What type headlight bulb
 

I have a 2002 S430. When turn on the headlights, the light beam moves up, then down and stops in the center. I assume these are Xenon bulbs. However, when I first turn them on, they are both bright white. After they warm up, about 2 or 3 mins, the right one has a very slight pink tint. I am assuming this would indicate a possible failure coming in the near future. I would like to replace the lamp, but I don't l know the type, or number. Its a job taking the headlight out, removing the lamp and then putting it all back together so I can drive to town and get a new bulb. I don't think these bulbs have been replaced since new so how is a good way to find out what I need? I have also read in this forum about replacing both lamps at the same time, others say you don't need to. I will just start with one and see how it matches up with the left side first. My main question is, what is the best lamp to replace it with and is this a lamp that is available at most parts stores or MB Dealers only?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Its the Xenon bulbs call D2R, you can get it from dealer for hundreds or just got online for cheaper price, any D2R Xenon will fit on your headlights, no need to change both, change both if you want them look like the same color.

H7 bulbs if they are not xenon, otherwise the link below for the xenon bulb D2S. Replacing these are a pain without taking out the light assembly.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The D2S is for 2003-2006, which is a projector low beam, for 2000-2002 S class you will need to use D2R, not sure if you can use both though.

Would be a good time to upgrade to the face lift lights then and install bulbs before going on the car :)

Well, I think I will replace the off color lamp first, and then look into the upgrade. Is that upgrade to "facelift" lights a big involved project or a easy replacement?
Thanks to all for the guidance. At least I know I need to buy a D2R lamp.

He did it in minutes, it took me for a few hours cause I didn't want to break the flimsy mounting tab and was unable to unhook the connectors. Skylaw has a sticky on here somewhere when I originally googled how to remove. You have to remove your light assembly regardless to change the bulb, it was damn near impossible to do with it mounted.

Buy both bulbs in pairs even if you just install one

They are not usually available at auto parts store but widely available online , at Amazon eBay etc
Note that they are so much cheaper online because most are counterfeit Phillips bulbs or generic China bulbs . They still work

Your current light with the pink tint may still last for years - it doesn't mean it will fail soon


Trust me the light color will not match unless you've replaced both
I've been there and done that, it looks stupid and ghetto to have two different color lights

I will replace both bulbs and keep the good one as a spare.
Again, thanks everyone for the help. I continue to learn more each time I visit this forum.

I had the same issue with the bulbs on my w220. My 01 S600 had one bulb slightly pink-ish and the other white. I ended up replacing both. I went with cheap $10 D2R bulbs from Amazon as mine were Xenon bulbs. Based on what you are describing, it seems like they are HID/Xenon.

I made a video of the bulb removal but I haven't posted it up yet. But, for me replacing the drivers side bulb didn't require pulling out the headlight housing. There was enough spacing for me to reach my hand in and take out the old one and put the new one. Unfortunately I realized this AFTER I struggled about half an hour taking apart both headlights. The passenger side has almost no space at all and it will definitely require you to take the housing as the video in the link above shows.

The key is to know the orientation of how the bulb should goes in. If you know that, then replacing the drivers side bulb is very easy. I might put the video up if you think it'll help you.

Be aware that the marketing weasels have totally confused "Xenon" as a description. You need to learn the differences between the incandescent bulbs (whether quartz-iodide, halogen, argon, xenon, etc.) and HID bulbs. And of course, we can now add LED to the mix...

Just to add knowledge to this thread for anyone in the future reading, you can use D2S and D2R interchangeably. The difference between the two is the D2R has a shield in front of the bulb so to better make use of the reflective housing and blocks light shining forward directly from the bulb itself. D2S does not have this shield so you actually get better overall light output. If you put a D2S bulb in a reflective housing, it will work just fine and you'll actually get more road illumination, but you might get a bit of glare as it will be very bright. When placed being a projector, the cutoffs built in will address the glare without impeding the brightness performance for.