shouchien

CPO 2012 with 15k miles. It has P1, P2, heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, running board, and lane package. Love it especially the HK stereo.

As you can see, it does not have the lighting package so no HID (wtf). I didn't know that after purchasing. The factory halogen is so yellowish. Wtf is that a $60k vehicle does not come with HID?!

What's the best halogen bulbs will get me the color that's close to HID's and can still put out decent amount of light? I had PIAA and Phillips 10 years ago and they looked decent. I don't want aftermarket HID conversion since I don't want to deal with the error code or something.

Anyone here did just the halogen bulbs?

PureNick

Congrats on the ride!

Yes, it's a bit disappointing the stock headlights fail to use an HID system but that's why they're able to charge close to $1400 for the upgrade!

Regarding your bulbs, give these a try: https://www.sylvania.com/en-us/produ...tar-ultra.aspx

GregGebhardt

Not everyone can afford or wants HID. It is all about options. There a re many who do not even know what HID means.

shouchien

Thanks PureNick. I'll give it a try. Anyone here using the silverstar? How do they look?

I assume I need two sets of H7 if I read the manual correctly, for high and low beams. It doesnt seem that difficult to change the bulbs.

Did I say the HarmanKardon sound too good to be true? I have Focal at home so i know how to appreciate good sound.

27T

HIDs are avail on $20K cars.

GregGebhardt

But NOT on Benz. Like I said it is an option thing and they all added up on my ML350 to bring the sticker up to $79k.

HIDs are there if you want to pay for it and not if you don't!

DFW01E55

Nicely equipped, congrats, hope you love it and it treats you well.

Mine stickered at 63, no HID, no HK, no cooled seats, no touch screen nav.
I think MB learned this option game from Porsche, they're the masters at it.

shouchien

How did you get yours to 63?? Mine is 58 according to the dealer. I thought I have quite a few options already. Can't really imagine how one can get to 70. 58 is actually on the lower end. lol.

yeah yeah yeah, i dont have leather, pano roof, air susp, parking sensors, lighting,...... So, i think i just answered my own question. You CAN get to 70 easily. wow, from sub-50k to 70k+, just WOW.

another_geek

Out of curiosity, via the online configurator, I was able to take a base ML350 (msrp of $47,700) and add over $37k worth of options to take it to a total of $85,400

shouchien

DANG, so my 58 is definitely low. i looked at the 2012 brochure. there werent many options back then. maybe they add more in later model years?

did you guys get your windows tinted, the front ones of course? i really want to but so afriad that they are going to damage the door panels or the pins inside.

DFW01E55

I bought it off the lot.
The perfect car would have been about 68k but couldn't find it, 2014 Bluetec inventory is getting tight.

shouchien

thoguht about bluetec but wife and i agreed gasoline still more convenient. we are not going to tow anything anyway. mileage difference does not matter nor the price difference.

i did check out audi q7 before walking into MB dealer. it was a HUUUUUUUGE disappointemnt. q7 had been the car i wanted in the first place (i had an a4). big outside small inside. interior aged pretty well being after this many model years without a big overhaul. for the same money, i got this ML and losing the 3rd row from q7. q5's fine but just too small for a family with two kids. it's about the same size of a4 so why bother.

audimotion

^shouchien,
I had our ML's front windows tinted by a reputable tint/detail shop. They never removed the door panels, so no damage to worry about. Job is absolutely perfect and came with lifetime warranty. Vehicle looks much nicer and keeps cooler as the 3M tint has heat transfer properties which keep the interior cool and free of any UV damage.

shouchien

I had my audi a4 tinted 3 years ago while it had 500 miles on the meter only. they did a pretty damn good job without removing the panels as well as cutting the films to line up the edges. they simply pried the panels open a bit to make room.

however, there was a small piece of plastic broken inside the panel. so whenever the road was not perfectly smooth, i could hear somethihng's rattling inside the door. very annoying. i found that out because one day i was hitting the panel hoping the noise's jsut go away (bad example) and this little piece of plastic jsut fell out of the crack between the door and the panel!! since then, no more rattling sound.

i guess if i really want to get the tint done, there's nothing i can do besides hoping nothing shall be broken during the installation.

MJ50

congrats on ur ML...
post some pics!
u can either get white bulbs, HID kit or OE bixenons...

shouchien

ouch, forgot about this one.

Parking lamp/standing lamp: W 5 W BV

does anyone know what kind of bulb is that? it sits right below the high beam and as yellow as it can get. too yellow that it must go. haha.

MJ50

this size should fit...

shouchien

Thanks MJ50. I'll see if I can revise my order to include this.

KZEVO

Shouchien - can you please post a review after you install the low beam and parking lamp bulbs. I'm looking to upgrade as well and very interested in hearing your feedback.

greasykid

Bought upgraded H7 bulbs from: candlepower.com They have any bulb you want.

MichelleW

I have a new 2014 ML550 and I had the front windows and the front windshield tinted. The side windows came out perfectly. The front windshield was a struggle as the had to redo it a couple of times. It still has some bubbles but overall I'm very happy that I did it. It's great for hot summer days. The night driving takes a bit of getting use to though!

shouchien

Hit a snag while installing the low beam. I couldnt get rid (pull out actually) of the plastic rivet that hold the sliding door in place, meaning no access to the low beam bulb. That piece of mf was so hard to pull out and i didnt really want to destroy the rivet.

So, I jsut purchased this tool from amazon. I'll report back later with updates along with the parking lamp bulbs. I got the same #2825 from the post below as well as suggested by MJ50 earlier. Very promising and looking forward to it.

https://mbworld.org/forums/new-m-cla...b-options.html


I did, however, install the high beam successfully. A little bit brighter/whiter look than before. But it was overshadowed by the parking lamp (too yellowish) sitting right below the high beam.


Does anyone know how to adjust the headlght after changing bulbs. my high is too high right now comparing the factory setup.

greasykid

Candlepower.com has what you want