viren.89

So I have factory HID Xenon and they just seem so useless. I live in a area which is around a scenic view

hence no street lights and nothing. Unless it's completely dark outside and no other car on the street it just

seems like these lights just don't light up anything at all. I mean frikkin Mazdas and TL's have better

headlights I won't even mention BMW's . Lol if a Bimmer pulls behind me , I'd be able to see my

car's shadow ahead of me. This is pathetic! I just got 3000k HID fogs installed , so at least the closest area

to the car is lit up.

What to do ? like seriously ? they adjust automatically , so I don't think they are off either.

You all are satisfied with the illumination you get from them ? This is ridiculous.

Help

55fanatic

I had an M3, wished my headlights were as bright as my E500. Try replacing your bulbs, while a xenon bulb is good for what seems an eternity, they do lose something over time. Also make sure they are aimed correctly. They can be adjusted. Make sure your headlights aren't oxidized either.

The W211 headlights in my experience are not bad, they provide a clean light with a crisp cut off, just not as colorful as other projectors

black06c230

Replace with Osram Cool Blue Intense. A good pure white color.

E55Greasemonkey

Mine suck too. There is a thread here about replacing the projector lenses with clear ones. Something I will do down the road. I will also swap a new set of covers using the aftermarket lights on ebay, about $260 for the pair. There is also a thread about doing that. So many projects so little time.

3BNick

I was in the middle of doing a lens swap on a spare set of housings I picked up but I haven't had the time to put much effort into them. The problem does reside in the projector lens. Its a fresnel lens that is translucent instead of clear. I believe DJrabbi did this swap on his previous 211 and the results were excellent.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

have you all performed a head light level adjustment back to zero position after lowering the car?

E55Greasemonkey

I did w/STAR, they calibrated fine and self level every time I turn them on. They still suck.

berti_00

Mine are perfect bright as hell... I replaced the bulbs with some philips bset

HeissRod

How do you do this?

shardul

iTrader: (1)

there is a menu in STAR where you can perform the calibration

gaspam

get a HID kit.... world's better then the stock xenons...

when i installed mine it was amazing how much more of the road i lite up and i only went with 35W kit... 55W would of been insane

djrabbi

Just get a retrofit done.....OEM xenon were so bad so ripped apart everything and did them new.

chiromikey

got a parts list for the retrofit?

djrabbi

All you need is ZKW Lens if you already have Xenons and new bulbs.....If you have halogen, just get oem E55 projectors with ZKW Lens and bulbs.

chiromikey

lol, I just googled zdk-w lens and the only related info that comes up is this thread.

djrabbi

haha sorry ZKW Lens

chiromikey

lol, got it...thanks.

black06c230

Yeah I also replaced my lenses like DJRabbi

HeissRod

I'll check that out when I do the rear bushings.

dchl21

get nicer bulbs .... cant be that bad.

viren.89

lol damn! I didn't know we all were plagued with this problem.

They aren't oxidized.

Shardul, is there a way to manually rest it instead of using a star ?

viren.89

People who just did the bulb swap alone , does it make a difference like really ?

viren.89

I already have an HID in the car, are you saying I should throw everything out

and install an after market kit ?? Wouldn't it be a still problem since the lense

is frosty instead of clear ?

BBBSS

I have the regular lights and put in some silverstars or something of the sort and I'm quite happy with them. Even the regular bulbs that were in it were damn good. On the highway the signs light up like crazy from my car compared to the rest on the road. I thought about an HID setup like I have had on other cars but I really don't think I need them at all.

AMG X

My stock bi-xenons light up the road well, not sure if the adaptive function attributes to that