More Xenon

I did not want to get caught up in the last post, so let me ask here.

What lights come standard in an 05 240 4matic. My low beams are as average as they come. But the high beams ligh up the night like nothing I have ever seen before. Could they be real HID? Should my owners manual or window sticker tell me? Is it right in front of my face and I could not see it?

Also, Are they typically used only on high or low beams or both.

If one has HIDs, they are not high beams, they are low beams. There is a technical reason for that and we discussed 'bout it a while back.

If you have halogen low beams, you have halogen through out.

Some HID kits come with high and low beams. Both beams use the same bulbs, ie, the high beams aim higher but do not shine any brighter.

it's called bixenon. the thing just tilts up and down actuated by vacuum. most newer model cars of different brands use them too.

05 240 4matic uses either bixenon ( low and high beams D2S 35Watts bixenon bulb)
or
halogen ( low beam H7 12Volts-55Watts and main beam H7 12Volts-55Watts )

if C240AWD can give me his VIN or datacard, i will know which type he got.

quote:

Are they typically used only on high or low beams or both

as we noticed, high and low beams got the same wattage now.

H7 is not xenon as what we have argued on the other post but a bulb. burner xenon (bulb) got different gases inside.

quote:

it's called bixenon. the thing just tilts up and down actuated by vacuum. most newer model cars of different brands use them too.

I know most bixenon lights do tilt but is that how high and low beam is determined? I had a BMW 3 series with bixenons and they had a plate covering the bottom half of both lenses. when you turned on the high beam, the cover would open like an eyelid. I never took a good look at my C-Class lights yet but I assumed it would be the same.

quote:

... is that how high and low beam is determined?

Yep. It's not only xenon. Any type of headlights just use aiming. Low beams point downward and high beams point more horizontal. Some conventional high beams use higher wattage bulbs than the low beams, but not all.

The motorized tilting and eyelid stuff are just fancy (read expensive) ways of concentrating and pointing the beam downward or horizontal. The cheaper way is to fix separate beams downward and horizontal. The cheapest way is to have only low beams when you buy a xenon conversion kit.

At the risk of exposing my ignorance (which is vast, but I rarely admit it even to myself) what is the function of "self-leveling" headlamps?
I have factory xenons with self-leveling.....and, when I turn on the headlamps (even the parking lamps) they seem to physically revolve up and then settle. Is this about aim? If so, why am I able to manually adjust aim(at least I think I can)
confused

My guess would be so the headlights are adjusted properly when the car changes pitch. For example, when you load the trunk with something heavy. I'm just pulling that out of my behind so I may be wrong.

The routine at start up is likely a self-test of the leveling system.

You have always been able to adjust the headlight aim--since the '40s or '50s. You can turn on low or high beams and change the aim. If you didn't like the aim, you could get a screwdriver and turn some screws around the headlight lenses.

there is level sensor on it.


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Ahhh.....that makes sense.

Sleepwalker, I hate to see all those electronics. If those motors, sensors or modules go, can I just maually adjust headlamps?

yes.

but it's cheaper by just fixing the problem. they seldom breaks.

It would be nice if multi-million dollar passenger jets have the H.I.Ds that we have in our cars.

If you are a frequent flyer, you probably know that runways and taxi-ways are awfully dark at night because they cannot have lamp posts.

And I don't understand why pilots turn off their headlights and wander in the dark after they have landed the plane.

If you ask, I am sure they have tons of excuses. They live in their own bubbles.

I like to ask them; what is their problem not wanting to taxi the plane towards the gate under a well-lit and highly-vissible condition?

They simply like the darkness I guess. These must be the people who complained when halogen headlights came out and are now complaining (in forums and magazines) about Xenon lights.

There are usually illuminated markers, and the reason they don't illuminate their lights unnecessarily is because they don't want to be blinding other planes, or creating visual noise for teh towers. As long as their indicator lights are on, the tower can see them, and that's apparently the only important thing. :) i'm not like an airport guru, or anything just trying to help with what little I do know. .. well actually I have taken flight classes before, never went through with it though haha