killerE350AMG

I have halogen headlights on my 2010 E350 (hate them). Can someone recommend a high quality "Aftermarket HID Kit" for the Mercedes. Do we have some vendors on the Forum?

bob2011

Morimoto HID's are quite good, and I do believe AZN optics is a vender and does sell morimoto.

AZN Optics

We carry high end Morimoto HID kits for your 212. We actually just got a shipment in of their next generation XB35 kits also. Can be ordered directly from our site www.aznoptics.com or you can PM me for assistance

cetialpha5

Are they DOT approved and legal for street use?

rediesel

I had Morimoto XB35 bulbs with a 55w ballast and canbus adapters in my W211. Cost several times what the cheap kits do, but well worth it IMO. Everything is very well made, no flickering.

killerE350AMG

Anybody heard of these: RAZIR LED Headlight Kit?
http://www.hidextra.com/razir-led-headlight-kit/
Seems like a simpler install. The video looks pretty cool, 100% waterproof.

gcssat

Not to say that it applies to this product, but the LED headlights are very long. There are multiple installs for other vehicles in which they had to cut a big hole in the headlight cap to let them fit. In addition, they generate a lot of heat, which can melt the plastic. I went with www.xenondepot.com and got the "Philips" 4300k bulbs. If you go the HID route, make sure you get a resistor, and the headlight bulb clip with the notch cut out. Do not cut the factory headlight bulb clip, it's worth the additional $10 bucks for the modified ones. Lastly, this would be a good time to upgrade all your other bulbs to LED's. It's such a pain in the butt to change out the headlight. You have to take off the wheel and wheel well liner.

cetialpha5

Did you change the projectors?

Basically this article and many others say that HID kits are basically illegal and you actually get less distance light because the halogen projectors don't focus HID lights properly.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html

gcssat

No, I did not change the projectors. I know...I know...I know...all the "supposed" reasons why this should not be done. One of the reasons I read that the halogen projectors do not work because of the placement of the HID filament (front to back) versus the halogen bulb (side to side). However, I noticed something interesting about the factory bulb. The halogen filament on my car runs front to back and not side to side like in other halogen bulbs. So, I believe this "issue" is mitigated to some extent. Furthermore, the projectors have a nice cut off. In my perspective, this also helps direct the beam down and out and minimize any glare. Lastly, the light output is significantly better than halogens. Actually, I had the opportunity to compare with another E class with the factory HIDS, both the distance, color, and output were nearly identical.

killerE350AMG

getting price quote from a local shop for the install. not wanting to do it my self...

aquinob

You already know the answer to that question, and you will never get anybody who sells them to admit to it.

Why folks that buy an expensive German car want to throw cheap chinese electricals in it is beyond me. There was a guy on the other board that bought one of these kits and then one of the resistors or some other part blew and put a white coating all through the inside of the lamp housing. He found out the hard way that replacement lamp assemblies were north of 1000 each for OEM and about 200 for chinese or aftermarket copies.

gcssat

It took me a couple of hours to do the install properly. Ask them to quote you the estimated labor for the whole job.

Not to start a debate or be argumentative, but not all MB come with HID, especially when you buy it used. Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if MB's had globally sourced parts, which, would include Chinese parts. Lastly, while it was unfortunate for the member who had to buy new headlight housings, your results may vary. There are a lot of variables when it comes down to this "modification". I've had installed HID kits on several other cars, and thankfully I have had no issues whatsoever.

cetialpha5

You have to look for the P2 package or run the car through a vin decoder like EPC-Net to find one that had the bi-xenon. I like my bi-xenon so I specifically spent time looking for a used one that had them, not many came with them.

I don't think there's really a debate about aftermarket HID. The reason I asked about DOT approval is that most of them are not, I've heard that it's pretty expensive to get it done and very few have actually gotten it, most websites that mention that they sell them never say that they're DOT approved. The basic problem with aftermarket HID is that the projector also needs to be designed for the HID and most people just put in the bulb which means that it just ends up blinding other drivers. While short distance looks brighter, long distance vision is worse, but the drivers probably can't tell because it looks brighter at the shorter range. Any search about aftermarket HID kits will bring up this problem. Also driving on the roads with non DOT approved equipment is technically illegal and you could get a ticket for it, but chances of getting caught are probably low unless you go with some 8000k lights, then it's obvious.

Oh and the other thing that MB has with their bi-xenon is the active curve illumination which I don't think you can get with any aftermarket kit.

aquinob

It doesn't change the fact that these kits are not DOT approved and are illegal for use on US roads. As for the quality of the parts in these kits vs. the parts that are OEM in a Benz, if you really think they are at the same level, then why spend the money on MB in the first place?

Having worked a while ago for a company that designed and made "forward lighting" for cars, I can tell you that the design of the optics in the reflector and lens assembly was critical down to the MM of the location of the filament in the bulb. These types of retrofit kits do not comply with any of our certification standards because if they did, they would not pass.

Normally I don't really care what people do with their cars, its their money and their ride. But with these HID upgrades, its the folks coming in the opposite direction at night and the folks they follow on the road that suffer from the glare these mods create. Just because you can see fine, doesn't mean the other guy does.

jahquan3

I got lucky and ended up with Bi-Xenon Active Light system and it amazing. One of the coolest moments is at night when I turn the car on and the lights scroll around then shoot forward. Almost like a person rolling their eyes and then staring at you.