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Agreed, but there's a difference between options and requirements. Backup cameras were optional until this year. Now they're a requirement. They're no longer special and every vehicle has to have them.
Agree. Backup cameras and I think traction control, too.
Take a look at the "cataracts" formed on some mid-2000s Mercedes models... makes me cringe.
Read up on the issue and there are a few people who have had the haze form on the inside of the lens when running HIDs. Perhaps they produce UV light? I did a retrofit and mine have this weird pink-and-blue cast that is totally NOT visible when on camera. Lights look normal halogen yellow in pictures.
Talk about headlights needing cleaning, brings up this story: My neighbor did custom mechanical work in his garage at home. A steady customer brought her 20 year-old BMW sedan to him for annual service and repairs, driving 250 miles, because the dealerships did such shoddy work. She then flew off to Hawaii, before returning a week later, to drive her car home.
One year, she said that her headlights were becoming dim. It was because the inside of the plastic outer lens had become oxidized and clouded. When she ordered new headlight assemblies through a dealer from Germany, they were also 20 years old and had the same inside clouding. So she asked my friend if he could do something.
While he was doing the mechanical service, I tackled the headlight problem. The headlight assemblies weren't intended to be taken apart, but I figured out a way to open a small entryway to the inside, that didn't break anything. I put Meguiar's Plastic Polish on a small scrub brush with a curved handle and scoured the clouded layer off the inside. I then worked a rag around the area on a long stick and cleaned off all the residue and did the same on the outside surface. The headlights became just as bright as new. When the woman picked up her car, she was delighted. She wouldn't have gotten that done by many commercial garages. The procedure certainly wasn't in the service manual.
The headlight wasn’t dirty at all, what did you expect? Go get some dirt on the lights and then use washers while actually moving. I have them, but they are only used when lights are on and you activate windshield washer, which I can’t recall if I’ve ever had it happen in mine. If my windshield needs washing, there’s a decent chance my headlights might need it too. If my headlights need cleaning, then my vehicle is dirty, so who cares if spray gets on body.
In the winter or muddy conditions it makes a big difference. If you are using headlight washers your car is most like dirty already.
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