version available?
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Old May 9, 2019 | 08:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Star4life
yes. i can upgrade you to oem ILS fairly easily on the C63. pm me if interested. the light output is much better on the ILS vs static led as you have 4 lens on all the time instead of just 2.
I don't believe that's a plug and play swap. I also think there is coding involved also. Not to mention those lights/ballasts aren't cheap by any stretch of the imagination.
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Old May 9, 2019 | 08:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Xec
Any chance you have the facelift ILS euro version available?

Cost would be crazy for those new lights. Not to mention it may need coding. Most likely not plug and play. If it does and you take it to the dealer for service and there is a software update from MB. It will overwrite it and you'll need to get it re-coded. Keep in mind it's also not US/DOT compliant. In addition if the car is a lease. It violates the lease agreement. Of course one could return to stock before turning the car back in. It's a fair amount of work to remove and replace the lights. So a large cost, hassle and work just not to see a little amber side marker light.
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Old May 9, 2019 | 11:17 PM
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Originally Posted by benzbell
Cost would be crazy for those new lights. Not to mention it may need coding. Most likely not plug and play. If it does and you take it to the dealer for service and there is a software update from MB. It will overwrite it and you'll need to get it re-coded. Keep in mind it's also not US/DOT compliant. In addition if the car is a lease. It violates the lease agreement. Of course one could return to stock before turning the car back in. It's a fair amount of work to remove and replace the lights. So a large cost, hassle and work just not to see a little amber side marker light.
Haha all fair points. I’ve just had the misfortune of a rock cracking my headlight. Insurance is covering the entire replacement (which costs a whopping $2.6K for just one). Thought this could be a good opportunity to switch. You are right though, probably not worth the hassle even though I bought the car.
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Old May 12, 2019 | 02:06 PM
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Originally Posted by benzbell
Cost would be crazy for those new lights. Not to mention it may need coding. Most likely not plug and play. If it does and you take it to the dealer for service and there is a software update from MB. It will overwrite it and you'll need to get it re-coded. Keep in mind it's also not US/DOT compliant. In addition if the car is a lease. It violates the lease agreement. Of course one could return to stock before turning the car back in. It's a fair amount of work to remove and replace the lights. So a large cost, hassle and work just not to see a little amber side marker light.
Originally Posted by Xec
Haha all fair points. I’ve just had the misfortune of a rock cracking my headlight. Insurance is covering the entire replacement (which costs a whopping $2.6K for just one). Thought this could be a good opportunity to switch. You are right though, probably not worth the hassle even though I bought the car.

hey guys, yes it is pretty expensive I can do it for around $3800ish, this includes used but excellent condition ILS headlights with modules. all coding and wiring harness plug and play needed to go from static to ILS.

the new euro version are not plug and play and need can adapter. in addtion they are insanely expensive and hard to find. thus i would stick to the old ones. if you opt to buy new they run right around $5200 for lights and modules. not cheap by any means. but yes i did the conversion on my c43 so yes its possible

also i can add the codes to your data card so if dealer flashes it, it flashes correct software. it appears sto them that you always had ILS. thats included in my price.
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Old Mar 14, 2020 | 04:41 AM
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funny money for a light change over,when you can just buy the new 2019/20 mutibeam headlights,plug and play from china,keep in mind they make the same lights you use in your existing cars.you can buy a pair for about $1800 new,no coding,super bright lights a wee bit better than the Mercedes ones :-)
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Old Mar 14, 2020 | 01:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Star4life
hey guys, yes it is pretty expensive I can do it for around $3800ish, this includes used but excellent condition ILS headlights with modules. all coding and wiring harness plug and play needed to go from static to ILS.

the new euro version are not plug and play and need can adapter. in addtion they are insanely expensive and hard to find. thus i would stick to the old ones. if you opt to buy new they run right around $5200 for lights and modules. not cheap by any means. but yes i did the conversion on my c43 so yes its possible

also i can add the codes to your data card so if dealer flashes it, it flashes correct software. it appears sto them that you always had ILS. thats included in my price.
any chance you can code the pre face lift lights to unlock it’s full function. As you know the intelligent lights we have in the US are neutered.
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Old Mar 14, 2020 | 04:19 PM
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Originally Posted by rangy
funny money for a light change over,when you can just buy the new 2019/20 mutibeam headlights,plug and play from china,keep in mind they make the same lights you use in your existing cars.you can buy a pair for about $1800 new,no coding,super bright lights a wee bit better than the Mercedes ones :-)
Funny this got resurrected, I did exactly that yesterday. Really didn't like the light output the car came with so got the same replicas shipped from Dubai (beta auto) for just over 1k shipped. Not sure how hard they are to get right now as I had them on hand for a month before I installed.They look almost identical to the euro spec oe minus the star on the lens corner, mb on the upper bezel and have a different startup sequence. Love the fact they don't have the orange reflectors in the corners like the US version and are more like the euro version. One annoyance I'm trying to figure out is auto doesn't work for low beams, currently have to manually turn them on.

Everything else seems to be good quality. Different internal chipsets but still has the headlight led array and are extremely bright as the outer 2 housings light for low beam as well. No errors. Still need to adjust them as they are aimed a bit low but the cutoff etc look really good and confident they will surpass the performance of stock! Also snapped in a carbon fiber lower trim while I had the bumper off.




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Old Mar 14, 2020 | 05:08 PM
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You'll likely find that the headlights are simply aimed too low. This seems to be a normal issue with C63/S and C43 (and likely other C-class) models. I set/raised my C43 and C63 S to the proper height and now they're fine (they both have the adaptive headlight option, 2016 and 2017). From the factory, you would easily outdrive the lights on an unlit road at night. Search and you'll find info on doing the adjustments.
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Old Mar 15, 2020 | 10:35 PM
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Originally Posted by user33
You'll likely find that the headlights are simply aimed too low. This seems to be a normal issue with C63/S and C43 (and likely other C-class) models. I set/raised my C43 and C63 S to the proper height and now they're fine (they both have the adaptive headlight option, 2016 and 2017). From the factory, you would easily outdrive the lights on an unlit road at night. Search and you'll find info on doing the adjustments.
I definitely feel like mine are too low and not enough of the road is illuminated for that reason (the portion of the road this is illuminated is bright enough). How did you raise the aim of the lights?
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Old Mar 15, 2020 | 10:56 PM
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Same here. I always find myself manually turning off the lights just so I can instantly activate my high beams in dark streets. The adaptive intelligent lights are not strong enough
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