Help with headlight issue please.

[JohnyCat]

Hi there.

I am needing some advice urgently about a major problem I have to get my vehicle transferred to French plates and to be accepted in the French system. My problem is my headlights.



I have a Mercedes E35O -AMG Night Edition Estate -2016 with ‘intelligent LED light system.



I thought that these lights were adaptive, and I was told when I bought the car 13 months ago from a Mercedes main dealer that they would automatically adapt to right hand driving.

After living in France for nearly a year and last week getting my application for residency approved, I went to my local MOT station to get the car a French MOT which is required for French insurance and to register it in the French System. The test station was good enough to look at my lights in advance of the test and told me that they would fail, as when parked for the test they did not meet the requirements and that the lights were illuminated as per a left-hand drive car.

He advised me to check with Mercedes to see if they were adjustable to right hand drive (either from within the car or by the dealership).

I contacted my local dealership in Montlucon who told me that they are not adjustable and that I would have to buy new headlights at 4000 euros for the two, plus the cost of fitting them. I was given an estimation of about 500 euros to fit. So that would be 4500 euros in total.

This is a huge blow for me. Especially as I will incur other costs for completing the process of about 500 euros if things go smoothly. Because of my situation of arriving in November last year, I should not have to pay import or vat charges. If that was the case, I would have to pay 37% of the cars value.



I have looked at sourcing the headlights from parts suppliers in the Uk and France. For the equivalent headlights I can get in the Uk from just under 1000 pounds each. Which saves me about two thousand pounds over Mercedes in France.

Also surprisingly, Mercedes dealerships in England will supply and fit the right hand driving headlights for about 2500 pounds. Which all though a big kick in the nuts , is two grand cheaper than in France.

So, this is where I need some advice. I have been told that to have them fitted they need to match the codes to the computer to make them function properly (intelligent lighting system) and that it is a quite time consuming job to fit correctly. So, am I tied to getting them fitted by a main dealer?

Also, of the three dealerships that I called in the UK (all on the face of things were really helpful) I got three different answers regarding weather or not they could be adjusted. All took the time out to look into the situation with their service departments and all rang me back when they promised to.

The dealer prepared to sell and fit at the price quoted, said that they thought that it should be possible to adjust them. From in car-through the menu system on the driver’s wheel. If not, to get back to them and they would make inquiries to see if it could be done on their computers.



Another dealer told me that they could be adjusted but not in car, but by a switch at the back of the headlight. Which means removing the lights to do it.

Which if true would be worth doing. Does anyone know if this is the case?



The third dealership that I spoke to, the main dealer where I bought my car and for various reasons, I don’t have much confidence in, just told me that

‘we have checked and good news ….You have the intelligent LED system and they self-adjust and you don’t need to do anything……

Which is obviously not correct.

So armed with this information I am struggling to find anywhere in the menu system that has anything to do with headlights. But I am a bit old and slow when it comes to these things. Can anyone advise me where/how to look please?

So, I have joined the forum in the hope that some kind person can tell me whether they are actually adjustable or not, how to do it if so, and any advice on buying fitting right hand drive headlights.

Obviously, I am considering selling my car in England especially as prices are strong in England but second hand prices in France are ridiculous.

For example, a direct replacement for my car would be nearly 10,000 euros more!

A neighbour is selling his bog-standard Renault Megan hatchback -2008 for 15000 euros – for a quick sale… And it really is a standard family edition.

So for what I will get for mine in the UK, I am going to struggle to get anything even near the quality.



I also love this car. Having come from a long history of Audi/BMW in the past, this is my first Mercedes and I love this E350 Night Edition. With the power for overtaking in sport mode, I have never had any problems with it being right hand drive.



I would be really grateful for any advice.



Thanks

John

 

[AMGeed]

Easily done.

I have a W212 and just went out to try to change the lighting to LHS.
Turn on the ignition and use the scroll buttons on the left side of the steering wheel to go to settings.
When in settings, scroll down to lights.
When in lighting, scroll down to "setting for left side traffic" and click OK.

Back out of the settings to your preferred display.

 

[EmilysDad]

Easily done.

I have a W212 and just went out to try to change the lighting to LHS.
Turn on the ignition and use the scroll buttons on the left side of the steering wheel to go to settings.
When in settings, scroll down to lights.
When in lighting, scroll down to "setting for left side traffic" and click OK.

Back out of the settings to your preferred display.

View attachment 71356 View attachment 71355

But that's not the same as having lights for LHD ... it just cuts off the kick up to the left. This is intended for a fortnight's holiday while driving on the 'wrong side'. If selected for 'left side traffic' the auto main beam is inoperative on mine - & I assume on all other cars with the ILS.

 

[Botus]

there was a chap here that had his in a pickle where the car had them set up to RHD (UK car I believe) but the boot up test was back to front dipping for LHD and everyone was flashing him...

if they are the posh adaptive LEDs pretty sure they can be either. It might be there is some software that's more suitable for driving on the wrong side... this sounds like the normal info and expertise you should expect from dealerships and garages - all clueless opinionated experts talking twaddle.. I'd start with the exact spec of your car and let Merc Europe customer services in NL tell you another load of lies

 

[sonic]

Easily done.

I have a W212 and just went out to try to change the lighting to LHS.
Turn on the ignition and use the scroll buttons on the left side of the steering wheel to go to settings.
When in settings, scroll down to lights.
When in lighting, scroll down to "setting for left side traffic" and click OK.

Back out of the settings to your preferred display.

View attachment 71356 View attachment 71355

I am with you on this right dip setting is correct for Europe & will pass their MOT. Otherwise why would the fit this?
I lived in Germany in the 60's & 70's at that time a lot of French cars had a slider switch on the bulb mounting. That enabled you to select left or right hand dip, never failed an annual test.

 

[rf065]

This is intended for a fortnight's holiday while driving on the 'wrong side'. If selected for 'left side traffic' the auto main beam is inoperative on mine - & I assume on all other cars with the ILS.

Both of mine have ILS headlights and when set for LHD they both work perfectly normal, the same as they would in the UK.

 

[Misterdog]

It might be there is some software that's more suitable for driving on the wrong side..

Made my day.

 

[EmilysDad]

Both of mine have ILS headlights and when set for LHD they both work perfectly normal, the same as they would in the UK.

I'm just quoting what my car says when set to left hand traffic ... I forget the exact wording, but the gist is that the auto main beam is inoperative when set for the wrong side of the road. Mine is ILS with HID ... not led

 

[sonic]

I'm just quoting what my car says when set to left hand traffic ... I forget the exact wording, but the gist is that the auto main beam is inoperative when set for the wrong side of the road. Mine is ILS with HID ... not led

Not a problem its an option which will not fail a MOT.
I have the same set up but all my Euro driving is in the summer, I cant remember using the auto main beam in Europe.

 

[EmilysDad]

Not a problem its an option which will not fail a MOT.
I have the same set up but all my Euro driving is in the summer, I cant remember using the auto main beam in Europe.

so my point is that RHD lamps set to right hand traffic are not the same as specific head lamps for a French/German car

 

[sonic]

so my point is that RHD lamps set to right hand traffic are not the same as specific head lamps for a French/German car

Accepted but the original question was how to get through the French MOT. This would not be an issue.

 

[BillyBoy]

This may sound stupid, but isn't the first step to check the parts list (I think there are some links somewhere here to parts diagrams) and see if there are different part numbers for LHD and RHD vehicles?
The ILS used and array of 84 LEDs and as far as I can tell from mine, the dipped beam is achieved by only lighting some of the middle row for the left to give a raised light distribution on the nearside. This could imply it is possible to do the same for LHD traffic, but there may be differences in the optics themselves rather than just the LEDs lit.

 

[JohnyCat]

Easily done.

I have a W212 and just went out to try to change the lighting to LHS.
Turn on the ignition and use the scroll buttons on the left side of the steering wheel to go to settings.
When in settings, scroll down to lights.
When in lighting, scroll down to "setting for left side traffic" and click OK.

Back out of the settings to your preferred display.

View attachment 71356 View attachment 71355

Wow! Thank you so much! I can’t believe that you were kind enough to go out and do this for me. I am a bit old and really useless at navigating car menus. So your photos are pure gold. Sorry for the late reply. I was playing a gig here in France last night and didn’t get back until 4 am. I will try this later. I am almost too scared to try, because if this works it saves me an absolute fortune. And I usually don’t have such luck. But regardless as to whether it does or not. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. There is always a cold beer and accommodation if you are ever travelling through Central France.

 

[JohnyCat]

But that's not the same as having lights for LHD ... it just cuts off the kick up to the left. This is intended for a fortnight's holiday while driving on the 'wrong side'. If selected for 'left side traffic' the auto main beam is inoperative on mine - & I assume on all other cars with the ILS.

Ok. Thanks for that. Thank you for taking the time to help. We all have busy lives, so thank you. And if it works just for the French MOT and saves me a fortune then that is great. Funnily enough when I am driving at night, I hardly ever get flashed and looking at the beam on the grass verge `I think they do adapt when driving to some extent.

 

[JohnyCat]

there was a chap here that had his in a pickle where the car had them set up to RHD (UK car I believe) but the boot up test was back to front dipping for LHD and everyone was flashing him...

if they are the posh adaptive LEDs pretty sure they can be either. It might be there is some software that's more suitable for driving on the wrong side... this sounds like the normal info and expertise you should expect from dealerships and garages - all clueless opinionated experts talking twaddle.. I'd start with the exact spec of your car and let Merc Europe customer services in NL tell you another load of lies

Thank you for taking the time to help. And yes, Three different answers from different main dealers, Also the french dealer told me it wasn’t possible at all and wanted 4500 euros. if I had listened to him…..Mind you, I haven’t checked yet…..lol

 

[JohnyCat]

I am with you on this right dip setting is correct for Europe & will pass their MOT. Otherwise why would the fit this?
I lived in Germany in the 60's & 70's at that time a lot of French cars had a slider switch on the bulb mounting. That enabled you to select left or right hand dip, never failed an annual test.

Thanks for taking the time to post. Really appreciated

 

[JohnyCat]

Accepted but the original question was how to get through the French MOT. This would not be an issue.

I hope that you are right. Because that is all that really concerns me at this point. Once again thank you for your time. Really appreciated.

 

[JohnyCat]

Big, Big thanks to all contributors. There are some really kind people in this world. I will check later today and let you all know how I get on.
Fingers and toes well and truly crossed….

 

[Botus]

so my point is that RHD lamps set to right hand traffic are not the same as specific head lamps for a French/German car

Bi-Xenon's used to have a metal plate inside the light unit to give the dip cut off and you could manually move it (via that little lever) to cut both sides for driving on the wrong side of the road

Super morphing LED lunacy lights, can do whatever it wants within the scope of the software. Its how you can get full beam, without blinding on coming traffic, as a dark spot tracks the other drivers coming towards you. So, as many say here you should just flag you're on the wrong side of the road and it can flip its logic to cope.

I guess that follows that on just LEDs on lower spec models without the intelligent bit, they might have different LHD and RHD light units,

As for a french dealer not knowing, why would he? Its not like there's really any Mercedes owners that comes here and if they did, no one this side will care if he's blinding people or not.

 

[JohnyCat]

Easily done.

I have a W212 and just went out to try to change the lighting to LHS.
Turn on the ignition and use the scroll buttons on the left side of the steering wheel to go to settings.
When in settings, scroll down to lights.
When in lighting, scroll down to "setting for left side traffic" and click OK.

Back out of the settings to your preferred display.

View attachment 71356 View attachment 71355

Thanks to your pictures it took less than 90 seconds lol. I have made the change. I just hope that it has worked and it conforms to the French MOT
i can get a better idea when it gets dark. I just want to reiterate how grateful I am for yours and everybody’s help on this forum. I will let you know how I get on at the MOT in a couple of days