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Your first pic has the part # a 002 820 60 26 is showing that as an adaptive headlight control module.
In your 4th pic it looks like it says xenon on the face of the bulb holder.
Yes they're xenon. Halogen headlights wouldn't have the modules on the bottom of the lights.
I understand they’re xenon hence the ballasts. from my understanding, MB made xenon and bi-xenox headlights for the 211. I’m trying to figure out if these are bi-xenon, the seller doesn’t know. I’m not sure if it was possible to get adaptive without getting bi-xenon.
I understand they’re xenon hence the ballasts. from my understanding, MB made xenon and bi-xenox headlights for the 211. I’m trying to figure out if these are bi-xenon, the seller doesn’t know. I’m not sure if it was possible to get adaptive without getting bi-xenon.
I think our cars only had halogen, bi-xenon, and active bi-xenon. I’ve not heard of there being just a xenon option.
EDIT: Just to be clear, by just xenon you mean that the low beam would be xenon and high beams would be a separate halogen bulb correct?
I think our cars only had halogen, bi-xenon, and active bi-xenon. I’ve not heard of there being just a xenon option.
EDIT: Just to be clear, by just xenon you mean that the low beam would be xenon and high beams would be a separate halogen bulb correct?
i honestly have no clue what bi-xenon is. I just know that the headlights I’m trying to replace are adaptive and bi-xenon. And the high-beam is definitely it’s a halogen bulb in the smaller housing.
i honestly have no clue what bi-xenon is. I just know that the headlights I’m trying to replace are adaptive and bi-xenon. And the high-beam is definitely it’s a halogen bulb in the smaller housing.
Bi-xenon means the low and high beam are the same bulb. The light in the smaller housing might be for flashing to avoid using the HID for it, as it was my understanding that flashing with HID’s shortens their life. I have a halogen equipped car (70k car new and has halogens LOL) so I don’t know for sure but that’s my best guess. I’m 99% positive that all active cornering lights are bi-xenon.
I have factory HID Xenon headlight system on my 06 E55 and it’s not Bi-Xenon. I was thinking to do a Bi-Xenon retrofit kit on mine but decided not to. I hardly use high beams any, why spend $200 bucks? If you got halogen then definitely switch to HID Xenon at least and then get the kit to Bi...if you really need it.
The photo above showing message on my active lights not functional due to bulb. So, think I have active system.
My car has active headlights. I decoded my VIN and it says "BI-XENON HEADLIGHT W/ACTIVE CURVE LIGHT". Although I have bi-xenon, I have 2 bulbs in the smaller round housing, 1 for city lights, and the other I think is a (H7?) halogen. I think N_Rob is right; when you turn on high beams permanently it uses the xenon bulb, but if you flash it uses the halogen in the smaller housing. I'm picking up my car tomorrow, will update and confirm.
Also I didn't know E55s came with halogens?? I thought they all had xenon/bi-xenon. I know some non-AMG w211s have halogens, but even E55? I was annoyed that my C55 had halogens but C class so understandable
My car has active headlights. I decoded my VIN and it says "BI-XENON HEADLIGHT W/ACTIVE CURVE LIGHT". Although I have bi-xenon, I have 2 bulbs in the smaller round housing, 1 for city lights, and the other I think is a (H7?) halogen. I think N_Rob is right; when you turn on high beams permanently it uses the xenon bulb, but if you flash it uses the halogen in the smaller housing. I'm picking up my car tomorrow, will update and confirm.
Also I didn't know E55s came with halogens?? I thought they all had xenon/bi-xenon. I know some non-AMG w211s have halogens, but even E55? I was annoyed that my C55 had halogens but C class so understandable
good to know, maybe I’ll check mine to see if they’re Bi-Xenon too. If not oh well, halogen high beam is bright enough.
good to know, maybe I’ll check mine to see if they’re Bi-Xenon too. If not oh well, halogen high beam is bright enough.
Oh, I fixed light, turned out wire was loose.
okay, just did a physical check on my high beams. When car is on and light switch is on auto, I turned on high beam and took a look at front of car. I don’t see my high beam bulbs come on. When I turned on fog lights, the high beam bulbs is lit when I turn em on. Then I shut off fogs and switch back to auto and ask someone to verify if my high are flickering which she confirmed. So I believe I have Bi-Xenon but going to dealer to confirm. Tested while waiting to pick up kids from school.
Also I didn't know E55s came with halogens?? I thought they all had xenon/bi-xenon. I know some non-AMG w211s have halogens, but even E55? I was annoyed that my C55 had halogens but C class so understandable
Unfortunately yes, E55's came standard with halogens unless the previous owner of my car did a halogen retrofit for whatever reason. My car has no options whatsoever, completely barebones. No xenon, no pano, no keyless go, no electric trunk closer, no active/ventilated seats, no parking sensors or distronic, nada. I'm lucky to have an 04 so at least I have command. I'm not really too upset about it, the halogens are fine for me while I'm still relatively young and have good enough eyes. The way I look at it, having no options just means less stuff to break. At least, that's what I say to make myself feel better I might retrofit xenons in the future but I want to tackle some mild performance mods first. I wanted this car because of the drivetrain; if I wanted more luxury I would've just bought an S550 or something! It would be cool to have a lot of those options, but I forget about all that when I put my foot down
You guys are making this too complicated. If a housing has only one projector or one (main) bulb, it is bi-xenon. Hence all w211 xenon headlights are bi-xenon. The ones pictures in post #1 are bi-xenon.
You guys are making this too complicated. If a housing has only one projector or one (main) bulb, it is bi-xenon. Hence all w211 xenon headlights are bi-xenon. The ones pictures in post #1 are bi-xenon.
im confused n dazed! I have factory HID Xenon, I did a test this afternoon to check if I have Bi-Xenon (BX) and thought I did but when I turn my h-beam on at night, the small housing h-beam comes on and I didn’t notice any changes on my HID Xenon bulbs. So do I have BX?
technically, whether a project is bixenon or not centers solely on whether the projector inside is fitted
with a shutter. as a low beam, the shutter covers half of the beam. when high beam is invoked, the
shutter moves away (usually down) and the full beam is revealed. as an aside, it is possible for
the car to have a separate pair of lights which serve as a high beam and most of the time it is a
simple halogen...which is somewhat redundant.
now...if MB chose to have a bixenon design with only one pair of headlights and not a second pair
which serves as a separate, standalone high beam, is another matter. if, as MSG 55G has observed
(i.e. the low beam did not change when the high beam switch is activated) then the main projector is
probably not bixenon...or, the shutter has malfunctioned. but it is unlikely that BOTH shutters have
failed at the same time
p.s. if you look inside the headlight assembly, there should usually be a short wire connected to
the projector (separate from the bulb) which simply toggles the moveable/bixenon shutter
Last edited by raymond g-; Mar 30, 2019 at 03:16 AM.
Thanks Raymond g, I recently had the opportunity to dissect my headlights assembly to change out projector lens along with some minor cosmetics. I didn’t noticed any shutter but then I wasn’t looking for it at the time. I’m just going to call up my dealer and verify with VIN. Will update.
The way I look at it, having no options just means less stuff to break. At least, that's what I say to make myself feel better I might retrofit xenons in the future but I want to tackle some mild performance mods first. I wanted this car because of the drivetrain; if I wanted more luxury I would've just bought an S550 or something! It would be cool to have a lot of those options, but I forget about all that when I put my foot down
That's true, I'm very scared of my pano roof LOL. At least I won't have leaking active seat bladders, broken power trunk issues, or replacing keyless go handles.
Tested the headlights today. When high beams are turned on permanently OR flashed, the halogen bulb in the smaller housing turns on AS WELL AS the xenon bulb will get brighter. So I guess it's a bi-xenon plus an H7 bulb for high beam?
Early W211 just had the bixenons and didn't have active curve illumination. That's where there's a motor in the housing that swivel the beams left and right up to 12 degrees. Normally when you turn them on, the swivel left right up and down. They're suppose to auto level also. Not sure if some posters here are talking about their aftermarket systems which probably doesn't have the full MB implementation of their system such as the auto level.
As for the shutters, it takes a while for the shutters to move so there's also a halogen bulb for the high beams so you can use flash to pass but when you switch to high beams, the shutter should also move making things brighter.
As for having no options, yeah, that's just what people say to keep fooling themselves. Most of the options that I have, parktronic, bixenons, keyless go, pano roof, power trunk closer, they all still work and I don't have trouble with them and was glad to find a car with the options. My mentality on those were that if they break, I'm going to fix them, just the cost of owning a car. In general they seem to have been pretty reliable which is why I looked for a car that had all the options. Oh one option that did break for me was the rear sunshade, but I don't use it so I'm not going to fix it.
A retrofitted bixenon system would probably just be a mere shadow of the factory system, there's a reason that option was well over $1000.
Early W211 just had the bixenons and didn't have active curve illumination. That's where there's a motor in the housing that swivel the beams left and right up to 12 degrees. Normally when you turn them on, the swivel left right up and down. They're suppose to auto level also. Not sure if some posters here are talking about their aftermarket systems which probably doesn't have the full MB implementation of their system such as the auto level.
As for the shutters, it takes a while for the shutters to move so there's also a halogen bulb for the high beams so you can use flash to pass but when you switch to high beams, the shutter should also move making things brighter.
As for having no options, yeah, that's just what people say to keep fooling themselves. Most of the options that I have, parktronic, bixenons, keyless go, pano roof, power trunk closer, they all still work and I don't have trouble with them and was glad to find a car with the options. My mentality on those were that if they break, I'm going to fix them, just the cost of owning a car. In general they seem to have been pretty reliable which is why I looked for a car that had all the options. Oh one option that did break for me was the rear sunshade, but I don't use it so I'm not going to fix it.
A retrofitted bixenon system would probably just be a mere shadow of the factory system, there's a reason that option was well over $1000.
That"s what I thought too, and now one of my favorite options, keyless go is not fixable. It's a pain in the butt to lock it up When I go into a city.
A retrofitted bixenon system would probably just be a mere shadow of the factory system, there's a reason that option was well over $1000.
Respectfully, I disagree. For the time that the E55 was new I'm sure the factory system was mind blowing and it's still very good. But a lot of time has passed since then, and there is no doubt in my mind that you could make a system that probably outperforms it. Check out this thread https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...n-upgrade.html
I agree though that most, if not all, of those "kits" sold online will not perform as well stock. Personally if and when the time comes that I want bi-xenons I'm going to source some stock w211 bi-xenon headlights, slap them in with coding so that they work and call it a day.
Respectfully, I disagree. For the time that the E55 was new I'm sure the factory system was mind blowing and it's still very good. But a lot of time has passed since then, and there is no doubt in my mind that you could make a system that probably outperforms it. Check out this thread https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...n-upgrade.html
I agree though that most, if not all, of those "kits" sold online will not perform as well stock. Personally if and when the time comes that I want bi-xenons I'm going to source some stock w211 bi-xenon headlights, slap them in with coding so that they work and call it a day.
The thing is, any system that you "make" would not be DOT approved. And if you're using factory lights, then the full system would also require putting in the auto level feature and the latest versions had active curve illumination which I guess if you got the factory lights, they'd also have the factory motors in them to swivel the lights, but then that's just the factory system and I fail to see how it would outperform the factory system. The factory also did everything to meet federal regulations too which if you're not planning on doing that, then maybe you're outperforming it, but not legally and it's all just for off road use if you wish to comply with the law.
The thing is, any system that you "make" would not be DOT approved. And if you're using factory lights, then the full system would also require putting in the auto level feature and the latest versions had active curve illumination which I guess if you got the factory lights, they'd also have the factory motors in them to swivel the lights, but then that's just the factory system and I fail to see how it would outperform the factory system. The factory also did everything to meet federal regulations too which if you're not planning on doing that, then maybe you're outperforming it, but not legally and it's all just for off road use if you wish to comply with the law.
If the DOT isn’t going after lifted trucks with incorrectly aimed eBay LED bulbs in reflector housings, they aren’t going to go after a meticulously retrofitted set up like the thread I linked. I don’t know if any retrofits, unless going full factory, are DOT approved so the legality seems to me to be a moot point when comparing the light output of stock vs aftermarket.
If the DOT isn’t going after lifted trucks with incorrectly aimed eBay LED bulbs in reflector housings, they aren’t going to go after a meticulously retrofitted set up like the thread I linked. I don’t know if any retrofits, unless going full factory, are DOT approved so the legality seems to me to be a moot point when comparing the light output of stock vs aftermarket.
You'd be surprised, I have seen cars pulled over with super bright headlights.
Anyway, that was my original point, you can't really say a modern bixenon system would be superior. Besides, Mercedes went to LEDs and bixenons are now considered old. Their multibeam system beats any of the old bixenon systems.
You'd be surprised, I have seen cars pulled over with super bright headlights.
Anyway, that was my original point, you can't really say a modern bixenon system would be superior. Besides, Mercedes went to LEDs and bixenons are now considered old. Their multibeam system beats any of the old bixenon systems.
You are absolutely right, unfortunately no one makes a retrofit kit to replace our bixenon headlamps, to bring into the new millennia
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I might retrofit xenons in the future but I want to tackle some mild performance mods first. I wanted this car because of the drivetrain; if I wanted more luxury I would've just bought an S550 or something! It would be cool to have a lot of those options, but I forget about all that when I put my foot down 
