C32 AMG, C55 AMG (W203) 2001 - 2007

Need new headlights, any suggestions?

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Old 10-17-2010, 03:55 PM
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Need new headlights, any suggestions?

I have the xenons on my 02 c32, with the frosted lenses. i always wanted to replace them because the they seemed like theyre dirty, but i heard that the lenses have to be like that for the xenons. anyways, i need a whole new driver side assembly and it costs about $1000 for a whole new assembly from parts.com. unless im looking at the wrong one. so i figured id just get some nice aftermarket ones. i want to spend 500-600 on a pair of xenons or bixenons if possible, a good quality one too. if anyone can give me some suggestions on where to get them, id appreciate it.
Old 10-17-2010, 06:07 PM
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Look up depo projector headlights on ebay.
Old 10-17-2010, 08:26 PM
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he already has oem xenon.

OP, best bet is to replace it with bixenon. IMO if you gonna get DEPO after you already had the oem xenon you are not going to be happy with the DEPO.
Old 10-17-2010, 08:47 PM
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Old 10-18-2010, 05:06 AM
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Originally Posted by Viper98912
Look up depo projector headlights on ebay.
Thanks but i was referring to either getting xenons or bixenons. i feel like going to halagens is taking a step backwards after i have the xenons already lol.

Originally Posted by FrankW
he already has oem xenon.

OP, best bet is to replace it with bixenon. IMO if you gonna get DEPO after you already had the oem xenon you are not going to be happy with the DEPO.
I was checking them ouit and cant seem to find a good pair. Is there a brand or something that i look for on ebay? i found these on ebay, $430 shipped for these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCE...ht_16127wt_941

Let me know if those are good if you can.

Originally Posted by andrew c230k
thanks man, they look nice, but not even close to my price range. good luck with it though.
Old 10-18-2010, 05:21 AM
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In a quick search I did, I thought I found some depo's that had a D2S housing (aside from the regular H7's) for about 500 bucks. I dont really know though, just throwing it out there
Old 10-18-2010, 08:08 AM
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Old 10-18-2010, 05:43 PM
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picked up a set of used depo H7 xenons for $150 a pair! It was a steal but depo's are ok, you will notice the quality drop when you install them. They line up ok, but the projector wiggles around a bit. It's about half the weight of the OEM ones. You cannot reuse the OEM ballast as the OEM's are plugged into the bottom of the light, you will need to externally wire up a set of aftermarket ballasts.

BTW, I just did my lights so I have a set of the '02 stock frosted HID headlights for sale from my C32. If you're interested in going stock, let me know. They are both in amazing shape, car was never winter driven.

Bry
Old 10-18-2010, 06:26 PM
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I purchased DEPO's w/auto leveling from eBay and what a mistake. Auto leveling doesn't work passengers side, connections are terrible quality at best. Drivers side sometimes doesn't power-up. The only good thing is the look. Wish I could do it all over again :/
Old 10-18-2010, 06:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Heavens1st
I purchased DEPO's w/auto leveling from eBay and what a mistake. Auto leveling doesn't work passengers side, connections are terrible quality at best. Drivers side sometimes doesn't power-up. The only good thing is the look. Wish I could do it all over again :/
I've heard they are hit or miss on quality. They're ok for the price. I wouldn't recommend them for the retail price. I bought used so I lucked out. No issues with wiring for me.
Old 10-23-2010, 06:50 PM
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Ive been checking out the Depos, and yes, ive seen the ones with the bi xenon housing. theyre like 450 on ebay. but im sure its pure quality. on the picture i says maide in taiwan on the back of the assembly. the only thing they keep mentioning is that the lense is "german made" or something like that. Ive decided that i want to get bi-xenons for my car, but not oem cuz thats too expensive. but ive been searching everywhere and cant realy find anything good. dont want to buy a ****ty quality one.
Old 10-23-2010, 09:17 PM
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why not just swap out the frosty lens with the clear ones. I think there $45 on ebay or something.

The depos suck unless your going to retrofit them with real hid projectors.

Here's our depo retrofit thread to give you some ideas.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ro-thread.html
Old 10-24-2010, 01:22 PM
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Originally Posted by TemjinX2
why not just swap out the frosty lens with the clear ones. I think there $45 on ebay or something.

The depos suck unless your going to retrofit them with real hid projectors.

Here's our depo retrofit thread to give you some ideas.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ro-thread.html

I wish it were that simple temjinx. the driver side headlight's vertical adjustment screw doesnt work so that light is pointed very very high and i cant lower it. at night , im sure it blinds people. my mechanic said he tried looking for that part but couldnt find it. its a piece "inside the headlight assmbly" and all the places ive checked out only sell parts that are connected to the outside of the assembly so that leaves me with no choice but to buy a whole new assembly. he suggested that i buy an aftermarket set, because at $1000 for one replacement oem assembly, i could get a nice pair of aftermarkets. it seems to me that there are depo's for our cars, which i am not going to get. ive read so many negetive reviews on them. i would like some bi-xenons. what do they run for? not trying to spend over a grand for a pair. let me know bud
Old 10-24-2010, 01:25 PM
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Btw, i absolutely hate the frosted lenses on our cars. it makes the car look like a grandpa's car. lol. and the difference between xenons and bi-xenons are that xenons have the HID bulb for low beams and a regular H7 bulb for high beam, while the bi-xenon is just 1 bulb for low beam and high beam but there is a cover that blocks half the bulb during low beam operations and when you hit the highs on, the cover unblocks it and you get the full light. Is that right?
Old 10-24-2010, 03:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Jordan7589
I wish it were that simple temjinx. the driver side headlight's vertical adjustment screw doesnt work so that light is pointed very very high and i cant lower it. at night , im sure it blinds people. my mechanic said he tried looking for that part but couldnt find it. its a piece "inside the headlight assmbly" and all the places ive checked out only sell parts that are connected to the outside of the assembly so that leaves me with no choice but to buy a whole new assembly. he suggested that i buy an aftermarket set, because at $1000 for one replacement oem assembly, i could get a nice pair of aftermarkets. it seems to me that there are depo's for our cars, which i am not going to get. ive read so many negetive reviews on them. i would like some bi-xenons. what do they run for? not trying to spend over a grand for a pair. let me know bud
it sounds like the plastic adjuster nut on the reflector broke. Thats why the reflector doesn't move when you move the adjuster bolt. I would buy a $20 heat gun and open up the head light. Then take out the plastic adjuster nut and find a metal equalvalient at home depot and jbweld it to the reflector.

Might be worth a shot since it'll only cost you $21 and a hr or two of your time.
Old 10-24-2010, 07:35 PM
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Originally Posted by TemjinX2
it sounds like the plastic adjuster nut on the reflector broke. Thats why the reflector doesn't move when you move the adjuster bolt. I would buy a $20 heat gun and open up the head light. Then take out the plastic adjuster nut and find a metal equalvalient at home depot and jbweld it to the reflector.

Might be worth a shot since it'll only cost you $21 and a hr or two of your time.
According to the mechanic, he said that the "gear" or the "top bracket on the assembly" broke, he said he tried searching for the part online but couldnt find it for my car. Do you have to take the whole headlight assembly out to get to that "nut" that you are talking about? I know for our cars, you have to take the whole front bumper and brackets and crap off first, to remove the headlight assembly and i know he didnt take the assembly out. I hope i didnt confuse you, lol. But at first, i thought it was just the nut attached to the adjuster screw broke off or came off cuz i adjusted the headlights too high.
Old 10-24-2010, 07:49 PM
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yes you will have to take apart the head light. just look on my tsx retro thread and you'll get a idea. its cheap but labor intensive.
Old 10-24-2010, 08:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Jordan7589
Btw, i absolutely hate the frosted lenses on our cars. it makes the car look like a grandpa's car. lol. and the difference between xenons and bi-xenons are that xenons have the HID bulb for low beams and a regular H7 bulb for high beam, while the bi-xenon is just 1 bulb for low beam and high beam but there is a cover that blocks half the bulb during low beam operations and when you hit the highs on, the cover unblocks it and you get the full light. Is that right?
the bi-xenon still has the H7 high-beam. along with the flap that opens for high-beam operation from the projector.

like I've said earlier. you are better off buying a used set of bi-xenon or get them from MBenzNL. why? because they are plug and play and you retain your auto-leveling function.

anything else is sub-standard. I rather keep the oem xenon then go with aftermarket DEPO projector + HID kit and then spent extra trying to make the projector better. DEPO is an option when you don't already have the oem xenon.

Last edited by FrankW; 10-24-2010 at 08:14 PM.
Old 10-26-2010, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by FrankW
the bi-xenon still has the H7 high-beam. along with the flap that opens for high-beam operation from the projector.

like I've said earlier. you are better off buying a used set of bi-xenon or get them from MBenzNL. why? because they are plug and play and you retain your auto-leveling function.

anything else is sub-standard. I rather keep the oem xenon then go with aftermarket DEPO projector + HID kit and then spent extra trying to make the projector better. DEPO is an option when you don't already have the oem xenon.
I dont have the auto-leveling function on my lights. It may be broken or it just doesnt have it, but ever since i bought the car, i had to adjust the headlights myself.

I will definitely not be purchasing the Depos. I dont want to end up with a set of lights that flicker due to bad qualit, etc. and i do want a plug and play set. Just want to warn others out there on the "W203 DS2 Bi-Xenon Projector Headlights" on ebay. they go for about 450-500. From what i heard, they are the same headlights as the ones we have on our car except they put a Xenon bulb or HID bulb in the assembly. Looks like bad quality to me, considering its "made in taiwan" and only the lens is "german made". im talking about these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCE...ht_16127wt_941

I was going to buy them but started to notice how they worded the description, trying to fool you.

I am going to look for oem bi xenons used if anyone has em, let me know.
Old 10-26-2010, 01:23 PM
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Originally Posted by TemjinX2
yes you will have to take apart the head light. just look on my tsx retro thread and you'll get a idea. its cheap but labor intensive.
Is that the s2k projector retrofit link thats in your signature that youre talking about? I heard to change the headlight assembly is about a 3 hour job which includes removing the bumper and everything. if you can point me to that thread or a DIY to take my assembbly out, because i think youre right that its only the nut on the adjustment screw that fell off or broke off when i adjusted the lights too high. theres no way i could have broken the whole thing just from that, at least i hope not.
Old 10-26-2010, 05:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Jordan7589
I dont have the auto-leveling function on my lights. It may be broken or it just doesnt have it, but ever since i bought the car, i had to adjust the headlights myself.

I will definitely not be purchasing the Depos. I dont want to end up with a set of lights that flicker due to bad qualit, etc. and i do want a plug and play set. Just want to warn others out there on the "W203 DS2 Bi-Xenon Projector Headlights" on ebay. they go for about 450-500. From what i heard, they are the same headlights as the ones we have on our car except they put a Xenon bulb or HID bulb in the assembly. Looks like bad quality to me, considering its "made in taiwan" and only the lens is "german made". im talking about these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCE...ht_16127wt_941

I was going to buy them but started to notice how they worded the description, trying to fool you.

I am going to look for oem bi xenons used if anyone has em, let me know.
every oem xenon/bixenon has auto leveling. it is why your light housing moves up and down when you first start the car.
Old 10-27-2010, 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by FrankW
every oem xenon/bixenon has auto leveling. it is why your light housing moves up and down when you first start the car.
Maybe its broken. Cuz my lights never "dance around" when i start my car. Or maybe the xenons were put on after the car was purchased? no idea, but i know i dont have auto leveling in my car.
Old 10-27-2010, 08:18 PM
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Originally Posted by TemjinX2
why not just swap out the frosty lens with the clear ones. I think there $45 on ebay or something.

The depos suck unless your going to retrofit them with real hid projectors.

Here's our depo retrofit thread to give you some ideas.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ro-thread.html
I can't seem to find these on ebay, any ideas? Maybe they just don't post to Australia.
Old 10-31-2010, 04:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Beaker
I can't seem to find these on ebay, any ideas? Maybe they just don't post to Australia.
I think the inside of frosty's probably look like *** but I cant find a picture of them split myself. Here's a link to the clear headlight lenses

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...mZ170559918967

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