Ibrown15

Hey everybody, what's going on? I have a few questions regarding headlights. I'm 100% new to all of this stuff so if you could bare with me id appreciate it. I have a 2001 E320 with the regular halogen bulbs. I want to buy these headlights. http://www.mercwheels.com/headlights-e-class-headlights-c-26_77/e-class-w210-black-headlights-00-02-p-1495
I saw a listing for the same ones online and they say they're depo. I hear the depo headlights have a bad light output to them. I see other black headlights from different brands, would the light output from those be better? I want to put 8k or 10k HID's in them. Is that possible? If I could find a pair that has good light output without having to retrofit them id be happy because I have no clue how to do any of that although there's a ton of DIY guides I think id just screw it up. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

raymond g-

nearly all aftermarket lights have poorly focused beams because the asian
manufacturers do not appear to have the interest and resources to spend
designing a projector with good geometry.

the Depo was no different. I bought one thinking it would be 'better.' it
looked better but functioned poorly. the beam was poorly focused and
the light on the road was segmented with hot/cold spots. in the end, it
was still an H7 bulb.

you can try to buy premium bulbs but they're just gimmicks which alters the
Kº so it looks bluer which fools the eye into thinking it's brighter/whiter. but
it still has the same lumens (or lower).

if you're willling to accept the mediocre beam pattern, you can install higher
wattage 'rallye' halogen bulbs which, instead of 50 watts, are now 60-65 watts.

moving up the cost ladder, you can consider installing H7 rebased HID kit but
these simply make the poor Depo projector brighter...but still with hot/cold
beam segments. plus, now that you've installed an HID bulb into the H7 socket
(which it was not designed for) the focal point is now off-focus and you will
likely emit uncontrolled glare to other drivers. this is dangerous, especially to
motorcyclists

next step higher would be to pull the Depo projector from the headlight and
toss it (which is what I did) and install a factory HID projector inside. you
can now enjoy factory quality light....good focus and good/great beam coverage

Depo headlight assembly with H7 sockets - $250
premium glamour, H7 bulb - $100 ish
H7 rallye bulb - $100 ish
H7 rebased kit - $50-100 ish
HID factory parts for retrofitting ($3-500) depending on selection

Ibrown15

First of all thanks for the in depth description. So to do the retrofit could I buy the headlights I posted above? The link says only halogen bulbs. But the eBay seller says if you need the HID option to contact them and let them know. And could I put 8k or 10k bulbs in them

raymond g-

it's possible to install HID kits into them. what the seller may be saying is that you can buy
the kit through them and they'll install it. either way, it is still likely to result in unwanted
glare which you'll not be able to do anything about in the end.

also since you've indicated your intent to install 10k Kº bulb, i hope you're clear that it'll likely
negate any increase in lumens you sought by changing to Xenon/HID bulb. the higher ºK is
conversely proportional to the light output. best to stay below 5000ºK

Ibrown15

So if I installed HID's myself and not the seller would I still gets glare? And yea I know the increase probably won't be significant. I just want the look of the bulbs to be better and I like the HID light over the original Halogens.

raymond g-

with the aftermarket headlight folks, nearly all instances, they simply source an
HID kit and install it into their headlight assembly. they hook up the bulb to a
ballast and try to configure it into PnP as much as possible.

I've not come across an aftermarket headlight vendor who has indicated that
they will pull the halogen projector and insert an HID projector, thus minimizing
or eliminating the glare which occurs when you insert an HID kit into a halogen
projector.

example: take a magnifying glass and go outdoors into sunlight. your job is to
start a flame onto a piece of paper. you move the magnifying glass with the
goal of finding that magic distance/spot which produces the flame. that is
the focal point.

with the headlight, the source of light on a halogen bulb is in a slightly different
spot along the axis than the spot on the HID bulb. that focal point how the
projector bowl and lens is calibrated and designed around and in producing a
precision beam.

given the awesome intensity of light produced by an HID bulb, it is critical
that glare be controlled. glare is less of a problem for the driver of the
vehicle, but it is a BIG DEAL when you're outside and facing the vehicle...
such as an opposing driver would be.

so to kind of answer your question: would glare be produced any more (or less)
if the HID kit was installed by you or the Depo vendor? I think there is
a better than even chance that glare would exist either way. the only way
it would be minimized is if care was taken to possibly shim the bulb so that
the focal point considerations were evaluated, or that a projector bowl
designed specifically for the HID bulb was used.

if it were the latter, this would be great. so you can query the seller and
find out what they do exactly to configure the Depo into an HID headlight.
if they respond HID kit, then you can probably do the same thing and perhaps
cheaper, depending on how much they charge for this service.

Ibrown15

I see. Thanks again for all of the quality information. So, if I was to do the retrofit with say the e55 projectors (which is what I most commonly hear people say they use) then could I just buy an 8k hid kit? The one depo lights I was gonna buy have the option to come with 8k HID. Could I just do the retrofit on those? They say they're plug and play for the regular halogen system.

raymond g-

no, if you're taking the effort to install OEM projector such as E55, you're not
in need of an HID kit. you'd be buying an actual D2S HID bulb.

the distinction is that HID kits are Franken-REBASED. they take an HID bulb
(typically D2S) and graft it onto a bulb base which is normally a halogen base,
such as H7, etc.

gen-u-wine, OEM HID bulbs are nearly always D1S, D2R, D2S, (i forget 1-2 others)

Ibrown15

Okay so say I buy the headlights I posted above, then I go on TheRetrofitSource and order one of the kits that comes with the lights and everything. That would be fine? I have someone locally who has done retrofits and is going to help me tackle this feat lol.

raymond g-

RS has great selection of quality components. Without seeing what you're
thinking of buying, I can't say whether it 'would be fine' but generally speaking
you'd be on the right track to building a great headlight. As far as I'm aware,
they sell OE products.

FlatlineEF9

Raymonds recommendation is by far the best option for HID on our cars. Second best IMO would be getting OEM HID housings and control modules. I did it, just because I don't like the projector look on our cars.