NYCLK

It seems that our cars were equipped with 2 different types of headlights, more clear ones for HIDs and the non-HID ones.

It seems like the cost of replacing the non-hid lights with HID ones would be a lot..

hidplanet.com sells a retrofitting projector kit, has anyone on here done this? I am curious as to what it looks like..


thanks

The Jury

If you did that and lived in my city I'd hunt you down for blinding me and everyone else. The non HID diffused glass is made to make the most of the light it has and scatters it everywhere. Stick an HID and / or projector in there and you have 200,000 pissed off people within 40 miles of you.

ThrillKill

As long as you have a clear lens there will be no glare. It takes some careful aiming but when done correctly, there is actually less glare than oem halogen lights. Just don't use a "kit". Buy quality parts (Hella, Matsu****a etc) for about the same price if you shop around.

NYCLK

I agree with you, trust me I don't want to be that person and it's one of the things i hate most on the road, idiots with high beams or blinding headlights. However some cars aren't as bad as others. Really...

I'm looking for a pair of HID headlights. or maybe i'll borrow a 'kit' from someone and try it out and see how it looks.

Anyone on here buy one of these kits and put them onto their non-hid equipped CLK? how does it look? Is the beam all over the road?

raymond g-

Projector style HIDs are not available for early model W210s. So I bought Depo
taiwan clear lens with halogen projector, gutted and tossed the inside projector
unit, and dropped in a true bixenon from an E55. Amazing was that the mounting
points were near perfect match between E55 and Depo. Sealed the Depo back
up and lit it up. Very good improvement over stock. 2x+ brightness, nice broad
pattern in foreground and sharp cutoff. High beam was outstanding. A 2 day
job, intermediate skill, and with common tools.

http://i14.tinypic.com/4ggs0so.jpg

I try to discourage friends from going the kit route, for the reasons mentioned
above. Amazes me that folks with nice cars such as MB are willing to go with
ghetto kits and scattered beam.

NYCLK

Wow, looks great.
I'm a bit confused about what you bought and used. What's a Taiwan depo clear lens? are you talking about the headlight, just outside lens or housing and lens which is specific for our cars?
And you used E55 HID?

what was the cost of the total project?
thanks

raymond g-

sorry, i type fast at work, in between computer chores, and may be less than
precise in verbiage.

I bought halogen Depo projector headlight assembly to replace the fluted lens
halogen MB headlight assembly. That modernizes the look tremendously, but
the light is still yellowish, H7 halogen bulb.

I pulled the generic H7 bulb and dropped in a more premium, Silverstar H7 bulb.
The light was brighter but the beam was still anemic and segmented. Turns out
the Depo research and development of the lens/projector sux. The projector
lens did such a poor job focusing the beam. The projector's reflector helped
contribute to a poor beam as well. I still wasn't satisfied as the Depo beam was
*poorer* than the OEM MB fluted lens headlamp.

So I baked the Depo headlamp in the oven for about 10 mins...just low enough
temp to heat and soften the adhesive surrounding the clear outer plastic lens.
The outer lens was pried off. The inner Depo projector was removed and tossed.


I learned that the bixeon projector from an E55 was
a near perfect drop-in and matched up to the Depo mounting points vacated
when I removed the halogen projector unit.


A little mod, a few washers to shim, and the headlight was reassembled and
resealed. I now had a modernized headlamp with true designed-for-HID
projector (reusing an old pic showing how to reseal)


here is comparison of the fluted v Depo clear headlamp assemblies.


bottom line: it takes an adventurous soul to open and survey the innards of
a headlight, take careful measurements, and then to scout the market for a
projector closest in size. then the challenge is to retrofit and secure the true
HID projector into the headlight while retaining adjustment points etc.

Depo headlight - $350/pair
Bixenon projectors salvaged - $175/pair
Phillips #85122 D2S bulbs - $85/pair
Hella gen3 ballasts salvaged - $200
Driving enjoyment - priceless

The cost is 3x that of HID kits, which in my opinion are all junk. Kits are
designed to be one-size-fits-all and do not take into consideration different
focal points of each headlight. The result is always (99%) poorly focused
beams with glare and scatter. It's like going to pick up Halley Berry on your
dream date only to find that she has body odor. Have some pride in your
car and do the job/mod properly, not some half *** HID wannabe kit.

NYCLK

thanks! That looks good. Sounds expensive and a lot of hassle though! I think I'll just go with OEM headlights/xenons and be done with it. I want the most factory look possible.

raymond g-

(disassembly photo above was lifted from Zam. tnx)

ThrillKill

Hah! Zam helped me as welll. That guy gets around.