spankdoggie

I test drove the 2003 C230 yesterday, and the Xenon headlights are available for $750.

Is this upgrade impossible for the 2002 C230?

Thanks.

TimmyC230boy

what kind of xenons were they. was it a regular looking headlight or a clear projectot style. Yes you can easily add xenons to the C230, but as of right now there is no factory parts to use. Many people here have installed the hid4less kits and said they worked great.

young

well, i asked around about upgrading the 2002 lights w/ the oem hids... and by the time you've installed the housing and the hids, i was told it would be like $2000. i don't think it is feasible.

but if you do, and it costs $750... let me know

Outland

How about a group buy from Mercedes?

You could always wait a year, and see how many show up in the junkyard...I wouldn't expect its many, given how few C coupes are supposed to be built every year. I heard that MB is limiting it to 18,000 cars a year? Anyone know if this is true?

Mark08859

I've heard 20,000.

TXTiger

$2000 to update to the new housings isn't too terribly much. Consider the ML: if you had halogen lights, you could purchase the old style (reflector) xenons for ~$1400, updated style (projector) xenons for ~$1800. The ML has more owners and ostensibly more demand. The real question is if you buy the new xenon lights will the pinouts work with an '02? Otherwise it would be $2000 for nothing.

Lynn

I would think the wiring harness would need to be modified for the bi-xenons to work. One of the microprocessors might need to be changed or reprogrammed, also. The car is expecting to see a pair of 55 watt H7's. The 35 watt xenon high beams would probably cause a bad lamp warning, and possibly they wouldn't come on.

edvpt

The 2002 c-class cars have a setting of Xenon Present/Non-Present that can be changed by the MB Techs to adapt to Xenon bulbs. The setting changes the expected draw to 35w and provides full power for the DayTimeRunning lights.

TXTiger

I would agree the computer shouldn't have a problem recognizing the xenons since it was an option in '02 for a C240/C320 (C230 may be a different story), I'm wondering if it requires changing the harness or is it plug and play? so to speak......

Putting xenon bulbs in a housing designed for halogens produces a very diffuse (bright mind you) beam pattern that tends to blind other drivers. The OEM packages keep the beam low and tend to have sharp cutoffs of light, not diffuse like halogen.

SLK Boy

MBenz is selling W203 bi-level Xenon's for $850...I bought a set...should be here in a week. The dealer just has to reprogram the computer (otherwise you'll see an error saying the headlights are out, but they will still shine). For pics, go to this link:

http://www.benzsport.com/forums/show...threadid=12210

They might not fit the sportscoupe though..

Lynn

I was concerned that the reprogramming for the 2002 C's was for the low beams only. Apparently, reprogramming is not an issue for the high beams. I had read that the bi-xenons required a different wiring harness, but that seems to not be the case.

SLK Boy

When I get the set I'll have the dealer reprogram to see if the HIDs will work..i'll keep you guys updated!

TXTiger

Kudos to SLK Boy and MBenzNL for getting us a real answer and solution to this!!! Why can't MBUSA be so helpful? Ha!!!

MBenzNL

The connectors/wiring is the same for both Halogen and Xenon lights. In my case I have tried a set of Bi Xenon lights on a 2001 C200k and that worked perfectly.
The malfunction code for a faulty bulb does show but can easily be reprogrammed by the dealership. This faultcode only concerns the low beam because the high beam is still the same 55W bulb as before in combination with a switched over reflector for the Xenon bulb (bi Xenon).

I have shipped out a set to the states today and will ship out 2 other sets the first half of next week, so I presume all other possible questions to 2003 Bi Xenon headlights on pre 2003 W203s will be answered soon...

greetingz,