Bi-Xenon low beam distance complaint...

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Dec 20, 2011 | 03:12 AM
  #1  
I have come up with ONE minor complaint about my new E550. The Bi-Xenon low beams do not seem to reach out far enough. The high beams are outstanding but the low beams...not so much. Can the dealer adjust the housing to compensate? Since the lights are self leveling, there must be a way to adjust the cut off points.
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Dec 20, 2011 | 07:51 AM
  #2  
Beat me to it! It is also my one gripe so far, but I haven't had the chance to research it yet.
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Dec 20, 2011 | 10:53 AM
  #3  
Must be something wrong there, my car is an 11MY and I always get other drivers on poorly illuminated roads flashing at me because they think I have my high beams on... so I proceed to blind the F--- out of them... nothing I can do had the alignment checked and there's no issue.
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Dec 20, 2011 | 12:02 PM
  #4  
Limited night driving here so far, but no complaints whatsoever with the low beams. And what the low beams won't do, the high beams more than make up for when necessary.

Much better than my Xenon-equipped old CLK, whose low beams, while very bright, had a very sharp vertical cut-off and almost seemed to be aimed annoyingly straight down at the ground. I re-aimed them myself, the dealer would aim them down again at state inspection time, and I'd raise them up again. This battle went on for all the years I had the car.

No such need with my new car's Bi-Xenons.
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Dec 20, 2011 | 04:10 PM
  #5  
Must be something with you car, as Dr-Nab mentioned I get a lot of flashing cars as well as they think I'm driving with my high beams.
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Dec 20, 2011 | 05:02 PM
  #6  
I kind of understand what OP was mentioning... Our Bi-Xenon low-beam is actually very effective, yet I guess it has a color temperature which is somwhere close to the amibent lighting color temperature, hence it is not as obvious to our naked eyes -- Try to drive the car in a remote area where there is no other amibent lighting (e.g. street lights, city lights, lights from other cars in traffic, etc.) and I guess our naked eyes could be better able to see how bright the Bi-Xenon low-beam actually is.

Mercedes (as in many modern car companies) also calibrated the low-beam to have a light distribtuion area that wouldn't blind other drivers in the oncoming traffic, thus sometimes it might appear to our eyes that the low-beam didn't throw far enough especially at the driver's side.

With best regards,
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Dec 20, 2011 | 07:21 PM
  #7  
Quote: I kind of understand what OP was mentioning... Our Bi-Xenon low-beam is actually very effective, yet I guess it has a color temperature which is somwhere close to the amibent lighting color temperature, hence it is not as obvious to our naked eyes -- Try to drive the car in a remote area where there is no other amibent lighting (e.g. street lights, city lights, lights from other cars in traffic, etc.) and I guess our naked eyes could be better able to see how bright the Bi-Xenon low-beam actually is.

Mercedes (as in many modern car companies) also calibrated the low-beam to have a light distribtuion area that wouldn't blind other drivers in the oncoming traffic, thus sometimes it might appear to our eyes that the low-beam didn't throw far enough especially at the driver's side.

With best regards,
I live in a rural area and most of my driving is on dark country roads. I do have the adaptive head lights which are well worth the extra cost. The color temperature is fine, it's the cut off point I'm complaining about. I'll have to contact the dealer to see if it's even possible to adjust the lights. The beam projection only needs to be brought up a couple of feet.
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Dec 20, 2011 | 08:42 PM
  #8  
Quote: I live in a rural area and most of my driving is on dark country roads. I do have the adaptive head lights which are well worth the extra cost. The color temperature is fine, it's the cut off point I'm complaining about. I'll have to contact the dealer to see if it's even possible to adjust the lights. The beam projection only needs to be brought up a couple of feet.
Understood. I am sure your dealer could do some adjustment on the headlight to suit your need.

Enjoy your E550!
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