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03 S55 Headlight Question

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Old Nov 8, 2012 | 10:07 AM
  #1  
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2003 S55
03 S55 Headlight Question

Hello all. New (used) S55 owner here and I have a couple questions regarding the stock headlights. First, the hid units seem to work fine for the first minute or so while they warm up but once warm they appear to dim noticably and one has a very mild flicker while the other has a barely perceptable flicker. I have previously performed an HID/projector conversion on my Passat and the amount of light is significantly greater than that provided by the S55. I believe the S55 has the original bulbs and they are just reaching the end of their useful life, so I'm thinking of popping in some new D2S bulbs and seeing if that fixes the problem. Would anyone else agree that this is indicative of bulb failure or could it possibly be the ballasts as well?

Which leads me to question number 2: I did a quick check last night and I was able to get both hid ballasts off of the bulbs but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to release the bulb from the large knob holding it into the housing. I was able to wiggle/rotate the knob very slightly but I'm hesitant to put any force against it as it's 10 year old plastic and I noticed that the entire reflector/projector assembly moved slightly when attempting to rotate the plastic ring around the bulb. Any help, guidance, pictures, etc would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Old Nov 8, 2012 | 11:12 AM
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2003 W211 E55, 2003 W220 S600
there is a plastic ring that holds the bulb in place that need to come off.
Good luck trying to put the assembly back into the headlight. I can never seem to figure that out, I just mess with it and it goes in place.
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Old Nov 8, 2012 | 02:19 PM
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123Pokey321's Avatar
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2003 S55
shardul,
How do you remove the plastic ring? That is the part I was describing in the first post, the large knob/ring. Right now I am able to grab it and it just barely moves when I try to turn it and I don't feel comfortable trying to force it. Does it unscrew like the lid to a jar? Is there a lock or catch that needs to be pressed in order to let it turn? Thanks.
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Old May 14, 2015 | 10:34 AM
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'03 CL55 AMG & '09 SL63 AMG
Were you able to take the ring off? I'm wondering about the same question you have
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Old Jun 14, 2016 | 10:35 AM
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2000 Mercedes s500
I'm having this issue with my 2004 s55. Headlight flickers on the driver side. Replaced ballast, bulb and igniter. Don't know what to do next. Any suggestions can help. Thanks
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