A UPS Tale :-| - Benzworld.org

06-13-2002, 07:38 AM

Hi, While I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that my Bi-Xenons will arrive unbroken - and that this time they will indeed be Bi-Xenons (fortunately, PP discovered the error JUST before shipping - but it still caused a further delay) I join in with Drew in being less that impressed with the UPS '2nd Day Air' delivery. Here's the latest progress status on my delivery: PACKAGE PROGRESS Date Time Location Activity Jun 13, 2002 4:54 A.M. COLOGNE-AIRPORT, DE LEFT IN A UPS FACILITY, DELAYED 4:42 A.M. COLOGNE-AIRPORT, DE HUB SCAN 4:34 A.M. COLOGNE-AIRPORT, DE HUB SCAN 3:42 A.M. COLOGNE-AIRPORT, DE HUB SCAN Jun 11, 2002 11:42 P.M. PHILA AIR HUB, PA, US EXPORT SCAN 10:56 A.M. PHILA AIR HUB, PA, US UNLOAD SCAN 10:29 A.M. PHILADELPHIA INTL, PA, US ARRIVAL SCAN 3:10 A.M. ONTARIO INTL, CA, US DEPARTURE SCAN 12:43 A.M. ONTARIO HUB, CA, US LOCATION SCAN 12:04 A.M. ONTARIO HUB, CA, US UNLOAD SCAN Jun 10, 2002 11:03 P.M. ONTARIO HUB, CA, US ARRIVAL SCAN 9:25 P.M. VAN NUYS, CA, US DEPARTURE SCAN 8:26 P.M. VAN NUYS, CA, US ORIGIN SCAN 8:12 P.M. US BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED 5:28 P.M. VAN NUYS-GRANADA, CA, US PICKUP SCAN At the beginning, things progressed at a UPS-publicity-like speed. Then: A stopover of eleven hours 46 minutes in Philadelphia! And after that, no news at all for one full day. Then, the package arrives in Cologne (which is slightly more than 100 miles from here), and according to the local UPS people 'it missed the plane'. Wonderful - there's apparently only one plane per day, so it'll arrive here tomorrow (Friday), and because of customs procedures and the like, it'll be too late to deliver on Friday. Probable delivery will then be Monday, one full week after it left Van Nuys - not that fast, eh? Fortunately, the UPS facility is only a couple of miles away from my office, so I persuaded them that I could go out there to pick it up tomorrow afternoon - and when I pick it up, I think I'll ask them about a partial refund of the UPS fee (I'll have to read the fine print on their website first, though). I know, there are worse things in life (we have no fires like in CO), but this still get on my nerves a bit. Cheers, Birger

06-13-2002, 07:43 AM

That one day delay w/o any updates on the UPS site is also what happeneed to me recently. I'm not sure why this is the case, but I suppose that I'm used to it by now :-) Actually, UPS was at least quicker this time. The lamps were shipped out to me on Thursday, and arrived on Monday. We'll see whether the replacement passenger side lamp gets here by Friday. I was told that it left yesterday.

06-13-2002, 07:49 AM

Hi, thanks - it's good to know you're not alone ;-) Any progress on the distribution of the secret recipe for getting Bi-Xenon + H7 hi-beams?? BTW, I might have found a suitable source for LED'ing the stock CHMSL - or rather obtaining LED from that position. I'll tell you more in 24 hour's time when I get a closer look. And from just having driven behind no less than three ML's, it's needed - the stock CHMSL has a pitiful output. Have a nice day! Birger

06-13-2002, 07:56 AM

Sorry, haven't had time to work on the Bi-X + halogen thing. I'll try to get to it by this weekend. Heh, the 3rd brake light assembly uses an identical type of bulb to the rear brake lamps. It's not really that bad! :-) I'll also be LED'ing my 3rd brake light this weekend (I hope), however, it won't be using an LED bulb. I've tried that and found that it doesn't really work too well as a result of the odd angle of the bulb socket on the 3rd brake lamp reflector.

06-13-2002, 08:10 AM

(how's that for a cryptic subject line ;-)) I'm looking forward to what you get done over the weekend! I know that the CHMSL uses the same bulb as the normal stoplights, but the output is lousy, partly due to the odd positioning of the bulb in the reflector (the bulb socket blocks a considerable portion of light), and partly due to the darkness of the privacy glass. The ones I saw today were really appalling! As a matter of fact, I had considered putting in a halogen bulb (the #1156 ones should fit), but have refrained because of the risk of frying the housing while in a traffic jam. It'll be very interesting to see what you come up with in the stock housing. My idea for a solution is off a small Opel Corsa (AFAIK not sold outside Europe) which has a very similarly-sized and -shaped CHMSL - with LED's. Hella also used to make an aftermarket one, but I've not been able to find one yet. Cheers, Birger

06-13-2002, 08:18 AM

Birger, did you notice that the bulb in the 3rd brake light actually has a reflective coating on one side? Yeah, the tinted glass does cut down on the output a fair bit. However, the 20' 59 LED brake high mounted light strip that I have makes up for it. Additionally, I like the fact that it's high mounted and people from further back can see my brake lamp as well. Hmm, I figured that you were probably going to try to retrofit something from another vehicle. Well, let me know how that goes. :-) What I'm doing though, is fitting a pair of 3' LED strips from *************.com, into the 3rd brake light reflector. I'm not sure whether I'll need to face it towards the reflector or towards traffic though, so I'll have to do a bit of experimenting.

06-13-2002, 08:30 AM

No, I haven't had mine disassembled (yet). But that explains the lousy output I witnessed today: the bulb can, IIRC, be inserted with this reflective coating facing backwards or forwards - and on the assembly line I doubt someone cares. I'll check mine over the weekend ;-) 3-inch LED's? Interesting - are they anywhere on their website, or special order for special people ;-) Cheers, Birger

06-13-2002, 10:28 AM

06-13-2002, 11:39 AM

Clear when unlit, and red (or amber) when lit: http://www.*************.com/mb_results.asp?model=W163&class=m-class&category=LED+Brake+Lights+and+Replacement+Bu lbs

06-13-2002, 01:40 PM