2013 ML LED headlight
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Newbie
Joined: Oct 2012
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2013 ML 350 BT
2013 ML LED headlight
Just got my 13 ML350 BT few days ago.
One noticed question needed help:
On the official website and brochure, the LED headlights are definitely "white".
How come they are "orange" now?
Not try to be picky, but believe "white" would be nicer.
Thanks, guys.
Attached are the photos of mine and one from web.
One noticed question needed help:
On the official website and brochure, the LED headlights are definitely "white".
How come they are "orange" now?
Not try to be picky, but believe "white" would be nicer.
Thanks, guys.
Attached are the photos of mine and one from web.
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 513
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From: SoCal
13ML BT
Just got my 13 ML350 BT few days ago.
One noticed question needed help:
On the official website and brochure, the LED headlights are definitely "white".
How come they are "orange" now?
Not try to be picky, but believe "white" would be nicer.
Thanks, guys.
Attached are the photos of mine and one from web.
One noticed question needed help:
On the official website and brochure, the LED headlights are definitely "white".
How come they are "orange" now?
Not try to be picky, but believe "white" would be nicer.
Thanks, guys.
Attached are the photos of mine and one from web.
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2013 ML 350 BT
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From: Lake Oswego, OR
2020 GLE 450; 2023 BMW M2 Coupe
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2013 ML 350 BT
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2020 GLE 450; 2023 BMW M2 Coupe
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535
Not really. North American safety standard only requires a side orange reflector in the front. The eye-brow LED color does not need to be amber at all - no other manufacturers have amber LEDs in the headlight.
Just like using red LEDs for turning signal instead of amber, this is just a marketing or aesthetic decision by Mercedes USA.
Just like using red LEDs for turning signal instead of amber, this is just a marketing or aesthetic decision by Mercedes USA.
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From: Melbourne, Australia
'24 GLB250. Previously '23 GLB250 '17 GLS500 '14 C250 '13 ML500 '12 C250 '08 ML500 '07 E500 '03 A160
Not really. North American safety standard only requires a side orange reflector in the front. The eye-brow LED color does not need to be amber at all - no other manufacturers have amber LEDs in the headlight.
Just like using red LEDs for turning signal instead of amber, this is just a marketing or aesthetic decision by Mercedes USA.
Just like using red LEDs for turning signal instead of amber, this is just a marketing or aesthetic decision by Mercedes USA.
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535
I don't understand why the US allows red lamps for rear turning signals.... Why is this still quite normal on brand new cars in the USA? You guys are strict about having amber lamps on the front end as mentioned above but the rear having red lamps as turning signals seems to be a little backwards to me ... just sayin'
It was mainly due to the resistance by US manufacturers, and their usual claim was that there was no evidence that amber turn signal was any safer. But National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had a study in 2009 and concluded that amber turn signal did indeed reduce crash. There were some noises about possibly mandatory amber turn signal, but that went nowhere.
What's more puzzling was all the German car manufacturers (Mercedes, BMW, Audi etc) using red turn signal when their original designs use amber! To save a few bucks? They have to go out of their way to switch the turn signal to red just for the North American market when amber signal is also perfectly legal in US. And I thought that safety was supposed to be high on their priorities - definitely not in this case.
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99 ML430, 01 CLK55, 07 R63, 15 E63 Wagon
Not really. North American safety standard only requires a side orange reflector in the front. The eye-brow LED color does not need to be amber at all - no other manufacturers have amber LEDs in the headlight.
Just like using red LEDs for turning signal instead of amber, this is just a marketing or aesthetic decision by Mercedes USA.
Just like using red LEDs for turning signal instead of amber, this is just a marketing or aesthetic decision by Mercedes USA.
As you can see from my signature what I think about the whole situation. That orange light/ reflector drives me nuts and it such an eyesore.
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From: Toronto
MY17 E43 Matte Selenite/Macchiato Beige, MY16 GLE350d Tenorite/Crystal Grey, MY17 B250
Not really. North American safety standard only requires a side orange reflector in the front. The eye-brow LED color does not need to be amber at all - no other manufacturers have amber LEDs in the headlight.
Just like using red LEDs for turning signal instead of amber, this is just a marketing or aesthetic decision by Mercedes USA.
Just like using red LEDs for turning signal instead of amber, this is just a marketing or aesthetic decision by Mercedes USA.
As for the rear turn signals, there are specific requirements with respect to bulb intensity, surface area, etc. US regulations require a brighter bulb and a larger surface area for the rear turn signal than does the EU. In many cases, this is why manufacturers use red instead. Audi is an excellent example - they do this on most of their vehicles and they often flash both the brake light and the signal light to achieve the minimum surface area requirement in USA.
So, for once, don't blame MBUSA. Blame FMVSS-108.
Edit: Current Gen 5-Series - note the 3 amber LEDs (enough to comply):
Last edited by YYZ-E55; Nov 1, 2012 at 06:38 PM.
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535
As for the rear turn signals, there are specific requirements with respect to bulb intensity, surface area, etc. US regulations require a brighter bulb and a larger surface area for the rear turn signal than does the EU. In many cases, this is why manufacturers use red instead.
So, for once, don't blame MBUSA. Blame FMVSS-108.
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2013 ML 350 BT
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From: Los Angeles
2025 Panamera GTS
They should have done it like this. My non xenon headlights have the amber reflector and bulb in the same place. The US xenons have the same reflector in the same place I'm sure there was space to put the amber light I get too instead of messing up the whole look with these huge amber eyelids. Why'd they do this to the top of the line SL too. If we complain maybe they'll change it like they changed the hockey stick front low LEDs on the e clAss. My dealer said complaints made Mercedes change to the straight leds
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From: Toronto
MY17 E43 Matte Selenite/Macchiato Beige, MY16 GLE350d Tenorite/Crystal Grey, MY17 B250
For the ML, the torch could have been white in US/Canada, but they would have had to add another amber light source to the headlight (similar to what I showed above with the 2013 5-Series). It is cheaper and simpler to have one headlight design and simply modify the bulb color to comply globally.
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From: Near Niagara Falls, Canada
2013 ML BLUETEC JULY 31
Super Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 552
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From: Near Niagara Falls, Canada
2013 ML BLUETEC JULY 31
Are you refering to the hockey stick on the 2012s????
In Canada I have only seen yellow.........Q5 was my first pick till I knew ML was changing.
We need to special order active option on the bixenons for Q5 too. $200
In Canada I have only seen yellow.........Q5 was my first pick till I knew ML was changing.
We need to special order active option on the bixenons for Q5 too. $200
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From: Los Angeles
2025 Panamera GTS
Hid headlights have the white drl above the headlight
