E-Class (W211) 2003-2009

W211 Beam pattern - Both Halogen and LED

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Old 08-16-2023, 11:37 AM
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2002 W211 E240
Question W211 Beam pattern - Both Halogen and LED

Hi guys, I recently decided to replace the halogen bulbs on my E240 with a set of H7 LED lights.
I didn't do this without prior research - Retrofitting HID would cost upwards of $700 in my country (incl. housing, ballast and bulb), and the H7 connectors on my car melted, presumably after the previous owner used an H7 bulb which had a power rating too high. The cables for the headlight adjustment motor is also cut off, which I'm not sure why.

After installing the LED lights, I noticed a couple of issues:
1. There's a cut(?) on the beam pattern which I didn't notice before (when it was using halogen bulbs). I understand the cut on the right beam is to avoid blinding incoming drivers, but the left one seems too big that it would only cause a part of the road to be properly lit.
2. Assuming this is the correct beam pattern, how should I adjust each beam to light the road uniformly?

The beam pattern looked like this (drawn out):


And in real life:

Front of the car

Inside

I hope I explained the problem well enough, since I never had this problem with my other cars (which didn't have any projector system whatsoever).
Thanks!
Old 08-16-2023, 04:11 PM
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2008 E350 (W211 @170K), 2012 ML350 (W166 @119K), 2014 E350 Sport (W212 @96K), 2015 ML350 (W166 @92K)
What lighting package is in that car? VIN number?

If there was a motor to move the lights, and wire is cut off, what position is the motor in? it seems it is turning left, and the headlights pointing that way.

Last edited by juanmor40; 08-16-2023 at 08:33 PM.
Old 08-16-2023, 09:43 PM
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2002 W211 E240
Originally Posted by juanmor40
What lighting package is in that car? VIN number?

If there was a motor to move the lights, and wire is cut off, what position is the motor in? it seems it is turning left, and the headlights pointing that way.
It's option 613 which is standard Halogen for Right-Hand Drive. I can't really tell what position the motor is in but if I have to guess, it's in position 3 (knob on top position)

Also forgot to mention, I manually adjusted the beam in the picture through the two adjustment screws on the housing.
Old 08-16-2023, 09:49 PM
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2008 E350 (W211 @170K), 2012 ML350 (W166 @119K), 2014 E350 Sport (W212 @96K), 2015 ML350 (W166 @92K)
https://www.benzworld.org/threads/w2...lease.1566118/
Old 08-17-2023, 08:45 AM
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I already did this, but I'm not sure if I adjusted the beam correctly. You can see in the picture that I aligned both beams to the same distance.
Old 08-17-2023, 09:52 AM
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2008 E350 (W211 @170K), 2012 ML350 (W166 @119K), 2014 E350 Sport (W212 @96K), 2015 ML350 (W166 @92K)
Originally Posted by N1astolfo
I already did this, but I'm not sure if I adjusted the beam correctly. You can see in the picture that I aligned both beams to the same distance.
To be honest, I have never adjusted the headlights on an MB before. However, in other cars (ions ago) I recall aligning them against a wall with two clear marks on the wall and the car parked a specified distance from the wall. I then adjusted the screws of the headlamps to make the focused spots on the marks of the wall. No approximations.

If not done against a fixed mark, it is very subjective because it diffuses too much and with lights, there is always the chance the light may be getting into someone's eyes of the incoming traffic.

Update
---------

I did not have YouTube back then, but here is the idea

Last edited by juanmor40; 08-17-2023 at 11:47 AM.
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Old 08-18-2023, 08:03 AM
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2005 CLS55 AMG W219 C219
Let a shop perform the alignment. A proper shop has specialized equipment for that. It looks like this: https://www.collisionservices.com/pr...ment-alignment

Also: I dont know if you have projectors? But if you have reflector lights, then please dont use LED as this will blind other drivers.
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