[SteveinMI]

Hi everyone. I just bought a 2010 C300 4Matic. I'm not new to Mercedes, I also have a 1994 E320 Cabriolet (A124) that I've owned for about 15 years. Everything on the car works correctly as it should on a 71k mile one-owner car. It drives wonderfully and I'm impressed by these as used cars.

Of course, when I test drove the car it was daylight. My first night with the car was downright scary. The low beams are so dim I could barely see where I was going. I first suspected that the headlights were aimed too far down, the high beams work great, so I suspect that isn't the issue. Both sides seem to be the same level of brightness. I've seen some comments online about these headlights being weak in general, but this is beyond weak, they are downright dangerous.

I plan to start with some new bulbs, this is a cheap thing to try at the very least. Are there any other suggestions on things to try here?

I'm also wondering if the headlights aren't actually on at all... does the C300 use the low beams as DRLs as well? Perhaps my low beams aren't even turning on and all I'm getting is the DRL setting? The high beams switch on just fine, so I would think the headlights are on. If that's the case, what could be causing that? It's the same bulbs, so the bulbs are working. The dash switch for the headlights?

Thanks!

 

[SteveinMI]

Some more info.. I believe tthe DRL situation I outlined above may be the issue. The brightness of the low beams doesn't seem to change regardless of the position of the headlight switch... off or on, the brightness seems to be the same, so it seems the low beams aren't actually turning on... just the DRL setting when the car runs.

 

[radyckle]

I believe my 2009 C300 hundred luxury has the same issue. The brights are awesome but the dims are terrible. I just started looking into this, so I have no clue what the issue is a friend of mine who is a mechanic said it’s characteristic of projection style headlights.