johnlk25

I have a 2012 E350 with the standard headlights and I'm thinking about having the Bi Xenon headlights installed. Any opinions on them? Are they worth it? I'm having the rear parking sensors installed right now as we speak and the guy also does headlights, remote start, illuminated sills, etc.

Thanks for any feedback!

N_Jay

I won't buy a car without Xenon or better headlights.

johnlk25

Actually I guess I used the wrong terminology. The guy said that they are Xenon not Bi Xenon. He quoted me 500.00 to install them.

N_Jay

Xenon gives you more and whiter light.


Bi-Xenon add high and low beam from the Xenon, where non-Bi-Xenon usually only have Xenon on low.

LemonSqueezy

Xenon normally refers to factory installed, but in this case I'm assuming you're talking about an aftermarket HID kit? For $500.00 you better be getting one of the dam best kits on the market or that's one hell of a markup because installation on any car should be quite straight forward. Decent kits can run you ~$100 and excellent amazing ones I've seen up to $350.

I can't speak much for other items but I have aftermarket illuminated sills, $220 shipped and <1 hour slowing working to get installed. Seems your guy might charge a lot.

johnlk25

Yeah, he said that my high beams would still be the regular halogen but with just my low beams on that all the lights would match my led strips at the bottom.

johnlk25

Yes, these are aftermarket. I was also interested in the illuminated sills and he quoted me 600.00 installed and that is for the front and rear sills. He said that mostly you just see them on the front.

johnlk25

He has finished installing the rear parking sensors. Final price was 571.00. He does a really good job. I would highly recommend him. He does a lot of work for all the Mercedes dealerships here in the Atlanta area.

LemonSqueezy

All I'm just saying is his prices (to me) seem a bit too much. For example you can get a set of front AND rear illuminated sills for $209.00 shipped here at http://www.formymercedes.com/mb_resu...l+Replacements. I personally don't think installation should cost $391 after knowing how they're installed. Hell for that price, if I was in Atlanta I'd personally drive to you and throw in a couple beers lol. I'm sure he has quality stuff but I'm just trying to give you a heads up. Good luck with the rest of your mods man.

alanme123

+1 on the sills from Lemon Squeezy. QUALITY sills and love the blue. I had them installed by a car audio shop for like 10 bucks each door lol. Works fine, only turns on when door is opened and off any other time.

johnlk25

Hey, thanks for the link for the sills. I'm all about saving $$ if I can. I've read on here that installing them can be a nightmare though. Tons of rewiring to do. I wonder if I could install them myself. What's your opinion on installation? Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

morpheoussc4700

I just traded my recently purchased E350 back in to get one with the Bi xenon hid lights. After doing some research, I found that the cost of upgrading my last E350 to factory HIDs was a lot more than any slight loss I might take on a trade. Having said that, anyone planing on doing an HID upgrade on there car please keep in mind that if you don't change the projector section of your current light, most HID bulbs won't work properly (light dispersion won't be correct).

johnlk25

Thanks for the info! If I decide to proceed with the upgrade, I'll ask him if he is going to change the projector section. This is all such useful info since I really don't know anything about it other than I want all the lights on the front of the car to match.

LemonSqueezy

What is this I hear about rewiring? All you really have to do it pop out the old sills, take out a few covers, run the wires (which are provided) to your front footwell lighting and tap into it. The steps shouldn't differ much given that I own a w211 and not a w212. In the w211s the projectors for halogen headlights and projectors for the bi-xenon headlights are the exact same part. Light disperses fine and there's no distortion. It's possible the 212s are on the same boat, i'm not sure.

Regardless of what type of HID kit you get, there will definitely be a couple DIY's around to help with install. At the rate that your guy charges, I suspect it'll just be an "okay" type of kit. Lol if you plan to spend big bucks (ie:$500) on going HID, I know a guy that can sell you one(plus any type of LED's you might need). It's better than your typical commercial grade stuff.

alanme123

There are two different ways to install the sills. Depending on which ones you get. OEM or Aftermarket.

If you opt for the OEM (like almost 1k for the sills parts), theres a special plug that you can plug it in but then you have to take the back seat apart or something.. So you pretty much have to take the car apart and pay more for it.

If you buy aftermarket ones like from the link above (which I did), all you have to do is find an audio shop and have them wire it to the doors so that it only turns on when you open them. That takes some basic knowledge in electrical wiring and if you are not sure then I would suggest spending a few more dollars getting them installed.

johnlk25

Thanks for the info. I'm in the process of getting some quotes for installing them from some independent shops assuming that I order them from the above link.

alanme123

Some independent mercedes shop quoted me 800 to install and 800 for the same sills. I laughed and hung up on him. Then I checked some audio shops and they were all willing to do it for less than 100 for me for all four doors. Any audio shop would be fine cuz its just a matter of wiring.

johnlk25

Thanks. I'll let you know what happens.