E Class 211 Facelift Xenon Beam Pattern?

[Willber]

Hello all,

I have a 2009 E280 estate with bi xenon headlights.

I seem to get flashed occasionally and the garage I took the car to to set the headlights up said the beam pattern is 'obviously incorrect' and they couldn't set them on their machine / beam tester.

They must have at least set the height as I could see much better but then seem to get flashed. I have lowered the headlights a little bit myself.

The garage suggested that the passenger headlight lights up the left side of road and hedgerow as you would expect but the right side headlight then does the same for the right hand side of the road, so towards oncoming traffic essentially. They said it is like the headlights are pointing opposite ways.

I have checked the beam pattern against a wall and neither side has a beam pattern which goes up and to the left. They both seem to have a shallow sort of M pattern whereby each side goes up slightly. Based on what the garage said I was expecting to see the passenger side go up to the left (as it should for driving on the left). \____ and the driver side go up and to the right ____/. If they did, this would suggest it has a RHD and LHD headlight fitted (for some strange reason!) However because they both seem to have the same M shape, I'm a bit confused.

Is this normal, the M sort of shape, or should they both go up and to the left slightly?

Cheers!

 

[AMGeed]

Take the car to a Mercedes specialist with Star diagnostics.
The lights needs to be zeroed, then reset to the correct height using Star.

I had my previous W211 E55 done to cure incorrect alignment and it passed the MOT afterwards.

 

[Willber]

Will this alter the beam pattern though or just reset the height they go to when first turning on and doing the up / down dance?

I don't think its the height that is an issue to be honest as I can alter them up and down manually.

I know on facelift models they can be switched (on STAR) for driving on the right hand side of the road, and all this does is cut off the top of the beam (the bit which would usually kick up to the left)

Can anyone else check their beam pattern against a wall from about 4m away to see what the beam pattern looks like?

Thanks

 

[M80]

I thought I had read of being able to switch the dipped beam for driving abroad.
The manual describes that headlamp's' (plural) need to be switched. Maybe the o/s headlight needs switching back to UK driving.

Behind the black cap (accessible from behind the headlamp), there is a lever.
The manual doesn't say, but I would imagine lever down might prevent the lighting up of the road edge that isn't there.

 

[EmilysDad]

I thought I had read of being able to switch the dipped beam for driving abroad.
The manual describes that headlamp's' (plural) need to be switched. Maybe the o/s headlight needs switching back to UK driving.

Behind the black cap (accessible from behind the headlamp), there is a lever.
The manual doesn't say, but I would imagine lever down might prevent the lighting up of the road edge that isn't there.

On the 2 cars I've had with HiD's, the lever at the back just cuts off the the upsweep to the left of an asymmetrical lamp \____ \____ to a flat, symmetrical beam pattern ie it doesn't make a RHD lamp into a LHD lamp, it just stops a RHD lamp from blinding Pierre & Herman while in continental Europe.

 

[M80]

On the 2 cars I've had with HiD's, the lever at the back just cuts off the the upsweep to the left of an asymmetrical lamp \____ \____ to a flat, symmetrical beam pattern ie it doesn't make a RHD lamp into a LHD lamp, it just stops a RHD lamp from blinding Pierre & Herman while in continental Europe.

So is it possible that a replacement headlamp has been sourced from the continent?
That being the case the lever would then do as you say, but prevent blinding Tommy, Celwyn and Hamish.

 

[Willber]

Thanks guys, appreciate your replies. I believe there is a lever to switch between lhd and rhd on the pre facelift but on the facelift (which mine is being a 2009)it has to be done on Star?

I had a CLK which had the lever switch on it.

I originally thought that maybe the RHD headlight was from a foreign car but the beam pattern looks the same on both passenger and driver headlights, hence asking if anyone else knew what their beam pattern was like. Neither of them appear like EmilysDad posted...

I'm going to get it into another garage via someone I know to put it on their MOT bay and beam tester to see if we can figure it out finally.

For now ive lowered the lights and theyre still pretty good, and havent been flashed. Maybe the previous garage just levelled them too high....?

It is almost like I can see either side of the hedgrow quite well but almost feels like there is a bit of a dip / hole in the centre of the Light down the middle of the road, a bit like a wide M:

I\___/I

 

[Blobcat]

Do the headlight beams move when the first come on? I seem to remember my bi-xenon’s moving when turned on in my W212 facelift - start low then lift up - they had a really good cutoff (when viewed against the garage door)

 

[Willber]

Yeah they self level fine, its just the actual beam pattern that seems odd

 

[Willber]

I took it to another garage via a mechanic I know, they put it on the beam tester and levelled them again with the adjustment screws. OS too high and NS too low so leveled up.

Still not convinced these headlights are any good to be honest. There just seems to be a dip in the beam pattern in the lane you're driving in. It dips upwards towards the RH hedgerow and the LH hedgerow. Ive tweaked them up a tiny bit to see if it makes a difference without dazzling anyone.

Theyre more like this:

I\____/I

The ones on my old CLK were much better.

They have non cloudy lenses and new bulbs too

 

[V6Matty]

That right side is the wrong kick angle, both lights should kick up to the left, I’d say the rhs light has been replaced at some point with whatever was cheep from Europe, so likely from a lhd car hence kicking up to the wrong side of the road

 

[Willber]

I was told, however, that the beam pattern is correct and if it kicked up the wrong way it would show obviously.

This is an image of the OS beam pattern on the tester...

Apparently they're both the same beam pattern and quite flat. The NS has a similar pattern.

The beam patterns arent obviously different between lights. They both have that flat 'M' shape on either side

Ive parked it near a wall and covered each headlight to see if they're obviously going one way or another and they dont appear to be.

 

[LostKiwi]

Find a nice brick wall somewhere and park about a car length from it.
Check the beam pattern there. It will either be virtually flat (if the light is in 'tourist mode') or ----\___ if in UK mode. The kick is quite small (at least it is on my bi-xenon R class).
I've found if you're too close to the object you're shining the lights against the pattern is indistinct.
They're not as easy to set as other cars I've had.

Not tried the R on a beam setter.

 

[M80]

Taking precautions relevant for the high voltage present.

Have you checked the lamps (bulbs to some) are seated properly?

Then it would be worth removing them to see if they are poor Chinese replacement lamps.

 

[Willber]

I replaced the bulbs myself - osram genuine ones

I do wonder, if as LostKiwi says, the beam pattern changes as you zoom out a bit. So maybe the beam pattern lookz OK up close but is actually wrong the further away you gey

 

[Willber]

I think the only way to definitely know is to put it on STAR and see if the lights are in tourist mode.

Worst case its a couple of new headlights which I can get around to next year. Done a full suspension rebuild this year already

 

[Willber]

Apologies to keep banging on about this.... Drove to train station in the fog this morning and its easier to see the beams / aims. Feels like the lights might be bog eyed causing the dip I am seeing in the centre

In the picture i posted above, should the centre / hot spot of the beam not be pointed to more of the centre of the vertical and horizontal lines on the beam setter, or even to to left so as not to dazzle drivers if its the driver / RH headlight?

Ive attached a new pic with orange dot to show what i mean. In this regard it might be the horizontal aim is off?

 

[LostKiwi]

I think the only way to definitely know is to put it on STAR and see if the lights are in tourist mode.

Worst case its a couple of new headlights which I can get around to next year. Done a full suspension rebuild this year already

Tourist mode is activated by flicking a mechanical lever inside the lights in most cars with xenon's (unless fitted with ILS). Some have a menu option in the driver information system.
Hard to see and not obvious how it works.

 

[Willber]

Its like this on the pre facelift, mine is facelift which i believe is done on star. My old 2003 CLK had the levers...

 

[MJJ]

Its like this on the pre facelift, mine is facelift which i believe is done on star. My old 2003 CLK had the levers...

I also have a 2009 facelift estate with xenons. Mine definitely has the manual levers to switch between UK and continental - I have done this recently when I drove down to Portugal.

I would be checking the RH lamp specifically based on what you are experiencing - is the bulb seated correctly in its housing? A small offset of the bulb would cause quite significant beam pattern changes. The W/S211 lights also quite commonly break at the top mounting point (obvious when you open the bonnet, and look at the plastic top mount for the headlamp assembly), and this allows them to twist vertically as they are not correctly secured - I have to re-glue mine every couple of years or so.

Martin.