AMG Fan

I replaced my stock halogens with bi-xenons. I now have a pair of halogen headlights in excellent condition sitting in my home looking for a new owner. I realize they are halogens & I don't know the demand, but I am willing to sell these for a great deal. Please PM or e-mail me if interested.

Bateman5112@yahoo.com

SAguirre

I also was not happy with the headlight splash pattern and strenth. I bought bi-xenon headlight too and installed them.

I have been watching e-bay to see how much they are going for. There is a set, but they are badly used (or salvaged) by-xenon and the reserve has never been met.

Did you hook up the self leveling system on them?

Steve

AMG Fan

I'm not certain, but I believe the dealer hooked up the self leveling system. Either way, the new bi-xenons are perfect.

AMG Fan

The lights are now on E-Bay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ayphotohosting

SAguirre

I went back and forth about the self leveling with the dealer. In the end, my car did not have the harness or wireing for the sensors in the rear suspension. I had them aligned, the I had to set them a tad lower since I carry a lod at times and people were flashing at me.

I had to get the 2003 headlights from Performance Auto and then get them istalled.

Thanks,

Steve

AMG Fan

After you got the 03' headlights installed, did you get the self leveling function working? Any dislikes so far?

SAguirre

As all might know, the 04 headlights have the curve following and self leveling mechanism. They were more than double the price to buy. Like it has been said on this site, you can barely notice the curve following feature (probably because the splash pattern is really good anyway).

The 03 bi-xenon lights are only self-leveling. They were about $600 each (give or take a few dollars). My dealer said that on some cars the sensors are already in the cars, but in most cases they are not. The other things that they need to do is go into the computer and switch it from normal headlights to Xenon. The Xenon headlights are only 35w (the H7s, I think are 55w) because of this difference, the computer would tell you that you have a burned out headlight. It is interesting that the Xenon headlights are so bright, but use only about 65% of the power the old bulbs use. Also, the old bulbs would get dimmed by the computer when they were in daylight driving mode (constant on the setting), the Xenon don't get dimmed (obviously).

In spite of the fact that retrofitting the lights is more expensive than simply ordering them an extra option (very well worth it, but my car was already on the lot) and they don't have the cleaning jets (really helpful here in Colorado) I find them worth every penny.

I had to lower them a bit since sometimes I have 3 adults and a full trunk when I drive. It is better to have them a bit low so people don't get totally bothered. Lowering them is very easy, you just need a Philips-head screwdriver and a reference point (like a garage door). Having them in a fixed position is no problem at all. The car dives very little under extreme braking anyway since the SBC sends a lot of power to the rear brakes.

I strongly recommend them. If you have them installed, make sure that you pay the hourly rate for accessory installation (not normal labor) since it is much cheaper. I think that the dealer charged me about $200. Then tell them to lower the beams a bit to compensate for a low rear suspension when your car is full.

Since the lights are blended towards the right so that the road signs are more visible, you don't really get flashed by oncoming traffic if they are too high. You get flashed by the cars you pass that are in the right lane. They get blinded when they are in front and to the right of you.

I hope this helpsanyone interested in retrofitting them. THEY ARE GREAT! I am also curious to see what your lights go for or if the reserve even get met. I have them on my watch list.

Steve

AMG Fan

I can't tell if my bi-xenons are self leveling. Anyway to tell by looking under the hood & seeing if I have the appropriate hardware? Also, when raising/lowering the low beams, are the high beams also raised/lowered at the same time or is that done separately?

SAguirre

I don't know ho to tell exactly on the W211. Our 1998 S500 would actually move them up and down every time you turned them one for the first time. It looked really goofy when you were parked against a wall or something that you could look at when it did that.

I think that you might notice that they are self leveling (if they don't move like the old S class) by seeing if the lights move higher when you put on the brakes kind of hard. As the nose dives (the 211 doesn't dive much) the lights raise so you can still see ahead.

About the High beam adjustment, I really don't know. but I think that they are together. ?? Someone else should knowhere, I hope. I only saw one up/down adjustment screw.

Steve Aguirre

AMG Fan

Thanks!