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I'm not sure of all W221 lights but in my 2012 car the HI-beam lights (inner lights in front) are kind of yellow and I wonder if anybody here in the forum knows a better light bulb for them to make them look "white" like the outer main lights?
I'm not sure of all W221 lights but in my 2012 car the HI-beam lights (inner lights in front) are kind of yellow and I wonder if anybody here in the forum knows a better light bulb for them to make them look "white" like the outer main lights?
Get Philips WhiteVision or Osram Cool Blue Intense bulbs. They are a pure white that will match your outer lights perfectly. Just avoid cheap, extreme blue-tinted bulbs as they look bad and perform worse.
Get Philips WhiteVision or Osram Cool Blue Intense bulbs. They are a pure white that will match your outer lights perfectly. Just avoid cheap, extreme blue-tinted bulbs as they look bad and perform worse.
When looking for replacement halogen bulbs for fog lights I wanted the brightest while not having to replace them every year. I went with Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited which do look whiter than standard bulbs. I think since they have come out with newer versions, names. Heres some info i was looking at to choose which ones would work best for me, compares whiteness and brightness of various bulbs:
I'd go LED, filament bulbs that have been wound up to go brighter whiter only last about 5 minutes and in comparison to xenon or modern LEDs are as dim as hell
trouble is new xenon are 5000k and these morons only make 6500k when 5500 is roughly what everyone actually needs.. go too white and in the mist or bad fog no modern car will be able to see anything (all part of the plan)
frog spec cars used to mandate yellow bulbs for this every reason (France’s vehicular use of selective yellow forward lighting between 1937 and 1992 was a key example - the EU had to beat it out of them).... https://www.hemmings.com/stories/fre...ow-headlights/
I'd go LED, filament bulbs that have been wound up to go brighter whiter only last about 5 minutes and in comparison to xenon or modern LEDs are as dim as hell
trouble is new xenon are 5000k and these morons only make 6500k when 5500 is roughly what everyone actually needs.. go too white and in the mist or bad fog no modern car will be able to see anything (all part of the plan)
frog spec cars used to mandate yellow bulbs for this every reason (France’s vehicular use of selective yellow forward lighting between 1937 and 1992 was a key example - the EU had to beat it out of them).... https://www.hemmings.com/stories/fre...ow-headlights/
What’s old is new again. This is also known as, forgetting the past, and then having to relearn it. The hard way.
The parts diagrams I was looking thru seem to be inconsistent with the Operators manual and Repair manual. Though when I search around for part# 000000001605 it does show as fitting some S-class models 08-13.
I looked thru many diagrams, 221.071, 221.171 etc and they show its an H9 bulb for high. They do show the H7 for low.
Repair manuals depict what looks like the H7 for both high and low. Though could just be generic photos.
Im always coming across the tsb for the uprated H7 bulbs. From what I gather Pelican Parts seems to say they are the Philips X-treme Vision. MB has since discontinued that part# and there is a newer one out.
for some reason the best LEDs I have come across are not so big in the USA - i believe they follow on from Nighteye - Novsight seem to have the best innovation and new designs coming out
below - she's had these in her Focus for some 7 years - same two bulbs still going strong - which is more than Ford managed with std H7s that before we put these in would pop roughly every 3 months - the bulky fan on the back was history about 8 years back - hers are fanless and back in the day were 6000K - ha ha you guys pay 3 times for an 8 year old design
I'm not sure of all W221 lights but in my 2012 car the HI-beam lights (inner lights in front) are kind of yellow and I wonder if anybody here in the forum knows a better light bulb for them to make them look "white" like the outer main lights?
Great observation—this is a common issue with the W221 S-Class, especially the 2010–2013 facelift models. The outer low beams are typically xenon (HID) and have that crisp white or bluish hue, while the inner high beams are halogen, which tend to look yellowish by comparison.
Here’s how you can upgrade the high beams to match the xenon look:
Recommended Bulb Types for Whiter High Beams
H7 Halogen Bulbs: The W221 uses H7 bulbs for high beams. You can swap them for whiter alternatives.
Whiter Halogen Options:
Philips WhiteVision Ultra – ~4200K color temperature, closer to xenon white.
Osram Cool Blue Intense – ~4200–5000K, gives a crisp white look.
Bosch Gigalight Plus 120 – Also a solid choice with a whiter output.
These are plug-and-play and don’t require any coding or ballast changes.
Considerations
Brightness vs. Color: Whiter bulbs may sacrifice a bit of brightness compared to standard halogens. If you drive a lot at night, balance aesthetics with performance.
Legal Compliance: Stick to reputable brands to avoid glare or non-compliant color temperatures.
Avoid LED kits unless… you're ready to deal with potential CAN bus errors, beam pattern issues, or reflector incompatibility.
There is a sticker on the top of the headlight (nearer the center of the car) that does mention some bulb types:
People often overlooked this useful detail.
Personally I can recommend Osram bulbs and have had zero issue with the Nightbreakers either in terms of performance or lifespan. Have them in my S500 and have fitted them to every car I have owned since 2005. My ML (halogen) doesn't have them and the lights are pretty poor... Considering a xenon retrofit for that otherwise it will also get the Nightbreakers.
check there own adverts - I believe early ones stated as half lifespan of std halogen and only became more and more fragile - whereas LED should work fine with Merc bulb checking and diagnostics and most have at least 4 times the lifespan of longlife filament stuff - and of course today in europe they are cheaper and vastly better
Great observation—this is a common issue with the W221 S-Class, especially the 2010–2013 facelift models. The outer low beams are typically xenon (HID) and have that crisp white or bluish hue, while the inner high beams are halogen, which tend to look yellowish by comparison.
Here’s how you can upgrade the high beams to match the xenon look:
Recommended Bulb Types for Whiter High Beams
H7 Halogen Bulbs: The W221 uses H7 bulbs for high beams. You can swap them for whiter alternatives.
Whiter Halogen Options:
Philips WhiteVision Ultra – ~4200K color temperature, closer to xenon white.
Osram Cool Blue Intense – ~4200–5000K, gives a crisp white look.
Bosch Gigalight Plus 120 – Also a solid choice with a whiter output.
These are plug-and-play and don’t require any coding or ballast changes.
Considerations
Brightness vs. Color: Whiter bulbs may sacrifice a bit of brightness compared to standard halogens. If you drive a lot at night, balance aesthetics with performance.
Legal Compliance: Stick to reputable brands to avoid glare or non-compliant color temperatures.
Avoid LED kits unless… you're ready to deal with potential CAN bus errors, beam pattern issues, or reflector incompatibility.
Thanks for the info, but it is confusing with post #7 from Jaap. In that one there is mention, looks like in some literature, that Bi-xenon lights with halogen DRLs use H7 bulb for the Spot Hi-beam and then Bi-xenon with LED DRLs use H11 bulb for it. I have LED DRLs so what Hi-beams should I have? My car is a 2012 model though while in Jaap's post it is a 08..
Those of you planning to keep your cars long term might want to consider buying new headlamps while (if) they're still available. The OEM supplier is now bankrupt, and I suspect whatever you can find on the shelf somewhere is all that will be. I found a set on Ebay last year and installed. The old wires and seals looked bad.
