Adjusting headlights in my C!

[Royal281]

Sup everyone. New to the site! And I'm glad I stumbled across it. Just bought my wife a C300 and we love it. We had a light go out in the headlight and took it to the dealer to replace (Halogen) and now when driving at night you can tell the lighting ain't the same level. I looked in the manual for info but to no avail and I did a search on the site 1st before I asked and didn't come up with anything. Was wondering if anybody knew how to adjust the headlight level on the C300's. Looked at it last night but was pretty dark out and got impatient and stopped. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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[Diesel Benz]

I would check that bulbs are properly seated. The light aiming should not change from a bulb change. If it really needs adjusting, open the hood and adjust height from the screw at the top of the head light, close to the fender. Adjust sidewise from a similar screw at about the centre of headlamp, at the top of course.

[Royal281]

I may know what screws you're talking about... I'll give it a try when I get off of work... I shined the lights in front of my garage and you can tell one is slightly lower than the other. Also, I first noticed something was up when my wife was driving behind me and I noticed one of the headlights didn't look as bright as the other... We'll see.... Thanks...

[Illusive]

Which headlight is higher than the other? If the passenger side light is higher, it's supposed to be like that. It gives you better lighting and vision of signs posted on the side of the road at night.

[Royal281]

Hmmm...It is the passenger side that is higher...

[Illusive]

Yep, if you park your car up to a wall and turn on your headlights, there should be a good horizontal cutoff from your drivers side headlight and then make a small step change upwards at the middle of the car so the passenger headlight is aimed a bit higher. Better illumination at night for road signs without blinding oncoming traffic.

[Royal281]

Awesome... And is it just one screw that controls the lowbeam headlight (to adjust) like Diesel was talking about. I will look at tonight and make the adjustments... Thanks...

[eminnet]

I asked my dealer when he delivered my car about leveling headlights and he told me that there is one level sensor under rear bumper that takes care of the headlights level.

[Royal281]

Really... Hmmm... I'm gonna have to see what's up... The light seems to stay in the same spot... Haven't noticed it adjusting itself. Maybe on loaded a C, but my wife's C is pretty plain...

[chokaay]

Originally Posted by Illusive

Yep, if you park your car up to a wall and turn on your headlights, there should be a good horizontal cutoff from your drivers side headlight and then make a small step change upwards at the middle of the car so the passenger headlight is aimed a bit higher. Better illumination at night for road signs without blinding oncoming traffic.

Just out of curiosity, when aimed at the wall, I know the adaptive Bi-Xenon headlights are shaped flat like this by default (and will move to adapt to your steering wheel... and to oncoming traffic headlights in the new 2010 E-Class):

_____ _____

but are the halogen headlights supposed to be like this (MBWorld defaults the alignment to the left and messed it up my drawing, so ignore the dots):

......../ ....../
____/ ____/

or like this (again, ignore the dots):

................../
..........____/
......../
____/

or something in between like this (again, ignore the dots):

................../
......../ ____/
____/





I have my headlights set up exactly how I want them, but I'm just curious how they're "supposed" to be...

[whiteongrey]

I need to adjust also - thanks for asking and sharing.

[Illusive]

It should look something like this:

`````````````_____________
_____________|

My dads MX-5 has Halogen bulbs and they have a similar setup and cutoff. Ignore the dots...

[RLE]

Originally Posted by eminnet

I asked my dealer when he delivered my car about leveling headlights and he told me that there is one level sensor under rear bumper that takes care of the headlights level.

You have not provided enough information for an accurate answer, but.......

If you have Xenon lights, there is a level sensor on the right rear suspension arm and another on the right front suspension. For Europe, Xenon light equipped cars have this system by law. So, it's worldwide. If you have standard lights and you have a wagon, there may be a sensor on the rear suspension but since we don't get that model in the US, I'm just guessing. A non-US sedan with standard lights might have a leveling adjustment on the dashboard since MB fitted that feature for 25 years. But, that old system was vacuum operated and new MBs don't have vacuum operated anything.

Get under your car and look above the RR suspension arm for a small wired box with a movable rod connecting to a bracket on the arm.

[charliele729]

For the first time, i was driving behind my wife, she was driving my C, and I notice that the driver side looks alot brighter than the passenger side, it looks like it aim higher, but from a wall they are aim straight across. Is this normal?

[Peabody]

I'm not sure about in the US, but in Germany this is performed annually for free at the dealerships.

http://translate.google.com/translat...istory_state0=

[charliele729]

Mines also look something like this, again ignore dots

............_________
_______/

I can definitely see the cutoff on the driver side on a wall and from behind, the driver side looks like it aim higher than the passenger side. I have tried matching the light together where they would looks the same, but either one side would be very high or very low as far as beam pattern on a wall.

[whkento]

Well, thank you everyone. I thought my lights were screwed up. Now I know they're supposed to be that way.

I have the bi-xenons and they're aligned like the diagrams by charliele729 and Illusive, above.

[imboom]

whkento: wait....you're in Japan, your lights should shine the opposite way than the US-Spec ones. I had JDM projectors on my WRX and it totally was opposite. I felt bad for the people driving on opposite lanes.

[Spec_Davis]

aim at a wall and then their is a screw right behind the low beam chamber you can adjust accordingly by height with a screw.

[charliele729]

I did exacttly that, I have adjusted to make sure they are even on a flat wall. But the driver side looks like it just aim higher than the passenger side. I can also tell by looking stragith at the car from about 15ft away and the driver side blinds first before the passenger. i am guessing this is just normal.

[charliele729]

Can anyone with OEM xenons tell me if this normal or not, when looking in front of the car or driving infront of my C, the driver side headlight looks likes it is aim higher than the passenger. Shouldnt it be the opposite