France - Headlamps

Alex M Grieve

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Joined
Apr 28, 2008
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Location
Broom, Warwickshire
Your Mercedes
B Class d200 Sport Premium Plus (66)
Am taking my 107 500 SL with me to France and as it's being permanently exported I have had to get a certificate from Mercedes in France to confirm it is correct for their roads. Have had to change the headlight lenses to LHD ones and get a letter from my local dealer to confirm. Picked up a used set quite cheaply and will keep the RHD ones should I bring it back some day.

Changing the lenses completely is an option if you are thinking of extended periods of continental driving.

Good point - I have done that before now and you can even E Bay the ones you don't need in the fullness of time - so it need not cost that much.
 

MarkV

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Joined
Jul 12, 2010
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9
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Location
Cheshire
Your Mercedes
W204 C Coupe 2015 C250
All
Thanks for the warm welcome.
I will get a set of beam benders and fit.
Pick the car up tomorrow, sad the Passat is going but looking forward to owning the MB.

Mark
 

Captain Chris

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Dec 31, 2009
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Location
La Ciotat, South of France
Website
www.elancris.com
Your Mercedes
1996 W124 series E280T, 1998 W210 E430T, 2001 E320 CDI,
I've done about 150,000 miles in the last 6 years or so crossing Europe from my home in Greece to the UK. In that time my headlamps have only ever been checked 3 times, twice at the Swiss border (from France) and once at the Austrian border (coming from Croatia). I use stick on deflectors which work fine and I find the headlamps are of sufficient brilliance to leave the stickies on whilst in the UK.
I have been pulled up on numerous occasions by the police over years, sometimes just for a document check but usually for speed infringements - but not too serious!
I have never had them check headlamps or any other function of the car and I have never been booked or on the spot fined , for anything. I have found the police are only interested in documents or Euro regulation emergency equipment - hi vis vest , triangle e.t.c for the car, but being able to speak some French and Italian has helped also!
 

HeavyOil

Active Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2009
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38
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Your Mercedes
202 & 463
You will get several uses from a set.

You can get dozens of re-uses if you re-attach them with clear silicon sealant!

Methinks I will not be buying the aforementioned A8 with special lights & Audi satnav that does it automatically, despite having the option!
 

shayes

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Oct 10, 2002
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1,051
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Your Mercedes
as stated
You can get dozens of re-uses if you re-attach them with clear silicon sealant!

!

Awkward where older cars have headlight wipers.

I use silver duct tape, cut to shape as per the Handbook guide and stick them temporarily on the waxed Post Office stamps sheets. Apply at Airport - cost? Well I could get a couple of hundred sets out of a roll, I suspect. Silver, less ugly than black insulating tape and only diffuse and not total block. As for removal they are no worse than the Halfords brands which leave the sticky on the glass and are not re-usable.

A small phial of white spirit usually cleans off sticky. So take one with me for removal at Calais.
 

S500 Pete

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Mar 9, 2009
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Location
Essex
Your Mercedes
S500 (W222) 2014. Turbo 4.7 V8 with loads of toys. Superfast luxury.
Done it

Hi,

I had another grope around inside my headlights at the weekend and finally found the switch, thanks to the earlier mail that said it was an up down movement. I had an Audi a few years back where it was a left right movement (more logical really) so I was feeling for something that moved sideways.

I have done them both and a quick check last night looked as though they are now symetrical (flat across the top)

Thanks to all the messages on this site which between them led me to the solution and saved me from making my local dealer any richer.
 

saphire

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
22
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Location
france
Your Mercedes
320 clk convertible 2000
hi malcom,
live in france at the moment,can you send paper to change
w208 projector headlights lhd to rhd.

saphire
 

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
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Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
hi malcom,
live in france at the moment,can you send paper to change
w208 projector headlights lhd to rhd.

saphire

I can with an E mail address :D
 

Bess

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Feb 19, 2011
Messages
17
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Location
Vendee
Your Mercedes
270 CDI 2001 Avantgarde
Sorry to be so late to this discussion. Have mailed Malcolm separately, but despite best comments here cannot find the light lever on our W203 Avantgarde (99/00). Only checking nearside at present as offside access even more tight. Had good feel and tried to use mirror, but obviously I am not as bright as others here. MB is new to us and now resides in France. To register here lights need to pass French MoT (Controle Technique). I can adjust up/down level via dash, but need to aligin beam so it can pass. Some CT stations allow stick-ons (or turn blind eye), but I want a real solution. Buying lights is an option, but I found this thread using the Search facility and it may be the salvation.
Light bulbs can be tweaked (rotated) to pass CT (a friend offers), but not an option on W203. I also wondered if the bulb, if inverted would make a difference; is there only one way to fit bulb in holder?
Chat here spoke of an advisory paper. I'd appreciate that. chrisjmair@gmail.com will get me.
 

whitenemesis

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Joined
Dec 21, 2006
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17,978
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Your Mercedes
CLS55 AMG '05
If you can adjust via a thumbwheel on the dash, you don't have xenon headlamps. If you don't have xenons you wont have an adjustment lever!
 

Bess

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Feb 19, 2011
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Location
Vendee
Your Mercedes
270 CDI 2001 Avantgarde
Thanks for that. I read the thread in a way that I could modify the halogens as W203 model was listed in one thread. C'est la vie!
 

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