2013 C300 Upgrade Headlamps
09-18-2015, 03:03 AM
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2013 C300 4MATIC
2013 C300 Upgrade Headlamps
Hi all -- I just bought a 2013 C300 4MATIC W204, and it has the stock halogen headlights (yellow temperature). I'm looking to replace these with some kind of white lightbulb or fixture that would make the headlights with a white temperature (5000k? 6000k?). Here are my questions:
1. What kinds of light bulbs fit the stock molding? Which types work with the car's electrical output? (sorry if this is a dumb question, I know very little about car lights)
2. Of the options presented to me, which one should I get? What brand?
3. Should I be changing both my low beams and my high beams to the white lightbulbs? If so, should all 4 be the same ones or different ones?
Notes: I don't want anything I do to affect the warranty of the vehicle. I'd also prefer to not have to replace the whole lighting fixture that holds the bulbs.
Please give me suggestions! Thanks!
1. What kinds of light bulbs fit the stock molding? Which types work with the car's electrical output? (sorry if this is a dumb question, I know very little about car lights)
2. Of the options presented to me, which one should I get? What brand?
3. Should I be changing both my low beams and my high beams to the white lightbulbs? If so, should all 4 be the same ones or different ones?
Notes: I don't want anything I do to affect the warranty of the vehicle. I'd also prefer to not have to replace the whole lighting fixture that holds the bulbs.
Please give me suggestions! Thanks!
09-18-2015, 02:06 PM
#2
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Hello! Welcome to MBWorld and grats on your purchase
1. You'll need an H7 HID conversion kit to change your stock halogen color temp. Your headlight housing are reflectors though and if you were to truly properly do the conversion, you'd also retrofit projectors on there, but definitely the H7 HID conversion kit would take care of your needs.
2. We carry top shelf Morimoto XB35 conversion kits. These are plug and play units with a 5 year warranty. Comes in 5000K pure white and 6000K white with a slight bluish hue.
3. For high beams, those also use H7, but be advised that with the way HIDs work, there's a powering up cycle. So although you can use them for your high beams, it's not advisable if you have a tendency to quick flash people in front of you. If your high beam tendency is to run them continuously to illuminate the road, then HIDs are a great option as they're not only whiter, but brighter than stock halogens.
Additionally, we also have plug and play LEDs if you want to venture further into replacing other exterior (city lights, signals, markers, reverse lights) and interior parts (dome, map, footwell, puddle, vanity mirror, trunk, glove).
1. You'll need an H7 HID conversion kit to change your stock halogen color temp. Your headlight housing are reflectors though and if you were to truly properly do the conversion, you'd also retrofit projectors on there, but definitely the H7 HID conversion kit would take care of your needs.
2. We carry top shelf Morimoto XB35 conversion kits. These are plug and play units with a 5 year warranty. Comes in 5000K pure white and 6000K white with a slight bluish hue.
3. For high beams, those also use H7, but be advised that with the way HIDs work, there's a powering up cycle. So although you can use them for your high beams, it's not advisable if you have a tendency to quick flash people in front of you. If your high beam tendency is to run them continuously to illuminate the road, then HIDs are a great option as they're not only whiter, but brighter than stock halogens.
Additionally, we also have plug and play LEDs if you want to venture further into replacing other exterior (city lights, signals, markers, reverse lights) and interior parts (dome, map, footwell, puddle, vanity mirror, trunk, glove).
09-19-2015, 12:48 PM
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Thanks Michael. A couple questions for you:
1. So you're saying that it's not possible to just insert LED H7 fitted bulbs into my headlight housing?
2. Does the conversion kit work cause me to lose my MB warranty?
3. Does the conversation kit require any tools for drilling and so forth?
4. If I were to retrofit projectors onto there, what would this entail? What would the cost be?
1. So you're saying that it's not possible to just insert LED H7 fitted bulbs into my headlight housing?
2. Does the conversion kit work cause me to lose my MB warranty?
3. Does the conversation kit require any tools for drilling and so forth?
4. If I were to retrofit projectors onto there, what would this entail? What would the cost be?
09-19-2015, 01:17 PM
#4
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1. There are H7 LEDs (we carry a version), but in our opinion, LED technology hasn't quite reached a point where it's safe with good throw distance, light scatter, and lumens for primary forward facing lights without housings designed specifically to capture LED type lighting. HIDs are still a better option for halogen housing.
2. Anything aftermarket has a chance to be blamed by dealerships, but HIDs are typically innocuous and common enough that most don't care. Worse case, it's easy to reverse the conversion when taking in for major warranty work.
3. Only manual work (true for all HID conversion) is to cut a small hole in the dust cover to feed the wires through. The kit comes with rubber grommet though to seal it for clean oem look.
4. You'd have to bake open the headlight and glue in projector lens. Some have done it as a DIY as all you really need is an oven to bake and loosen the cover adhesive. There are motorsports shops that can do it for you though. Costs depends on what projectors you get and local region motorsports costs (if you don't do it yourself).
2. Anything aftermarket has a chance to be blamed by dealerships, but HIDs are typically innocuous and common enough that most don't care. Worse case, it's easy to reverse the conversion when taking in for major warranty work.
3. Only manual work (true for all HID conversion) is to cut a small hole in the dust cover to feed the wires through. The kit comes with rubber grommet though to seal it for clean oem look.
4. You'd have to bake open the headlight and glue in projector lens. Some have done it as a DIY as all you really need is an oven to bake and loosen the cover adhesive. There are motorsports shops that can do it for you though. Costs depends on what projectors you get and local region motorsports costs (if you don't do it yourself).
09-22-2015, 08:40 PM
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1. There are H7 LEDs (we carry a version), but in our opinion, LED technology hasn't quite reached a point where it's safe with good throw distance, light scatter, and lumens for primary forward facing lights without housings designed specifically to capture LED type lighting. HIDs are still a better option for halogen housing.
2. Anything aftermarket has a chance to be blamed by dealerships, but HIDs are typically innocuous and common enough that most don't care. Worse case, it's easy to reverse the conversion when taking in for major warranty work.
3. Only manual work (true for all HID conversion) is to cut a small hole in the dust cover to feed the wires through. The kit comes with rubber grommet though to seal it for clean oem look.
4. You'd have to bake open the headlight and glue in projector lens. Some have done it as a DIY as all you really need is an oven to bake and loosen the cover adhesive. There are motorsports shops that can do it for you though. Costs depends on what projectors you get and local region motorsports costs (if you don't do it yourself).
2. Anything aftermarket has a chance to be blamed by dealerships, but HIDs are typically innocuous and common enough that most don't care. Worse case, it's easy to reverse the conversion when taking in for major warranty work.
3. Only manual work (true for all HID conversion) is to cut a small hole in the dust cover to feed the wires through. The kit comes with rubber grommet though to seal it for clean oem look.
4. You'd have to bake open the headlight and glue in projector lens. Some have done it as a DIY as all you really need is an oven to bake and loosen the cover adhesive. There are motorsports shops that can do it for you though. Costs depends on what projectors you get and local region motorsports costs (if you don't do it yourself).
I've looked into this a little further and it looks like these are a couple of the things I want to make sure turns out right. Please help me with the thought process if possible!
1. I'd like my low beams to match the color (as closely as possible) to my illuminated star (Mercedes official one). I believe the star is LED and is similar in temperature to the LED strip DRL's. If I order from you, would the 5000K or the 6000K match better? (I know some cheaper built light bulbs do not come out the same colors, so I want to make sure I'm getting good bulbs too).
2. Do you recommend the 35W or the 50W?
3. Are the carbon fiber brackets standard with the kit? Are these good for withstanding melting or any issues?
4. Do I need to HD Relay or the Canbus Relay?
5. I see on their website that their bulb options are 4500K, 5500K, and 6500K and not the 5000K/6000K that you have on your site. Why is this?
6. Where do you ship out of?
7. Do I buy the anti-flicker capacitor separately?
8. What's the difference between that and the Mopar low beam system?
Last edited by 09stevent; 09-22-2015 at 08:54 PM.
09-23-2015, 12:21 AM
#6
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Michael --
I've looked into this a little further and it looks like these are a couple of the things I want to make sure turns out right. Please help me with the thought process if possible!
1. I'd like my low beams to match the color (as closely as possible) to my illuminated star (Mercedes official one). I believe the star is LED and is similar in temperature to the LED strip DRL's. If I order from you, would the 5000K or the 6000K match better? (I know some cheaper built light bulbs do not come out the same colors, so I want to make sure I'm getting good bulbs too).
2. Do you recommend the 35W or the 50W?
3. Are the carbon fiber brackets standard with the kit? Are these good for withstanding melting or any issues?
4. Do I need to HD Relay or the Canbus Relay?
5. I see on their website that their bulb options are 4500K, 5500K, and 6500K and not the 5000K/6000K that you have on your site. Why is this?
6. Where do you ship out of?
7. Do I buy the anti-flicker capacitor separately?
8. What's the difference between that and the Mopar low beam system?
I've looked into this a little further and it looks like these are a couple of the things I want to make sure turns out right. Please help me with the thought process if possible!
1. I'd like my low beams to match the color (as closely as possible) to my illuminated star (Mercedes official one). I believe the star is LED and is similar in temperature to the LED strip DRL's. If I order from you, would the 5000K or the 6000K match better? (I know some cheaper built light bulbs do not come out the same colors, so I want to make sure I'm getting good bulbs too).
2. Do you recommend the 35W or the 50W?
3. Are the carbon fiber brackets standard with the kit? Are these good for withstanding melting or any issues?
4. Do I need to HD Relay or the Canbus Relay?
5. I see on their website that their bulb options are 4500K, 5500K, and 6500K and not the 5000K/6000K that you have on your site. Why is this?
6. Where do you ship out of?
7. Do I buy the anti-flicker capacitor separately?
8. What's the difference between that and the Mopar low beam system?
1. 5000K would be the closest match. It's pure white.\
2. 35W. 55W runs hot and has a shorter life than 35W. That's why we chose to stock 35W as it's a better option for our customers.
3. No, CF bracket isn't standard and honestly isn't needed or as good. It's ok for show cars who want a little bit of pop, but you'll be getting dust and dirt in your engine bay that really what's the point.
4. Our kit comes with the canbus relay. It's configured to work for your MB.
5. HID are actually a temp range as opposed to LEDs which has a set temp. So it's actually 5000K-5500K temp range and 6000K-6500K temp range. You see this shifting during warming up process most often, but can fluctuate a bit on load. It's the same bulb though and actually is labeled 5500K but that's because that's the max achieved temp.
6. We ship out of California
7. Your MB doesn't have pulse circuit so the capacitor isn't needed.
8. Mopar has a different harness to work with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Fiat. Not for your application.
09-23-2015, 02:40 AM
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Sure no problem.
1. 5000K would be the closest match. It's pure white.\
2. 35W. 55W runs hot and has a shorter life than 35W. That's why we chose to stock 35W as it's a better option for our customers.
3. No, CF bracket isn't standard and honestly isn't needed or as good. It's ok for show cars who want a little bit of pop, but you'll be getting dust and dirt in your engine bay that really what's the point.
4. Our kit comes with the canbus relay. It's configured to work for your MB.
5. HID are actually a temp range as opposed to LEDs which has a set temp. So it's actually 5000K-5500K temp range and 6000K-6500K temp range. You see this shifting during warming up process most often, but can fluctuate a bit on load. It's the same bulb though and actually is labeled 5500K but that's because that's the max achieved temp.
6. We ship out of California
7. Your MB doesn't have pulse circuit so the capacitor isn't needed.
8. Mopar has a different harness to work with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Fiat. Not for your application.
1. 5000K would be the closest match. It's pure white.\
2. 35W. 55W runs hot and has a shorter life than 35W. That's why we chose to stock 35W as it's a better option for our customers.
3. No, CF bracket isn't standard and honestly isn't needed or as good. It's ok for show cars who want a little bit of pop, but you'll be getting dust and dirt in your engine bay that really what's the point.
4. Our kit comes with the canbus relay. It's configured to work for your MB.
5. HID are actually a temp range as opposed to LEDs which has a set temp. So it's actually 5000K-5500K temp range and 6000K-6500K temp range. You see this shifting during warming up process most often, but can fluctuate a bit on load. It's the same bulb though and actually is labeled 5500K but that's because that's the max achieved temp.
6. We ship out of California
7. Your MB doesn't have pulse circuit so the capacitor isn't needed.
8. Mopar has a different harness to work with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Fiat. Not for your application.
1. Are there any other pieces that I need? Do i need a stand-alone canbus relay harness?
2. Any other pieces that I should get?
3. So that being said, should I be getting the CF bracket or just the stock bracket?
4. Can you suggest the kit/specs that I'll need for my vehicle?
5. What do you recommend for my high-beams or parking lights (front)? Anything to make it fit better with my other lights?
6. Is there any way to keep my DRL lights on at night when my headlights are on? (since I don't have the xenon package)
Please let me know, thanks! Your help is amazing.
Last edited by 09stevent; 09-23-2015 at 02:43 AM.
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09-23-2015, 03:33 AM
#8
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Sweet! So it looks like I'll be getting the 35W 5000K canbus conversion kit without the capacitor.
1. Are there any other pieces that I need? Do i need a stand-alone canbus relay harness?
2. Any other pieces that I should get?
3. So that being said, should I be getting the CF bracket or just the stock bracket?
4. Can you suggest the kit/specs that I'll need for my vehicle?
5. What do you recommend for my high-beams or parking lights (front)? Anything to make it fit better with my other lights?
6. Is there any way to keep my DRL lights on at night when my headlights are on? (since I don't have the xenon package)
Please let me know, thanks! Your help is amazing.
1. Are there any other pieces that I need? Do i need a stand-alone canbus relay harness?
2. Any other pieces that I should get?
3. So that being said, should I be getting the CF bracket or just the stock bracket?
4. Can you suggest the kit/specs that I'll need for my vehicle?
5. What do you recommend for my high-beams or parking lights (front)? Anything to make it fit better with my other lights?
6. Is there any way to keep my DRL lights on at night when my headlights are on? (since I don't have the xenon package)
Please let me know, thanks! Your help is amazing.
2. See 1
3. Stock metal bracket. Most don't even use the bracket as they don't want to drill holes. All you need is double sided tape to hold everything down.
4. http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=65
5. High beams use the same H7 kit if you want to convert to HIDs. Parking lights we'd suggest our 194 V5 wedge LEDs (http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=95)
6. I heard you can set that option via STAR diagnostic machine.
09-23-2015, 05:21 PM
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1. Our kit has everything you need preconfigured to work for your MB. It's a full conversion kit.
2. See 1
3. Stock metal bracket. Most don't even use the bracket as they don't want to drill holes. All you need is double sided tape to hold everything down.
4. http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=65
5. High beams use the same H7 kit if you want to convert to HIDs. Parking lights we'd suggest our 194 V5 wedge LEDs (http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=95)
6. I heard you can set that option via STAR diagnostic machine.
2. See 1
3. Stock metal bracket. Most don't even use the bracket as they don't want to drill holes. All you need is double sided tape to hold everything down.
4. http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=65
5. High beams use the same H7 kit if you want to convert to HIDs. Parking lights we'd suggest our 194 V5 wedge LEDs (http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...products_id=95)
6. I heard you can set that option via STAR diagnostic machine.
1. Do you have a sample image of how people tape everything down? When they do this, does that mean you don't put the caps back on? Isn't that bad because it allows dust to go inside of the headlight housing units?
2. When I put in the H7 bulbs do I have to bend the locking mechanism that holds the bulb in place or is it the same as if I were inserting a halogen bulb?
3. I hear that it's not recommended to put HID's into the high beams because it's bad when you flicker the lights?
4. How do the 194 V5 wedge LEDs get installed into the parking lights? Is it a simple plug and play? Do you have more details about this or any images that would help me?
Thanks for answering my questions! Sorry for asking so many, I'm very new to all of this.
09-23-2015, 06:57 PM
#10
SPONSOR/MBworld Guru
1. The bracket is only for the ballast mounting. So what people are doing is double side taping the ballast to a flat surface somewhere. Your headlight section is still closed off (rubber grommet on the bulb wire) as ballast, igniter, canbus harness, etc all sit outside the headlight.
2. Same as the halogen bulb. Halogen bulb is the same H7 bulb key.
3. For high beams, it is recommended if you tend to use them for illumination, but not as a signal. If you find yourself often quick flashing people in front of you, then yes, HIDs are not ideal for high beams due to powering up cycle. If you use your highbeams for illumination purposes, then HIDs are a great option with the higher lumens over stock halogen.
4. Wedge bulbs are simple plug and play. You just pull out the stock halogen wedge bulb and plug in the LED wedge bulb in place. Our V5 units are even polarity independent which makes install easier. Just plug in and you're done.
2. Same as the halogen bulb. Halogen bulb is the same H7 bulb key.
3. For high beams, it is recommended if you tend to use them for illumination, but not as a signal. If you find yourself often quick flashing people in front of you, then yes, HIDs are not ideal for high beams due to powering up cycle. If you use your highbeams for illumination purposes, then HIDs are a great option with the higher lumens over stock halogen.
4. Wedge bulbs are simple plug and play. You just pull out the stock halogen wedge bulb and plug in the LED wedge bulb in place. Our V5 units are even polarity independent which makes install easier. Just plug in and you're done.
09-23-2015, 07:29 PM
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1. The bracket is only for the ballast mounting. So what people are doing is double side taping the ballast to a flat surface somewhere. Your headlight section is still closed off (rubber grommet on the bulb wire) as ballast, igniter, canbus harness, etc all sit outside the headlight.
2. Same as the halogen bulb. Halogen bulb is the same H7 bulb key.
3. For high beams, it is recommended if you tend to use them for illumination, but not as a signal. If you find yourself often quick flashing people in front of you, then yes, HIDs are not ideal for high beams due to powering up cycle. If you use your highbeams for illumination purposes, then HIDs are a great option with the higher lumens over stock halogen.
4. Wedge bulbs are simple plug and play. You just pull out the stock halogen wedge bulb and plug in the LED wedge bulb in place. Our V5 units are even polarity independent which makes install easier. Just plug in and you're done.
2. Same as the halogen bulb. Halogen bulb is the same H7 bulb key.
3. For high beams, it is recommended if you tend to use them for illumination, but not as a signal. If you find yourself often quick flashing people in front of you, then yes, HIDs are not ideal for high beams due to powering up cycle. If you use your highbeams for illumination purposes, then HIDs are a great option with the higher lumens over stock halogen.
4. Wedge bulbs are simple plug and play. You just pull out the stock halogen wedge bulb and plug in the LED wedge bulb in place. Our V5 units are even polarity independent which makes install easier. Just plug in and you're done.
Thanks! I'll be placing the order for the kit and the LED parking lights soon.
Do you have any suggestions for what kind of tape to use for keeping the ballasts in place?
09-23-2015, 08:26 PM
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09-23-2015, 08:37 PM
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Last question related to this, I promise!
FYI - I placed my order already. So excited!
09-23-2015, 11:33 PM
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Both will work.... 10lbs is a bit overkill. 5lbs work. You can find cheaper smaller rolls at your local home improvement store probably also.
01-09-2016, 10:48 PM
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Hello can anyone help me with a 2013 headlight install? I can't figure out how to put the headlight in-it doesn't want to lock into place and there is no "metal clip" to hold this in place as some of the older benz's...please help ..I tried twisting and turning the bulb and it won't lock into place!
