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I would like to show my new mod to my 2005 W211 E320 CDI. I have a a standard CDI, which is fun car to drive. However I drive at night and well the stock Halogen H7 headlights are complete junk compared to every other Mercedes I have ridden in with Bi-xenon or Led headlights that you can put on most Jeeps. At first I was looking at any and all upgrades for the lights that don't create to many problems and wouldn't kill my budget. Long story short everyone said the Evox-R projectors are a direct fit into the stock halogens. Now the next problem is how to power the D2s bulbs without switching over everything, because real hids and ballast along with the headlights from a E55 if I didn't want to do the Evox-R swap would run me easily over $500 not guaranteeing that any of the parts would work and nothing would be plug and play. So I looked at Leds which I did for my foglights you can read here. https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...s-upgrade.html
Looking at the D2s bulb all it needs is a power and a ground the same as a H7, so I wen't out and bought the leds the worst that would happen is I would be out $50 if it didn't work. So I bought a CREE LED MTG2 shown in the pictures, they also come in 3200k if you prefer yellow to 6000k and a iJDMTOY H7 Heavy Duty Ceramic Wiring Harness Sockets For Headlights or Fog Lights.
I cut off the female end I didn't need and splice on the H7, now I have a D2s bulb with a H7 plugin. It worked and no errors from the computer. That was the green light to go. This is the part where you can spend a little amount of money or go all the way as I did. The Evox-R I got from obviously http://www.theretrofitsource.com/
Now the regular projectors run $150 before shipping and if they are running specials which he was %10 off everything. I also bought buytl with the purchase. Now they have a class B stock projectors that will run you $60 before anything in the closeout section that come with light problems or no perfect paint. So B stock lights,glue, last the leds you can do this from $120-150. I went all out I bought new eBay headlights I really wanted only the new lenses from them. That was an extra $150ish, So new lights, new projectors, glue, and cree leds I am right around $300 still way under any aftermarket kit available anywhere. Now for the main part the pictures. To install and reinstall the Projectors and the lenses is really, I mean really easy.
I am not going to do a write-up how to take out the headlights I will post a video of someone else doing the work.
The video starts around 4 minutes to about 16 min, he goes into cleaning to them, I replaced mine so the second part of the video I didn't need to watch. Car D. Ologist gets the credit for removal.
If you are wondering why I just didn't take the new headlights and put the projectors in them, that was the original plan have two headlights if someone wanted them back to stock. However the eBay headlights have a cheap Chinese projector in them with a completely different bolt pattern then the stock Hella. In no way would it work for the Evox-R. So I took the new lenses from the lights and put them on my old lights, an extra step but, now I have brand new lenses.
OK now for the projectors and the glue. When I mean it was easy I mean really easy all I did was take a cheap heat gun and a made a five piece box out of leftover sheetrock had around. I used the gun to 150° or 66C ran it for five minutes that brought it to about 170° or 77C I used gloves then pried off the lense with ease. Uncliped the projector shroud and unscrewed the four golden torx bolts out the back. Projector popped right out of its four clips. All you have to do is put the new Evox-R in the newly opened spot and bolts right in. At this time you can replace the shroud or add halos I just wanted the projectors in. Took the new butyl around the edges heated it back up the same way and clamped it shut and let them sit for a while. Now that everything is together the last two steps are the high beams and the factory plate, that locking circle on the back of the headlights. Since the Leds stick out more I just cut a hole for the leds to go through, not to worried about rain, took the car though a car wash and nothing inside got wet, so I think I am good. Now the highbeams, I really hate splicing into factory wiring so i look to see if there was a extension plug for the highbeams, turns out there is. Retrofitsoruce sells highbeam splitters. That weird plug for the H7 halogen highbeam that is brown with three edges that hold a h7 halogen bulb is nothing more then a female 9006 Hid connector so a male 9006 connector will plug right into that and the other end into the factory wiring that plugged into the H7 then the last end into the 9006 male part for the projector solenoid its hard for me to explain so I will just link the product I used. The 9005-male to 9005/9006 female. Not sure if Mercedes changed the highbeam plug in newer models.
Also at this time I also replace the corner lights with yellow leds canbus, no erros not the turn signals the yellow corner lights on the bumper They are 194 or wedge bulbs if you are wondering. Only thing left to do is get some stealth bulbs for my turn signals the nice chrome ones to get rid of the yellow glare then I will be set.
Hope you enjoyed the write-up.
My highbeams are not Led they are just Philips - Diamond Vision from amazon they ran me about $40. I am looking for a better H7 near 6000k to match my leds, but what I have now will work. The Leds do work with highbeams since the projector opens up to allow all the light throughout thus Bi-Xenon.
I see the kit you bought is a Bi-Xenon system for the H7? Or you bought a DS2 bi-xenon setup and modified it?
All that said, I am much more interested how you installed the LEDs with venting for the attached mount and fan to cool the chipset. That is the only thing that has kept me from adding them to mine. Without the fan, the bulbs will burn out very quickly.
Last edited by boardboy330; 10-29-2015 at 06:44 AM.
My highbeams are not Led they are just Philips - Diamond Vision from amazon they ran me about $40. I am looking for a better H7 near 6000k to match my leds, but what I have now will work. The Leds do work with highbeams since the projector opens up to allow all the light throughout thus Bi-Xenon.
Great project and write-up! Mine has the factory bi-xenon. My cover lenses are bad despite two attempts to polish them. You wrote that you took them off using a heat gun?? Could you kindly tell me a little more about that. You see I wanna buy two new headlight assemblies for cheap possibly with broken tabs or something, and just transplant the new lenses to my headlights, so I'm looking for how to get the faded plastic lens off, and how to put new ones on. So, if you could expand on the heat gun and what kind of glue to use, that would be great.
2016 E350 Sport; Mom Wrecked the 2008 E350; sold the 2002 C320
Originally Posted by Stuttgarten
You wrote that you took them off using a heat gun?? Could you kindly tell me a little more about that.
The heat gun method is the hardest, IMHO (kudos to the OP!). The more traditional method is to preheat your oven to 175*F and place your headlights in there for about 5-7 minutes. This will soften the sealant and with a screwdriver you can carefully pry off the lens. I've done it before and it's a fairly easy project. You just have to take certain precautions to not melt your housings (i.e., let them touch metal inside the oven), or burn yourself when you are removing the lenses.
I tried to find a link for you but I'm a little in a hurry right now. Just google HID retrofit baking headlights and you should find plenty of examples.
I see the kit you bought is a Bi-Xenon system for the H7? Or you bought a DS2 bi-xenon setup and modified it?
All that said, I am much more interested how you installed the LEDs with venting for the attached mount and fan to cool the chipset. That is the only thing that has kept me from adding them to mine. Without the fan, the bulbs will burn out very quickly.
The projectors I bought are D2s also the Led bulbs, however to power the Led D2s bulbs I spliced them into a H7 clip that wire from Idjmtoy. Plugs right into the factory wiring. Where the H7 halogen would plug into.
For the Leds I wish I took a photo of it I lined up the backing plate drew where the Led would hit it them. Then I used a hole saw blade to get the opening a little bigger for moment and the high beam wire for the projector
Great project and write-up! Mine has the factory bi-xenon. My cover lenses are bad despite two attempts to polish them. You wrote that you took them off using a heat gun?? Could you kindly tell me a little more about that. You see I wanna buy two new headlight assemblies for cheap possibly with broken tabs or something, and just transplant the new lenses to my headlights, so I'm looking for how to get the faded plastic lens off, and how to put new ones on. So, if you could expand on the heat gun and what kind of glue to use, that would be great.
Sure, what I did was take sheetrock and put it into a 4 box area then put a lid on it also sheetrock. So a 5 box area sheetrock. Then I cut two holes into it one for the heatgun near the bottom. Then one at the top for the cheap Walmart thermostat. I put the heatgun on high let it sit got up to about 150F ran it for 5-7 minutes then it got up to 170F. I didn't even use a Flathead I just pried open with some gloves so I didn't burn myself. Then when it was off after I installed the projectors I used the glue. That box in the first photo. The way I did that was I pulled it to stretch it out to make it thinner as retrofit described then just followed the edges around the lights where glue was needed. I clamped the lights back together with pliers and a rag. Also the lights have four factory clips that pop off really easy and allow the glue to harden in the proper spot.
Was not allowed to use the oven.
I also forgot to put the most important part, the light vs stock. These are about two to three times brighter then stock. I plan to get a nice comparison of a factory Hid next to my Led when I can.
I also forgot to put the most important part, the light vs stock. These are about two to three times brighter then stock. I plan to get a nice comparison of a factory Hid next to my Led when I can.
Thanks for your input, I certainly could use more lighting power as my lights seem to be losing their testosterone.
Going back to when you placed the headlight inside the sheetrock enclosure, did you have to unplug or remove any plugs, ballast or any of the other components inside the housing before you started the heating process?
Thanks for your input, I certainly could use more lighting power as my lights seem to be losing their testosterone.
Going back to when you placed the headlight inside the sheetrock enclosure, did you have to unplug or remove any plugs, ballast or any of the other components inside the housing before you started the heating process?
Yeah, I removed my highbeams, running lights and also my turn signals. Basically all the bulbs and the back circle cover. That's it nothing extra.
Upgraded my bulbs to proper 360 degree leds.
Phillips Claims they run at 10400 lumens. That might be true differently brighter. then my old crees. I know the brightest bulbs you can buy right now are the Cree XHP-50 12,000 lumen model they go by the brand G8 Cree leds. I run them in my fogs. In all my lights are now really bright.
Got a set of Retrofit Source LEDS to upgrade on my D2s headlights.
Got to say the fitment was vastly improved and the cutoff was very clean. I would recommend these bulbs to anyone.
Also if you get the 2Stroke bulbs you won't have to splice with the other D2s bulb into a h7 plug, since the D2s comes with a 9006 adapter end. All you will need is the 9006 to H7 plug, complete plug and play no cutting as shown in the first photo.
I'm reviving an old thread here, but I recently got the plastic covers for my headlights. I'd like to replace the old fading ones, which means oven baking them to allow me to remove the old ones. My question is about the old glue holding the plastic covers; once covers are pried out, what happens to the old glue, does it need to be scraped off while hot or does it come off with plastic covers?
I'm reviving an old thread here, but I recently got the plastic covers for my headlights. I'd like to replace the old fading ones, which means oven baking them to allow me to remove the old ones. My question is about the old glue holding the plastic covers; once covers are pried out, what happens to the old glue, does it need to be scraped off while hot or does it come off with plastic covers?
That's fine, some of the glue came off with the old lenses and I just filled in the gaps with BUTYL GLUE from retrofit source. So it was a combination of old and new glue.
Have not had one problem with moisture or any leaks.
Thanks Jeff, I picked up a roll of BUTYL glue off ebay for $20; about 4 yards long. I also got cover protectors, XPEL, for $50, to put on new surface to limit plastic oxidation. Looking forward to getting started, but weather is not helping these days! Will probably have to wait to when temps go up a little.
Great thread. Thanks for all the info. I'm considering this route, but some questions first regarding the LOWBEAM:
1. The title includes "Xenon" but it seems this is a LED only setup. Why include the word Xenon?
2. How have the low beams held up over time?
3. How does this compare to true Xenon in terms of performance(light output, glare, etc)?
Great thread. Thanks for all the info. I'm considering this route, but some questions first regarding the LOWBEAM:
1. The title includes "Xenon" but it seems this is a LED only setup. Why include the word Xenon?
2. How have the low beams held up over time?
3. How does this compare to true Xenon in terms of performance(light output, glare, etc)?
Thanks!
For 1. Don't really know another name for when a projector opens to allow for full output.
2. Low beams are holding up no problems what so ever, and the 2Stroke Leds from Retrofit don't flicker when turned on at all compared to the other ones I had installed. If I have to pick a problem I get a little bit of dust in the headlights because i had to cut the dust shroud. If I get new dust shrouds cut to specs then use rubber stoppers to pass the wires thru it would probably fix that problem.
3. For distance its about maybe 5% different in however since I also have projector fog lights hard to tell. In what is totally illuminated or the area that gets lit up easily 10% brighter then factory HIDS, again projector fogs.
When high beams are on I can see about the same as then factory just its brighter as mentioned before.
If you have factory HIDs, you could buy the projector fogs and you would probably be brighter/distance then my Led setup, for now. HIDs are pretty much maxed out tech, as in no new research and development.
Leds are getting brighter with less heat and energy draw. Also when Leds become obsolete the next thing suppose to take over is laser which looks really cool.
In all the biggest thing I hate about HIDs is the wiring/ballast. I will probably never buy HIDs again personally
Test were compared against a 2006 ML with factory HIDs. Not very scientifically though.
10-28-2015, 12:45 AM
