[Damjan Dimovski]

Hi, I have a problem with the projector lenses on my W245, they are really milky in color and produce very, very little light. I’ve had them calibrated professionaly for positioning and my electrician recently installed H7 Osram Night Breaker Laser lights since they advertise to be a bit stronger than regular lights, to try and see if they will make a difference which they have, but it’s very far from optimal or even safe for night driving. Therefore, I’ve been led to believe that the actual problem are the projection lenses.

Is there any hope in a cleaning attempt on these or should I purchase replacement projector lenses? Can anyone share some files regarding taking them out?

 

[gole]

Hey there... think no help for you as for mine H7 headlamps. Years of usage and UV do a proper damage.
You can try to clean it, have videos on youtube with special fluids but only solution is new pair od headlamps.
Im dealing this right now... you have options:

• original MB which is produced by AL - 380EUR/piece
• OEM AL - 200EUR/piece
• OEM Marelli - 200 EUR/piece
• Depo - 120 EUR/piece
• OEM Bosch - 200 EUR/piece
• TYC - 100 EUR/piece

AL, Marelli and Bosch are almost same as they fused, check versions. Depo and TYC dont buy...
You can go with used ones but keep on mind that they are old also at least 10 years...

Here is photo to see difference of new Marelli headlamp and my old one.

 

[DEVOURS]

You joined BW in 2014. Now would be a great time to add a few details about yourself in your "profile". Upper right corner..where it says "profile"...Your location and car details ..please.

Polishing the discoloration out is very well explained by many easy methods on youtube. Removing the complete headlight is also not that difficult and the attachments are easily seen when you remove the top black plastic cover that sits over them when you open the hood.

If looking at polishing, you don't have to remove the headlight. Gole's method is expensive ..but gives you a perfectly clear view.

If I was doing this, I would first start with a good very delicate polishing..and see how much clearer they are..and then decide if new are needed.
How long do you plan to keep the B should be part of the thought process here.

 

[gole]

Polished headlamps twice in professional workshop but no help as plastic get porus and lens is blur after 12 years... for me this is safety thing, maybe expensive solution for old car but safety first.

 

[DEVOURS]

For Damjan........who joined us in 2014...


Good to have you as a member.
Please complete your BW registration. ===> user CP profile
====>
click on your icon----> click on Account Settings---->
goto Account Details----> add vehicle details---->
ADD your make model YEAR ----> click save.

 

[FUNkleBENZ]

If it's the same clear plastic on the W245, I've had good results DIY polishing the lens covers on my W211 cars with Maguires lens polishing kit about $25 at most Auto stores.
Only takes a few minutes and I just use painter's blue masking around the lens in case I wander off the beam (pun intended). Of course, like polishing/waxing your car, it has to be redone periodically to keep the clear new car look.

 

[Damjan Dimovski]

Hi everyone, thanks for your tips.

You joined BW in 2014. Now would be a great time to add a few details about yourself in your "profile". Upper right corner..where it says "profile"...Your location and car details ..please.

Polishing the discoloration out is very well explained by many easy methods on youtube. Removing the complete headlight is also not that difficult and the attachments are easily seen when you remove the top black plastic cover that sits over them when you open the hood.

If looking at polishing, you don't have to remove the headlight. Gole's method is expensive ..but gives you a perfectly clear view.

If I was doing this, I would first start with a good very delicate polishing..and see how much clearer they are..and then decide if new are needed.
How long do you plan to keep the B should be part of the thought process here.

Done!

Hey there... think no help for you as for mine H7 headlamps. Years of usage and UV do a proper damage.
You can try to clean it, have videos on youtube with special fluids but only solution is new pair od headlamps.
Im dealing this right now... you have options:

• original MB which is produced by AL - 380EUR/piece
• OEM AL - 200EUR/piece
• OEM Marelli - 200 EUR/piece
• Depo - 120 EUR/piece
• OEM Bosch - 200 EUR/piece
• TYC - 100 EUR/piece

AL, Marelli and Bosch are almost same as they fused, check versions. Depo and TYC dont buy...
You can go with used ones but keep on mind that they are old also at least 10 years...

Here is photo to see difference of new Marelli headlamp and my old one.

If it's the same clear plastic on the W245, I've had good results DIY polishing the lens covers on my W211 cars with Maguires lens polishing kit about $25 at most Auto stores.
Only takes a few minutes and I just use painter's blue masking around the lens in case I wander off the beam (pun intended). Of course, like polishing/waxing your car, it has to be redone periodically to keep the clear new car look.

Sorry, I see now that my original question might not have been clear enough. First of all, I need to clarify that I'm talking about cleaning/changing the internal lens of the projector, as can be seen here:

These for me have become quite cloudy (or milky, if you prefer a lactic description), which causes a very diffused and weak beam to be emitted, whereas the high beam works as it should (in my opinion at least). The actual front lens of the headlight that you guys were talking about polishing and cleaning is really not that bad on my car. It's been lightly polished and cleaned a few times and it 's still quite clear and shiny, although it's starting to turn a bit grey in colour but not so much that it would affect the beam to that degree that I'm seeing it just looks a bit sad. (I'll try and add some more photos in this thread in the morning).

So my actual question is whether anyone has had any success (or failure for that matter) in changing these, as a pair of these (Hella makes them btw) costs around 50EUR, so it's quite a lot cheaper than having the whole headlight changed (not to mention the pain of hunting for OEM parts in my country without shops robbing you blind). From what I could check online, I've only found Depo, TYC, and Magneti online here, and the Magneti ones cost 330EUR each.

 

[DEVOURS]

Sorry, I have had no experience with the internal lens as you now show us. Very strange for that glass to discolor on both of them. No one has ever asked this before in our B Class.
If someone had installed a higher rated (wattage) bulb and used them for years, maybe that glass lens would be overheated for a long time and possibly cause some discoloration..?
I'm guessing that they will have to be replaced with any clear good used ones.

 

[MB•David]

When I bought my old A200 C169, the fog lights (same as on your B180) were really, really foggy 🤣

I bought a brand new pair from Mercedes, and then set to try and clean the old ones, turns out it wasn't that hard to remove the residue on the inside of the lenses.
I'm pretty sure the same would be true for the dipped beam light projector lenses (same fog lights, before and after):

Later on, when I experimented with dual function flexi DRL, I had a spare headlight to play with, and it was a bit milky too, when I got it.
I've cleaned it, including taking apart the projector lens, but didn't specifically focused on that, so no detailed pics, I'm afraid:

Trying DRL / Turn signal:

In the end, I didn't feel the look was OEM enough, and was somewhat reluctant to open the headlights (fitted brand new by MB, a few months after I bought the car), so converted the turn signals into a dual function DRL/Indicator lights ...

 

[Damjan Dimovski]

When I bought my old A200 C169, the fog lights (same as on your B180) were really, really foggy 🤣

I bought a brand new pair from Mercedes, and then set to try and clean the old ones, turns out it wasn't that hard to remove the residue on the inside of the lenses.
I'm pretty sure the same would be true for the dipped beam light projector lenses (same fog lights, before and after):

Later on, when I experimented with dual function flexi DRL, I had a spare headlight to play with, and it was a bit milky too, when I got it.
I've cleaned it, including taking apart the projector lens, but didn't specifically focused on that, so no detailed pics, I'm afraid:

Trying DRL / Turn signal:

In the end, I didn't feel the look was OEM enough, and was somewhat reluctant to open the headlights (fitted brand new by MB, a few months after I bought the car), so converted the turn signals into a dual function DRL/Indicator lights ...

Wow that’s a big difference you achieved on the fog lights, nice job!
Do you have some tips about removing those while I’m at it, might as well clean them all...

 

[MB•David]

Wow that’s a big difference you achieved on the fog lights, nice job!
Do you have some tips about removing those while I’m at it, might as well clean them all...

Thanks, yes they did come out well ...
On the outside I used QUIXX Scratch Remover for Acrylic Glass (but any quality scratch remover will do the job, I think), and for the inside - simple isopropyl alcohol.

 

[DEVOURS]

..and here I was thinking that the small interior glass lens had been deeply and permanently discoloured. Wonder how that crap get into the interior surface of that little lens?

 

[MB•David]

I think it's the micro-particles dispersed in the air, which get overheated on the surface of the bulb and then condensate on the inside of the lens?

 

[DEVOURS]

I should take another photo of my HID headlights on the garage door and compare with the photos I took way back over 10 years ago. Hope that they will show the same whiteness in the before and now pics. I haven't seen any loss of brilliance ..but it possibly could slowly creep up on us without taking any notice of any slow change in color..

 

[Damjan Dimovski]

Time for another update, someone might find my troubles helpful in the future:

So I took the car to a lighting professional to assess the problem and talk about my options. He confirmed that the projector lens is damaged/foggy/dirty and is causing the poor lighting conditions and said that the best route would be to change the projector with a new one, without changing the whole headlights because the main headlight lens is pretty clear and undamaged, other than a bit of grayness. However, there are no new projectors for a H7 light fixture in stock, only for Xenons, so that option is a no-go for me as well. Luckily, the guy does a restoration service for such cases, where he takes apart the old projectors, re-chromes the interior, polishes and cleans the projector lens, and while they are at it the clean and polish the main headlight lenses inside and out and apply a protective ceramic coating to the outside lens as well. This whole deal will cost me around 150 EUR, which is half the price of a single new headlight, so it's an excellent deal for me.

I'll try and take several photos before and after, both aesthetically in the daytime and to show the light output at night, so that I can show the difference (hopefully). Updates will be posted in the next week or so.

 

[DEVOURS]

At the end of this. I think that you will have very satisfactory results that will last for a long time. Glad that you found that solution.

 

[gole]

If restoration/refurbishing service is right that is best option as price is very good. Ask for warranty as many people here who do similar jobs on headlamps had peeled off substances in or on headlamps surface. Re-chroming for sure is not easy also and cost.
Dont know why is new headlamps so expensive in your country. Not many options as you are not in EU and if order new headlamps from Germany you will pay custom fee and tax.
I put that new Marelli lamps and very satisfied in combination with new Auxbeam H7 led bulbs. Old HID set become weak with years and lost brightness. Must get photo also by night...

 

[DEVOURS]

Quote.."Old HID set become weak with years and lost brightness. "

>>>>>>>>>>Not necessarily true..

My HID headlight mod is over 10 years old and always on during car operation here in Canada and there is absolutely no loss of whiteness or clarity so far. I did buy a quality MTEC set-up and it did cost a lot more than many inexpensive HID conversions. It was recommended for our MB and I'm very satisfied. (never a flicker..since day one..)

Still using the OE conversion bulbs and igniters that were first installed in May 2009.

Why I chose HID over Halogen...

I've included a couple of pics to show the difference between HID... ....the 1st pic shows a standard Halogen illumination on the left with the brighter HID on the right. Bulb was ~ 4300K kit choice. The 2nd pic has both MTEC HID bulbs in place. The MTEC kit was 100% plug and play and designed...

www.benzworld.org

 

[gole]

That I was thinking before I changed them for led... eyes doesnt notice slow loss of brigtness day by day.
No way 10 years will xenon bulb last at same level of brightness as when they were new instaled, aprox. 30% is loss for sure. I tried my old HID set on new headlamps before upgrade and wasnt satisfied.
Here is how now headlamps shines road by night on parking...

 

[DEVOURS]

Sure,..LED is good but also a big mod...


My old HID's are perfectly white and bright and at least 3x the original H7's....so we will have to agree to disagree on that for the time and money... I don't have a lumens counting device..but if you mail me this..I promise to check..

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