wmoor004

I apologies if the question has been asked - I am lookking to replace my low beam drivers side bulb, '11 E350 4matic. The cost for the OEM bulb is $240 without tax- i will pay the price but if there are better choices now is the time to get them. What do you guys recommend? Thank you for your assistance!!

USArmy retired!

thenew3

Do you have regular halogen or is it the xenon setup? A halogen bulb should only be $10 or so. The drive side is a pain to change though, you'll have to pull the wheel liner to get to the bulb.

wmoor004

I have the OEM bulbs. I was told they were xenon bulbs. $240 dollar xenon bulb. Lol.

thenew3

You can tell if you have xenon by looking at the bumper right under the head light. If there is a rectangular cut out about 2"x2" then you have xenon (that's the headlight washer that comes with xenon lighting package).

Xenon bulbs are pricey from the dealer and chances are, if one is bad, the other is not far behind.

You can buy some after market bulbs that should for the most part be plug and play and cost less than $100 per bulb, but the dealer will not install those for you. You'll have to install them yourself or find an independent shop to do it.

wmoor004

I was thinking the same thing. There are independant mercedes shops in my area. I need to see if that price was per bulb. Yikes! What are the best alternates?

thenew3

AZN Optics is a sponsor on this forum, they sell replacement xenon bulbs for $70.

Click here

Their Morimoto D1S bulbs should be a good factory replacement bulb. two of those for $140 plus probably about $100 labor at an independent shop to replace both bulbs.

cetialpha5

Yeah, normally you're supposed to replace them in pairs otherwise the newer one will be brighter than the old one. Some people buy cheap ones on eBay, but the cheap ones don't last or flicker. I'm surprised your 2011 went out, they're supposed to be good for 2500-3000 hours so you must drive a lot at night? Maybe it's not the bulb and the ballast went out.

AZN Optics

Just wanted to chime in that the Morimoto D1S replacement we sell are straight plug and play for your application and the price of $70 is actually for a set of 2 bulbs, not individual. Offered in 5000K pure white and 6000K white with a slight bluish hue. 5 year easy warranty. Morimoto units are high end replacements, offering good quality and reliability.

http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=74
http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=75

YYZ-E55

You should replace both bulbs at once (regardless if you go OEM or not), the emitted light changes color as the bulbs age.

hyperion667

not covered under warranty? or extended?