vettdvr

The low beam headlight's on the wife's E500 are very dim and barely provide enough light to see the road if there are paint / markings on the road. Otherwise the high beams have to be used to see. This is her #1 complaint that she can't see on low beam and I agree with her. Is there any thing that can be done to improve the low beam effectiveness . Thanks Jim

paulv

Jim,

Do you have the H7's in the car? That's what I have in my E320, but I've never had them go dim -- only burn out. Is this problem something you've had, or is it just starting? Also, how do the lenses look, alignment, etc?

Regards,
paul...

vettdvr

Paul the lights are as bright as when the car was new and delivered. I don't think they are defective, but just not very bright. They do however appear to be aimed very close to the front of the car. The high beams project out what I would consider acceptable. I was really wondering if they were adjustable slightly higher to light up more road. On brights they blind other drivers, on dim we have difficulty telling they are on.

Another question? I was cleaning up under the hood today pulled the aircleaner off and in the process broke the oil plug for the engine. This is just the little plastic plug (About 3" long with a seal on the end) where the dip stick would go if it had one. I removed the rubber seal (fortunately was able to get it out),, then drilled a hole through it and made a 2" extension and plug until I can get the factory part. I called MB today and left message to call back. I could not drive with this part out it would blow oil which is why I made a replacement part. I think the part I made on the lathe will serve well until I get the right replacement. Do you know if there is a "real" dipstick I could buy for this E500? I would really prefer to have a dipstick (you know the greasy thumbs guy just like to check for himself). If the dipstick is not available I will just buy another plug and put it in.

BTW,, the car looked great after we cleaned it up. Wife found one ding in pass door from another car. Her comment,"I guess I will have to park it like I did when it was new to stop this damage".. She was just parking anywhere close now it is branded. I rubbed most of the scuffing off and it is barely visable. Thanks again Paul for the prompt response. Jim

lars

If you think the low beams are aimed much too low you can check pretty quickly. Park on level ground 20 feet from a wall and measure the distance from the ground to the center of the low beams on your car. Turn on low beam. If you have the US hockey-stock style beam pattern, the flat part of the beam cutoff (the left side of each low beam) should be 2.5 - 3 inches lower than the centre of the projector. If they're not, you can adjust them yourself if you're comfortable doing that or take the car to a garage.

I have a C-class with no dipstick - very annoying, as you say. For the C, a service tool is available from the dealer that, I've read elsewhere, is a universal MB dipstick. I don't remember what it costs but I do remember thinking I didn't need one that badly.

vettdvr

Thanks Lars,, I'll check the headlights tonight. As for the dipstick. Had I not broken the cap to the tube I probably would not change. However I was able to "fish" out the rubber seal that broke off the bottom of the cap. Really small plastic part and it did not go into the pan. Must have just bumped it wrong when I pulled the air cleaner off or broken elsewhere and just plugged back in.

In either case I used a 6x32x2" screw and center drilled the seal, then used locking nuts and a cap to make a temp seal so we won't blow oil. Only issue is it is a double seal and my fat hands holding such a tiny seal I did damage one of the two lips so i really need to buy a new one or a dip stick which ever I can get. Jim

paulv

Jim,

There is a dipstick available (the one from the dealer is very expensive), but it's not something that you would leave in the tube. You'll need to buy another plug. For the dipstick, Baum tools sells one and AST also does -- they're around $40-50.

If you get tired of waiting for MB to return your call, give Rob Lewis a call at 513-870-1030. Rob is a parts guy at a dealership in Ohio which this forum has an account with -- Rob has great prices and service. He could probably overnight the part for you.

As for the headlight alignment check, I would do what lars posted.

Regards,
paul...

vettdvr

Thanks Paul I will check for the dipstick. I was able to get through to the local dealer and after we both had a laugh about fat hands they offered to UPS me the new part.

One other question though? I was looking at the fan belt and saw what appeared to be a torq recess but there was a pin (anti-tamper pin) in the center. I was just wondering where can this "tool" be bought to change the fan belt. We have 60K miles and I will probably change the belt in the next 10K miles or so.

Great having you here, thanks again. Jim

paulv

You can buy a set of these tamper-resistent external torx at places like Sears. BTW, your poly-V belt may not need replacing at this time. I'll send you some info -- I think I still have your email.

Regards,
paul...

lars

I guess we should have asked if you have bi-xenon headlights. If you do, you should check to see that the low beams rapidly adjust their focus upwards just after you turn them on. If you have bixenons and they don't do that, the autolevelling function isn't working properly and that's probably a trip to the dealer for diagnosis.

MBTECH2003

That tamper proof bolt it tamper proof, because it is not where you slacken the tensioner, nor is it meant to be taken apart.

frogstaple

Take it to the dealer and have them adjusted.

vettdvr

You are so correct. I just received my MB disc/service manual. Now I have the data that I have been missing. I normally buy the service manual with every new car, but the MB didn't offer it. I tried to buy it from the dealer last month and they could not find the item with the part #. SO I called MB and gave them the part # they knew exactly what I wanted and had it in 4 days.

But danged, I like to tamper . In Lincolns this bolt is removed and just the bearing can be replaced for about $18 or so and not the entire tensioner. I looked at the belt and probably won't change for another 15,000 or so miles. Still looking good.

Now for the headlights, I don't have the bi-xenon headlights, but the standard lights. Jim