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

ksc

thanks for the info, Zam...quite informative.

i know that the aftermarket projector xenon is a popular upgrade with the '00-'02 models and more than a few S-owners have done it. is the light output really that bad?

i've seen a pic or two of the light output and it seems, at the very least, adequate. a lighting guru, such as yourself, would probably have higher standards but the various e-Bay lights should be OK, no?

it would be pointless to compare OEM quality with aftermarket because there wouldn't be any comparison. however, i've heard nary a complaint from people who have gone to aftermarket headlights. but that doesn't mean there aren't issues, of course.

i wouldn't mind hearing the thoughts of owners who have done this "upgrade".

westcoast5

how much would one charge for the retrofit? Is there anyone up here in the Bay area to do it?
Thanks for the info Zam2000

AsianML

Great thread zam!

JRAMGV8

Great information and photos...

uthustler

what parts exactly do I need to do 100% of this upgrade for my 06 E55? What site or websites would you suggest to purchase these parts for?
thanks

n5160u

The reason there is no proper HID conversion for a halogen fixture is that the design of a halogen fixture requires it to project a specific amount of light into the eyes of oncoming drivers to create enough glare to make you visable to the other drivers and also project a measured amount of light to the side away from traffic as well as directing a measured amount upwards to light up unlighted road signs. This means the lens and reflector are designed to get this light output using the expected output of the lamp it is certified for. When you install an HID light source which is as much as three times brighter than the halogen light source the fixture was designed to accept you have increased the level of glare into the eyes of oncoming traffic by three times the legally designed limit. This is the main reason THERE IS NO LEGAL WAY to convert any halogen headlight to HID in any country that regulates headlights designed to EU or US DOT standards. It is illegal and dangerous to have that much glare. Remember also that older drivers cannot recover their night vision as quickly from glare as a younger driver and a distracted driver may steer towards the light source.

Ask anybody selling any of the HID conversion kits to prove they are legal by providing a copy of any EC or DOT type acceptance documentation they have before buying. The only legal HID conversions I know of are replacement fixtures made by Sylvania for some light duty trucks. These are not lamp upgrades but total light fixture replacements and because trucks are treated diffrently than autos by law in both FMVSS 108 (US DOT) and in Canada under CFMVSS 108, the fixture replacements are only approved for trucks registered in North America.

That said, the best way to upgrade to HID in a Mercedes is expensive but easy to do. Just get the correct HID fixture that was made for your car and retrofit it. For most MB cars that means about $1500 for new parts but once installed there is no way most vehicle inspections are going to be able to detect it as a retrofit since you are using OEM parts and you know the light will work the way it is supposed to since MB spent all the time and money making it to fit your car by design.

The OEM projector lights for most MB models 05 or later are Bi-Xenon projectors that allow the HID lamp to be used for both low and high beam. This is simply the best possable way to light the road and well worth the expense. I upgraded both my W203 and W211 this way and consider the money well spent and worth what I received in exchange. The added light is always welcome and the correct optics for the HID light ensures my lights will light the road better and still have less overall glare than the original halogen fixtures. There were no wiring changes needed since the fixtures were OEM and I had the dealer install them since the car needed the system reset to HID PRESENT to keep the lighting SAM happy. This setting needs to be changed to HID PRESENT for another reason as well even if the conversion kit you use is like the one Mitek sells on eBAY that does not trigger a faulty lamp DTC if used. If your car now has HID installed and is still set for halogen, the DRL function will send a reduced voltage to the HID Ballast when the DRL is active. This reduced voltage will cause the ballast for the HID system to overheat as it tries to boost the output voltage to the correct level while it is being subjected to a lower input voltage than it was designed to support for normal operation. The MB lighting SAM when set to HID PRESENT does not reduce the voltage when the DRL is active because HID lamps being used as DRL need full voltage and are not set for reduced brightness like Halogens are.

zam2000

You're correct here, adding aftermarket kit to halogen headlight will add lot of glare, and make it hard for other driver. The proper way is to put in OEM xenon headlight, or retrofit OEM xenon projector/ballast into the headlight.

On note, there're couple major manufactures that produce xenon component for ALL the car in the world: Stanley, Denso, Kioto (3 from Japan), and Bosch, Valeo, Hella (3 from Europe), none is US. Probably some more that I miss, but these are the major ones. Whether it's the $1.5 mil Buggati or $25K Ford, chance is if the car is OEM xenon, part came from 1 of these 6 manufactures. Lot of car have use same projector/ballast for headlight. The Mercedes SLR and C class use identical xenon projector/ballast for the headlight !!!

There're two standard: ECE (for Europe), and DOT (for US). The ECE spec ask for more light, and tend to have better lens. Also, Japanese projector produces much better light than the European ones, and their ballast also have better design/power consumption curve (later about it)

Saddly, Mercedes tends to use the cheapest parts for their xenon headlight, whether its the ultra expensive SLR or economy C class (well, they're using same part anyway). BMW and Audi use much better projector (and therefore produce better light output). Some like Porsche now use Japanese projector for superior light output. All Mercedes use Hella/Bosch projector, US car use DOT version, good light output compared to halogen, but probably the worst compared to other car brand with Xenon. Park a Mercedes next to an Audi, Infiniti, or Acura at night, and they'll make the Mercedes feel like halogen. Open up a headlight of a Mercedes and a Acura, and the cheapness/low-quality of the Mercedes xenon part show outright. Still, it's much better and safer than halogen.

Don't know who told you this, but this whole thing you just said sound as "valid" and "inteligent" as saying a Toyota Prius accelerates faster than Ferrari Enzo because it has more torque at zero RPM (which it does, due to the electric engine). Put it short: it's full of crap.

First of all, these's no such thing as reduced voltage !!. All xenon ballast operate on 12 volt and take 35 watt once they pass the boot state. The way xenon system work is that the ballast charge up, and send a hugeee spike of voltage (800-1400 volt) to the bulb to ignite the salt in it. THIS IS COULD SEND YOU TO HEAVEN IF YOU TOUCH IT DURING BOOT UP, and WHY DEALER ASK TO DO THE JOB OF CHANGING/TESTING THE XENON SYSTEM Once the salt in the xenon chamber is ignited and light up, then the voltage between the ballast ignitor and the bulb is drop down to 85 volt. This apply to all, whether aftermarket or OEM. Also, notice that the voltage between the ballast ignitor and the bulb spike during boot, but the voltage between the battery and the ballast always maintain at 12 volt. Pass boot, the ballast consume 35W, and run around 3-4 amp in current.

Now, the boot up (spike) process often less than 1 second, but different ballast operate differently during boot up. The German ballast (as used in Mercedes) also spike in power consumption (often up to 80-100W, and run 7-10 amp) during boot up, where the Japanese ballast, with more advanced design, is more stable, probably take 50W and run 4-5 amp). So the Japanese ballast tend to be more stable in power consumption.

As said, all xenon ballast run 12 volt and 35 W once they're passed the boot state. Halogen bulb H7 (used in most Mercedes halogen), however, run constantly 12 volt and 55W, running 4-5 amp, so as the matter of fact, halogen consume more power than xenon. If you put a xenon system into a Mercedes have have OEM halogen, since the computer detect spike of power consumption during boot, and drop/back-flow pass boot, which is different than how halogen operate (constant power consumption), it trigger the "lamp failure" message. If the computer is programmed to "HID present", then it's set to tolerate this pattern of large power consumption during boot up, and only 35W after that, and that's all. A way to overcome this spike problem and not trigger lamp fail message w/o requiring computer reprogramming is to add a capacitor/diod, which lot of aftermarket manufacture do. This cause no harm to the car electrical system at all, as the matter of fact, it helps to protect the wiring system.

Notice that halogen consume more power, but produce less light. Reason is for a halogen bulb, 85% of power consumption go into heat, where in xenon, rougly 15-25% is into heat, the rest is to maintain the salt lighting up. This is the reason why halogen bulb/headlight run much hotter than the xenon one.

Don't know how much you know about car/electrical, but for most of the components in a car, voltage is often fixed (12 volt, or 24 volt in some of the new BMW), wattage is dictate by the consumption of the device, which lead to current (amp) on the wire between the power source battery and the devices. The computer monitor the current to know when/which go wrong. You got it all wrong the other way around.

Also, since the Japanese ballast often do not cause a spike in power usage during boot up, it does not cause the computer system to trigger the lamp fail, that's all.

It's just that your post try to go into technical in such a horrendously wrong way, so I just just to clarify it.

There's a website HIDPlanet forum that can educate a lot about this, along with offer advice on how to properly upgrade your halogen to xenon. In its classify section, you'll see that Mercedes projector/ballast often command lowest price, and Lexus/Acura often run for more.

Good time ....

KA8

great info!

I have 06 C230 w/o HID so I bought some cheap hid kits from ebay and added some capacitors(35W, 2200uF) and it worked wonders for awhile. then passenger side started going on and off by itself and also seemed a lil dimmer than the other side. I got so frustrated so I replaced my bulbs with regular H7's for the moment until I decide what to do next. What's wrong with my lights? Is it the cheap hid kits? This happened to both sets that I bought for past year. Will reprogramming to XENON PRESENT do anything in this case? Or do I need to guy some quality ballasts?

Thanks for your help

fkong777

The ballast is getting older and require more time and power to spike up the HID arc. To make it more reliable you need to run a relay and get power supply from a good 12V source. The OEM H7 wiring may not have enough amps to supply the ballast consistently.

KA8

cool thanx BUT won't the comp trigger error msgs?

PSN

Hello all,

Have been reading for past couple of days on these damn lights. Question that I have as majority of you to add a sleek look to the S430 2001 with regular halogen is this a good fit for. I know most of the people say do not buy from EBay but I also have seen couple of shops selling the same item. In order to make the switch is there anything else needed for me to do to avoid all the problem previous people here had. Since they are already pre-manafactured to fit the HID need, would this be a good set up? All the help is appriciated? I dont want to **** you all off cause I know you are tired of these questions already Just trying to configure this out that's all.

Here is the link on what I was looking at

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/00-05...mZ140266928725

trustz

If you want to by aftermarket head lights try "Depo", the "Angel eyes" is not as good as "Depo". The one come with HID set up ready is just add cheap aftermarket HID kit. The lens is still NOT for HID bulb, So just find the Depo one and get some batter HID kit.

donjuan45i

anyone know anyone or anywhere that you can buy that harness? Also S500 man is all you did just buy the adapter and plug in the headlights? and just left the autolevel out right? Does the adapeter enable the bixenon to work?

I was planning on just getting the aftermarket and going with the retro but have came across a set fairly cheap and would rather go oem route if possible. Im good at the hardware part just not good as good at electrical

thanks in advance

S500 Man

i bought the adapter and ran a ground into it , and the other plug was plug and play.....the bixenon works just not the auto level, which i dont use auto level anyways.

Arlen777

Hello everybody i got aftermarket xenon and after installation right headlight didnt work, who had the same problem?

j69berg

i have a s55 amg 2002 with ignitor problems. where can i buy an ignitor that will work for it? thanks!

tusabes

https://mbworld.org/forums/group-pur...r-specials-71/

hegar817

I agree on Mercedes using very poor quality projector lenses. I have 2003 w220 so anyone know if it is possible to buy the projector lenses from an audi, bmw, lexus, acura etc. and replace the factory w220 lenses? I checked out the mounts inside my headlight and compared them to the ones on the other makes and came to find out that they will not mount up perfectly. Could it be possible to remove the projector lense itself and insert in to the mount of the mercedes lense. Are there different size lenses? Seems to be just be a remove and replace process.

Anyone know or any suggestions?

Thanks

togaduke

one of the after market companys should just do this..Im sure it would be a hit..

hegar817

I just ordered a pair of Acura TL ZKW-R lenses from theretrofitsource.com. after doing alot of research I have found that the best projectors come from the Acura Tl. The light output is one of the best and the so called lines are the sharpest. I should recieve them by this Friday and hopefully not too hard to install. I looked inside the headlight housing of the w220 and it appears to be 4 hex screws that hold in in place. Once the whole projector is out, all is to do is change out the lense which does not seem too hard.

I also looked on ebay if you search for "s550 projector" that it looks exactly the same as the w220 model. It goes for about 125.00 on ebay but that is the lense and the whole projector housing. Changing the lense looks to be pretty easy and an easy upgrade for the 45.00 that I paid.

Well I will find out this weekend on how hard it is and the outcome of the light sharpness and brightness.

trag

Is there anywhere one can see how this is done?
Kinda Like a diy video for the mechanicly impaired like myself?
NM,found a website.......

trag

Hegar817
How easy was it?
How does it look?

hegar817

Will update sometime this weekend.

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.