thefisch

My 2011 has the bi-xenon lights - 100% stock, no mods whatsoever. On the way home this afternoon, I got a center cluster message that said that adaptive highbeam assist was inoperative (or something close to that) after turning on the lights while it was raining. First time I have seen that but I figured I would wait to see if it occurs again since I rarely use the high beams. I mentioned it in case that is relevant to the problem I noticed afterwards.

When I got home and pulled into my garage I noticed that my driver side headlight was out and there were no other warning messages on dash. Don't know when it went out as it was still light out. I tried flashing highbeams and nothing worked on the driver side. Passenger side high and low seemed to toggle just fine.

So I shut down car and came back a minute later to try the lights in accessory II mode by turning the headlamp switch to on from auto. To my surprise the driver side low beam lit up. It did not seem dim at all - I would say it was equal brightness to passenger side. However, when I tried to engage high beam, the driver side highbeam did not work (passenger still did). I could hear a clicking sound whenever I tried the high beam. Then after a minute or so, the driver side low beam went out (passenger side continued to work).

So I turned car off and on again and the same thing happened - the driver side worked in low beam. Trying high beam would not change the light projected and I would hear a clicking sound whenever stalk was pulled back. After what seemed like a minute the driver side went out again.

One note about the clicking sound. Getting assistance from one of my kids to toggle the high beams, I could hear the clicking sound coming from only the driver side. No sound from passenger side light. After the driver side would go out, whenever we would toggle the high beam for the passenger side there would be no clicking sound at all.

So clearly there is a driver side light issue. However, it's not clear to me if it is a bulb or something else related to the headlamp. If the bulb didn't come on at all, I would suspect that. But since it lights and goes off later with no dash warning message, I am concerned it is something else.

What do you all recommend I should check?

YYZ-E55

The bulbs are 5 years old and relatively cheap to replace, why not try replacing them and go from there?

KEY08

I've had 3 bi-xenon MB cars and when this starts happening I replace the lamp and the problem goes away. The lamps are $35, so yeah start there.

thefisch

Yeah, I thought about just replacing it but I wanted to try to eliminate any other issue before doing so. Perhaps I can switch the bulbs and see if the problem moves to the passenger side.

At any rate, I went out to time how long the light stays on just for fun (slow evening). Driver side low stays on for 41 seconds each power cycle before it goes off. What makes it interesting is that if I engage the high beam, the driver side low still stay on without going out. I tested this for a 5 minute interval and then later a 15 minute interval. After switching off the high beam, the low beam goes off 41 seconds later. Makes me think it's not the bulb but the clearly is the cheapest thing to try.

Any replacement bulb recommendations?

KEY08

Morimito D1S 6500k

thefisch

Thanks. Looks like they are $35 plus tax for me at Amazon. Will probably try to do this weekend. Thankfully I don't drive much at night.

Sunnyslope48

When I hear clicking in an electrical circuit, I always think of a RELAY. Does the lighting circuit have a RELAY (one to many) in it?

shak

That looks like 6500k bulb, it will not match your OEM color. 6500 will be more blue, while your stock ones are around 4300 white.

I just installed HID kit on my 12, driver side is pain in the *** to get to. Not sure if you are aware, you will need to remove the wheel, front part of the plastic skin to get to the headlight.

Good luck.

YYZ-E55

Replace both bulbs at the same time.

I was able to swap bulbs without removing the wheel (just crank it all the way to one side), but that was on an E-Coupe; perhaps the Sedan isn't as forgiving.

KEY08

Sorry, yes, the Xenons should be replaced as a pair. Regardless of color temperature, a new lamp will not match your existing lamp even if you buy a warmer color lamp to try and match the OEM.

AZN Optics

Yes, you'll want to replace both sides at once. Even if it's the same kelvin rating as the other side, you'll have uneven break in rates. And HID temp ratings are a range, not precise, so you'll want to stick with the same manufacturer.

If interested, we also carry Morimoto units and can beat that price.

thefisch

I know what you mean about relay clicking. I should have said creaking instead of clicking as it sounds more creakish or squeakish. Almost like something is trying to move but stuck. On the working passenger side, I can hear it very, very slightly. But on the driver side you can hear it while the bulb is working.

Thanks everyone for the tips on doing both sides. In regards to the creaking sound, is the high beam mechanism that moves part of the bulb or the housing?

KEY08

are you talking about the self-level dance at start up, Fisch? You have the full boat with active curve illumination?

thefisch

Not sure if that happens during the dance as I can't hear the sound when the motor is running. I am talking about when you toggle on the high beams - somethings moves (for lack of a better term) in the headlight to increase the light projection. I think I've read on here that there is a shield in the headlight that moves to exposure more the bulb - not sure if I am recalling that properly. At any rate, with the engine off and during those first 41 seconds before the low beam goes out, I hear a creaking sound when the high beams are toggled. Even with engine off, I can't hear from in the cabin. But once out of car I can hear it and it is coming from the headlamp housing on the driver side. When the driver side goes out, I hear a slight sound from the passenger side whenever that high beam actuates. Sorry if I am not describing it properly.

KEY08

Ok, I went back and read everything you wrote again. The lamp never changes it's lumen output. There is a cover over the lamp for its normal operation (low beam), that moves to provide more light for the high beam operation. It is not some kind of two-stage lamp. So then, I am not sure why your lamp is only going out when the cover is over the lamp and not when you have engaged the high beam. That is odd. Maybe it gets too hot and causes a fault that cuts the circuit. I don't know what is happening, but I would still start with a new lamp and see if that fixes it. As was said, these HID lamps are good for 5-6 years maybe, so you are not throwing money away here.

The G Man

That doesn't sound like a bad bulb, it might be a bad high beam shield assembly or the control circuit. I am guessing the computer shut off the low beam because the repeated high beam failure.

KEY08

^that just does not make sense to me with what is going on. If he doesn't initiate the high beam, the lamp goes out in 40 seconds. The shield may not be functioning properly, but that should not cause the lamp to turn off. That is kind of a bad safety situation and not something MB would engineer.

thefisch

AFAIK, if changing the bulb doesn't work I may be looking at a new headlamp housing. Whatever is making that sound is coming from within the housing and, from the look of the housing, it doesn't not appear that you can disassemble and replace parts inside of it.

So what's the consensus on the best way to change the driver side bulb for those of you that have done a few:
1. from underneath by removing the wheel well liner, or
2. from the top by removing the vacuum tube support bracket

beejAMG

why is it more expensive in Morimoto's website than Amazon?

http://www.morimotohid.com/component...d1s-bulbs.html


whats the stock color of a '10-'12 w212?

KEY08

I think the wheel well is the right way. The front part of the liner has to come out which is easy. That is how my E500 was. I have yet to replace a lamp for the 550. I think trying to go from the top involves way too many gymnastics, small hands, and broken knuckles. I know you have to jack the car, but unless you are a tech who knows the tricks of top access, I would stick to the simpler way that provides a view of what you are doing.

b6tbfmp

Been reading this thread and wanted to chime in. When I bought my CPO 2012 P2 w212 last year, I decided to change my bulbs knowing that I had a pair of cbi D1S 66144 osram zenarc from another previous car I had that took the same bulb type. I went ahead and swapped the driver side out. Come to find out that my stock bulbs were zenarc 66140 cbi. I am not sure why the last digit is different but when I installed one of my 66144 bulb in the driver side, it produced the same color and intensity as the passenger side that had the 66140 cbi stock bulb that came with my car.
To further validate my test to see I do have stock cbi 5500k bulbs, I also have a pair of regular D1S bulbs rated at 4300k which are universal HID color. Installed it in the driver side and wow, it was yellow and shining the light against my white walls, you can definitely see a difference in color between the passenger with stock cbi and the driver side with non cbi bulbs. Even the DRL strip below the driver side head light did not match the 4300k regular HID bulb color compared to passenger side where the cbi bulb and DRL matched. I cannot confirmed if my car came with cbi as stock units from factory as my car is used. I do know that my car has the cbi bulbs and the light output is very white like my previous car with the 66144 bulbs. The stock output on our headlights are hands down superior to my last car in terms of light output.

thefisch

I am not sure, but looking at the specs on their product page it appears the 4500k and 5500k bulbs produce more lumens @ 3,500 than the 6500k bulb (rated @ 3,200 lumens). I realize the 6500/5500/4500k is a measurement of color temperature, but correct me if I am wrong, don't those specs on lumens mean the 5500k and 4500k produce more visible light be brighter than the 6500k bulb? So wouldn't you want the 5500k over the 6500k?

beejAMG

the higher the kelvin rating (color) the lower the lumens it produces.
i reckon it goes 4500k yellow, 5500k white, 6500 super white, 7500k bluish or something like that.

i wanna know what the stock kelvin rating is for the 10-12 W212 as i would wanna go higher if and when.

The G Man

I just install a set of the Osram CBI bulb on my wife's ML350, they are both whiter and brighter than the OEM bulb. Osram CBI use a different mixture of xenon gas to produce the whiter light while other high kelvin bulb just tint the bulb. The CBI does cost a lot more than the cheaper brands, but in the end, you get what you paid for.


http://www.hidconcept.com/d1s-osram-...cbi-hid-bulbs/

The G Man

I miss his second post saying the driver side light goes out on low beam after 40 seconds but stays on with high beam. The high beam is just a shield, the headlight circuit powering the bulb is the same rather if it is on high beam or low, its the same power going to the light in both cases. If the headlight stays on when in high beam, that tells me that there is nothing wrong with the ballast or the bulb. It is more likely the light assembly or the electronic module.