Lucky week for Mercedes owners: Free power-steering check and brighter Xenon light for E-Class and S-Class

28.10.2010 / Stuttgart-Cairo-Dubai

It seems that Mercedes customers in Egypt are extremely lucky these days. Unlike the other car manufacturers and importers in the Egyptian automotive market, Mercedes Benz Egypt had the courage this week to announce over the past few days in several Egyptian newspaper, an official recall regarding the power-steering for all the 2010 Mercedes Benz models sold through its authorized dealers in Egypt.

Although Mercedes Benz Egypt did not mention what would happen with the self-imported or grey-imported cars, which are by the way very popular in Egypt, the official recall itself is a very courageous and extremely rare step in the Middle East in general and Egypt in specific. Therefore we at Auto Arabia salute Mercedes Benz Egypt for that step and hope that all the other car companies in Egypt would take Mercedes Benz Egypt as a role model for that courageous behavior and very good customer-service.

And it seems that the good news for Mercedes Benz customers continues this week, as Mercedes Benz announced that the popular Mercedes E-Class and S-Class will be receiving even brighter Xenon lights, which will surely contribute to an even better road safety for the driver and his passengers.

Achieving light colour which is as close as possible to daylight is one of the biggest safety benefits in the field of headlamp technology. Mercedes-Benz is now one of the first automotive manufacturers to offer xenon headlamps boasting a significantly brighter light output.

From December, production of the E-Class and S-Class will make use of new xenon burners from the company Osram, featuring a colour temperature which has been increased by some 20 percent. Achieving a figure of 5000 Kelvin, the new xenon light is even closer to daylight and is therefore even brighter – a clear innovation, in the true sense of the phrase.

This light colour is in keeping with normal human perception patterns, and as such conveys an impression of greater brightness to the eyes, thus reducing the strain on the driver. Studies have shown that the closer the colour of artificial light comes to daylight, the less the strain on the eyes. This is a crucial safety benefit, especially if we take into account that only 20 percent of journeys take place at night – yet it is when 40 percent of fatal accidents occur.

After the E-Class and the S-Class, further Mercedes-Benz model series will be gradually fitted with the new xenon burners in 2011. All previous Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with xenon headlamps can also be fitted with this additional safety feature, as the new xenon burners will be available from branches and dealers as Mercedes-Benz original parts.

MS