have you ever noticed

[Jay481985]

yikes, did the mechanical servo break? The reason why european cars you mostly have to pay for HIDs is due to the fact that european laws require HIDs to have both self leveling (adjusts the height dependant on passengers and trunk load or if you are on a bumpy road too) and self washing headlamps (little jets using window washing fluid to spray the headlamp) American DOT laws do not require these (just a limiter, which cuts the beam hence why if you ever park near a wall you see a sharp contrast between where its lit and where its dark) and many American and Japanese automakers since they do not sell their cars in Europe disregard those features and provide them for free while even in an E Class Mercedes its an 800 dollar option.

Clarification, I meant to write D2S not DS2

[LarryC]

He was right about calling it a "burner." The invoice shows $391.50 for installation of a new "xenon burner." The dealership paid for a loaner for 2 days, and didn't charge for labor. The latter might have been a make-up for no headlight warranty and early lamp failure. This was just the low beam, btw; high beam lamps are separate.

No, headlight leveling was OK. The headlight washer was part of an options bundle.

The car had 34,439 miles on it. It was 3 mos. past its 48-mo. initial warranty period, but I had an extended factory warranty.

[Jay481985]

Maybe he did not realize you had an extended warantee, it happens

[LarryC]

Oh, I knew it, I'd paid for it. But carmakers have often done informal or "secret" warranty extensions for major post-warranty failures, but just not in writing. I'll have to ask about not being charged for the 10 hrs' labor.

[Marvel]

... the 10 hrs' labor.

You have to love that... for changing a headlamp. [*-)]

Bruce

[Jay481985]

Oh, I knew it, I'd paid for it. But carmakers have often done informal or "secret" warranty extensions for major post-warranty failures, but just not in writing. I'll have to ask about not being charged for the 10 hrs' labor.

They charged mercedes. They double dipped. It does not take 10 hours to change a light bulb. I bet since your car is larger the bumper does not need to be removed per many smaller cars. It takes about 30 minutes to do each one the first time. All you need is a security torx bit to open up the compartment that holds the lights. They really don't want people handling the bulbs as the oil from your skin will cause the light bulbs to fail early or explode.