Hi there,
Did tons of research but could find any 100% answers or could not figure out why my car MB 2008 Ml320 CDI low beam is so poor at night.
Backgound:
ML has original MB headlights with Osram Xenarc bulbs. The bulbs are still the original ones which came with the car. The car has 90k miles.
Both low beam projectors have a shutter wihich obstruct some parts of the lens. The driver side obstruction is about 30% the passenger side about 15% obstruction. The obstruction is relative steady and does not change with the angle of the road or the vehicle being on an incline.
Why i ask:
The low beam light output is bad in comparison to other cars. Sitting them side by side a halogen light from a jetta is brighter/illuminates more than the Xenon lights of the ML.
I also compared to other random cars driving side by side at night.
I compared with i.e. MB 2012 Gl550 and its low beam headlight projector lens surface is 100% illuminated. There is no shutter obstruction.


100% of the lens of the low beam is illuminated

30% or maybe more of the lens is not illuminated

30% of the lens is not illuminated
Please see picture GL in white. ML in black ,

So what is the conclusion?
Are my xenon bulbs depleted after 90k miles. (i barely drive at night)?
Is the shutter of the projectors stuck?
Why does my ML have not a 100% illuminated projector lens when the low beam is on.
Are the reflectors in the projectors dirty?

I appreciate any comments or thoughts.

Thanks,

 

I had the same issue when I bought my ML last summer.
First, your bulbs are shot. I bought 4 different bulbs - spent almost $500. Osram CBB, Osram CBI, Morimoto xb 5500, and these knock offs from amazon rcp d1s 6000k. The rcp is by far the brightest in terms of lux and color temperature close to LEDs. The drawback is they burn out after about 4-6 months. I am on the 2nd pair.
The second thing I did is I raised them higher as when I compared them to the GL the beam was a lot lower.

I doubt its the shutter that its stuck. Start with new bulbs first.

 

Dinismb,

Thank you for your input. I am doing research on a new pair of Xenons - looking at Osram Laser right now, abbout $180 for the pair.
You mentioned that the "bulbs are shot". Is that based on the picture and light output you looked at or the 90k miles/11 years?

 

Have used DDM Tuning with good results. https://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Ca...ltra-HID-Bulbs

Bulbs: Our Premium Ultra HID bulbs are quite simply the best. Modeled after the Osram CBI line of performance bulbs we've sourced quartz glass from Philips, salts from APL USA and electrodes from Plansee in Austria.. On top of this we've redesigned the capsule to produce up to 20% more light than the standard Apexcone HID bulbs which are already an industry leading bulb. The quartz glass is optically clear with a UV coating to protect the headlights from UV radiation. The warm up time on the Ultra bulbs is about 20% quicker than Apexcone bulbs and will reach full brightness in 10-15 seconds.

 

yes they look faded/dimmed. Definitely the bulbs.

 

Did you replace the bulbs?

 

Hi,

The new OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Intense D1S are still in transit. Ordered from Powerbubls.com which is in the UK. I will take pics as soon as I have them.
Thanks

 

Bro I coulve sold you mine for half the price. I only had them on for 30 min and I didnt like the brightness. Anyhow, keep us updated.

 

ok, I received the new xenon bulbs. I first replaced the driver side only with the new bulb to see if there are any differences.

New Xenon bulb

Old one

compare - old vs new

compare - old vs new

 

yesterday I installed the new Xenon bulb on the passenger side as well. I did some test drive at night, inner city and outside without street lights. There is not much of a light increase of what I got from the new bulbs vs the old ones.
It is still way less illumination than what you expect and see what other cars have.
Again my question, why is the top part of my projector dimmed or not illuminated. Compare against the picture from the 2012 GL in white I posted earlier.

both new Xenon's - passenger and driver side

upper part of projector dimmed

upper part of projector dimmed

old Xenon on left- new on right, new ones are orig OSRAM, I did the code verification.

both new bulbs installed

 

The GL has it's brights on. Try turning you brights on and see if your shutter raises. Your not going to see much improvement on the amount of lumen's projected without doing some modifications. The simplest is to change the frosted lens to a clear one https://www.theretrofitsource.com/zk...ect_restrict=1 . Again the gains will be noticeable, but not outstanding (IMO). If you want a big improvement you have to change your projector. If you go that far then I would suggest going to a 55W HID set-up. I have not tried dropping in a LED. Maybe someone else can post about that.

 

Speaking of which, I just did the Morimoto ZKW-R 3”. Here is the results:



Baked the light at 270 degrees F for 7 minutes as suggested by TRS.com

Here is the lens

Side by side comparison. Hard to tell on camera but you can clearly see that oem lens is fogged.

Took apart the shroud and the lens. The shrould is held by 4 torx screws. The lens is held by pivoting clips and a metal ring.


Here is the shutter and the servo that brings down the shield when you turn on the high beams.

Sode view of the shield and the shutter.

Driver is oem lens and passenger is the morimoto zkw-r 3” clear lens. The bulbs are the same kind but the right side has a brand new one as i messed up the one that was in the light while I was taking the shroud off. Hence you see 2 different color temperatures. Tomorrow when I do the driver side I will take pictures of with osram cbi and morimoto xb 5500k. Will have a better clearer result once both lenses are done and both same age bulbs.

From the right side.


From inside close up.

From inside further back toward the center of the car. You clearly see the right side has a cleaner cut off and a much wider broader beam

 

So after I opened the light today, if you look at my pictures, the shutter can not be stuck. The only thing that can happen is that black servo dies out and it wont go down and as a result you wont have high beams on the projector. It will always be on low beam.

As far as obstruction, some cars have an RV shield such as the e46 BMWs. People cut it off/bend it/trim it. The W164 does not have it.

What I am realizing is that the only thing that can be done without major work is upgrade the bulbs, and change the lens.

Or you could retrofit a complete new kit which consists of new shroud, bulb, ballast and maybe inner housing.