Originally Posted by hegar817

Ok guys yall are going to hate me but love me as well.

So I installed Acura TL ZKW-R lenses on the S55 and tp go ahead and spill it out it is definately an upgrade from the factory projector lenses.

The install took about 2 days of my time considering that it is recommended that you allow the silicone from reassembling the headlight housing to dry.

So you remove the headlights from the car with simple tools, that is if you are some what mechanically inclined. No need to remove the bumper just the 2 8mm screws the headlight is bolted on. Then you remove 3 10mm screws that hold the bumper in place next to the grill. Go get to the point is you are not mechanically inclined I recommend that you do not attenpt to do this on your own.

Once the headlights are removed you need to bake the headlights in the oven at 350 degrees for about 4 minutes so that the silicone gets soft and you can pry out that headlight clear housing.

Once you remove the cover of the low beam you will see that the projector setup is bolted on with 4 hex screw bolts. Remove all 4 to allow the projecto assembly to be loose. You will then see that you are working with to snap off the projectors cover that faces the front of the headlight. Once again guys if you are not mechanically this is not recommended for you. You will then know what you are doing once observing what lies ahead of you.

Pretty much once you see what needs to be done, you replace the projector lenses with the ZKW-R lenses and re-assemble the same way you dissasembled. I recommend that you pickup about 3 gray tube of silicone sold at autozone wich is what i needed so that you can bond that front clear headlight lense with the rear.

I repeat again, I apologize if my instructions are not detailed and accurate as if you are not mechanically inclined, I RECOMMEND YOU DO NOT TRY THIS.

Ok, so everything is backin place. There is a good chance that your beams are not pointing the beam in the right place. Come to find out, you do not need any star diagnostic or whatever that BS is called. There are 2 white looking screws on the top of each headlight that allow you to aim your beam how ever you want. The white outer screws control the beam from going horizontal that the 2 inner white screws contol the beam vertically.

Overall, I think I am the 1st to post something of this nature as I was not satisfied with the light output from the original Mercedes projector lenses and can honestly say if done right you will be satisfied with the results by replacing the projector lenses with the ZKW-R lenses. The light output is about 35% more and the so called border light line is quite more visual.

Originally Posted by zam2000

I have quite a few people asking for xenon upgrade opinions on their car (either already have xenon reflector, or halogen projector), here's my take:

My 2003 S430 didn't come with OEM xenon, though projector, it's the halogen one. I believe the majority of the S430 have halogen headlight, whether it's the old reflector style headlight, or the facelift projector one. They use standard H7 halogen bulb, produces lousy light output. All S500/600 came with standard xenon.

I think halogen light output is aweful. If you ever have aftermarket headlight, halogen on aftermarket headlight is even worse, almost on the dangerous border line level.

Most people simply buy an aftermarket HID kit, and slap them onto their halogen headlight. Result come from terrible to average at most. I'll list three popular upgrade often seen here:

1. Putting xenon kit on halogen reflector headlight (as 2000-2002 S class): reflector for halogen is designed to reflect light differently, so if you put in an HID kit, you will have a lot of glare, but not much far-beam light. You'll anoyn lot of other driver. 5/10 at best.

2. Putting xenon kit on halogen proejctor headlight (as on 2003-later S class): halogen and xenon light source have different focal point, so putting xenon kit into the halogen projector, though improve light output somewhat significantly, still do not give you good light output as OEM projector xenon light. Not as much glare as the (1) option, but not good light distribution as the OEM either. 6.5/10 at best. Just imagine using a SLR camera that didn't focus well.

3. Using AFTERMAKRET projector style headlight, as often seen on eBay. Notice that the projector design, and more importantly, projector lens, control how light is distributed. Though look simple, it's very complex in design & lens material used (just as camera lense control how good the picture will be). All aftermarket headlight (projector style) produce VERY LOUSY light output, regardless of whether you have halogen on xenon kit on it . Like slapping lipstick on a monkey, it's still a monkey. Not worth it.

However, it's quite obvious that both the aftermarket and OEM projector style headlight make the car look nice, and you can have the best of both with them: nice looking and good light output. The proper way is to open up the headlight, throw away the old projector (whether OEM or aftermarket), and retrofit a set of OEM xenon projector, along with xenon ballast & bulb (4300K), lot of work, but you will have amazing result. For the W220 headlight, a pair of Bosch 3" Bi-xenon projector should fit right in. This is the same projector used in OEM SL, CL, S, C (yep), SLR, and most BMW & Audi. Yes, lot of them use the same projector, ballast, and bulb. If you can get a pair of the ECE one, then you get yourself even better light output.

Also, people often go w/ 6000-8000K bulb color for that purple look. Ever drive behind a BMW or Audi at night ? Light color is totally white, only when you look at it approaching that you see that purple hue flicker. The purple is created by optical effect on the lens. All OEM xenon use 4300K xenon bulb, for best light output, and the projector lens help to give them that purple look. The aftermarket junk can't never get you that, so they up the Kelvin temperature of the bulb (6000-10000K), to make the light go purple all the time, hurt the eyes while driving a lot, and reduce useful light output significantly, especially when it rains or snow. These aftermarket xenon bulb is more or less spell out "cheap aftermarket upgrade, baaaaawaaaa !!! " . Again, go with OEM ballast and 4300K bulb if you can, they last much longer & produce better light

Back to my car, within a week after buying it, I ripped the headlight open, put in a pair of bi-xenon Bosch projector (I used the ECE European version of the BMW E46, yield very good light), also wire up for the bi-xenon. I used the ballasts and D2S 4300K bulbs from the Lexus, since the ballast is very efficient & compact. What I have is light output that beat all Mercedes out there, even the SLR ( which use the DOT E46 Bosch). The Denso ballast from Lexus also won't require computer reset to recognize xenon, since they don't spike much in power during boot.

Whether you do this upgrade to your OEM halogen projector, or aftermarket projector headlight, if you do it right, the final result will be fantastic light output, and that go along w/ the nice looking of the projector style headlight, you'll be happy.

The only thing you can't have with the upgrade is the auto-leveling, which OEM xenon car have. But if you aim it right, it'll be okey. That feature is only required in Europe. In the US, lot of car came w/ OEM xenon don't have that (i.e Acura, Honda...)

I don't have much free time to do light upgrade now as I did to folks on the W210 forum (I've done close to 100 light upgrade for them, using similar method), but if you have time, and willing to work on it, you'll be amazed with the final end result. I have quite a few S class (both W220 & W221 and CL too) chasing my car at night to check out, since its light output is superior compared to their OEM xenon (thanks to the ECE Bosch projector), yet car look completely stock.

Notice that if you don't (or can't) do the upgrade yourself, and decide to farm the work out, research the quality of work of the retrofitter carefully. I've met quite a few people who spent lot of money only to get crappy work done for them, and if you want to do the upgrade onto your OEM projector headlight, be even more careful, these things cost lot of money.

Anyone in SoCal who want to check out the light output of my car, let me know, I'll be happy to meet and share w/ you the experience.

Here're some pix of my previous car (W210 E320) after I put a pair of Lexus projectors & xenon ballast/bulb into it. Also pix of another fellow after the upgrade

Originally Posted by Kebowers47

IF the OEM lights from the LATER 'parts car physically fit--fantastic. However, the 'burned out light' monitoring coding will probably tell you to check it because the LED units use less current. The light monitoring function can likely be removed by software reprogramming---something I would LIKE to be able to do, but cannot.