W203/CL203 City Light Thread (LED, HID, bulbs) - All you want to know
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From: West Los Angeles
Midnight Blue 2004.5 C230 Kompressor Sport Sedan. 2002 w210 E320, 2009 w211 E350 Sport
Originally Posted by M230K
ill jus shut up i guess 
Just trying to let you know that this thread is redundant to what's been discussed in the past.
As for the bay bulbs you were thinking of purchasing, don't get them. Unless they are from a reputable manufacturer, a lot of these companies make bulbs that will last 3X's less than normal. Not worth it.
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
Originally Posted by trust203
You don't need a load resistor,but you do need to conect the ballast:
(Positive)
_____________/----------<>-Ballast-<>-stock wire from headlights
PIAA light bulb
_____________\------------------------stock wire from headlights
(negative)
They look batter in person, not that blue like the pic I post !!
(Positive)
_____________/----------<>-Ballast-<>-stock wire from headlights
PIAA light bulb
_____________\------------------------stock wire from headlights
(negative)
They look batter in person, not that blue like the pic I post !!
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Originally Posted by CitronC230K_03
im going with the 4100K PIAA Tera lights. the balast hook up im wondering though. where do you connect it? inside the headlamp assembly? i look at my old headlamps and there are two brown wire running to the city light base and one grey. does the ballast connect inside the headlamp assembly? onto one of these brown wires? please more info.
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From: Philadelphia
BANNED
Originally Posted by trust203
I got this from ebay (ship from Hong Kong). PIAA USA did not sell this 194 LED bulb here !
For some reason, it looks more blue on the picture !
For some reason, it looks more blue on the picture !
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
well, i dont wanna start hacking wires in my headlamp assembly. isnt there a way to test for a positive wire? there has got to be a wiring diagrams stating whether the outside brown wire going into to city light bulb is positive or negative, with the inner brown being the opposite. what is the grey wire than?
im thinking about testing this out with my busted headlamps, and then once i figure it out, install it in the new headlamp assemblies, that way im not testing in the new ones.
im thinking about testing this out with my busted headlamps, and then once i figure it out, install it in the new headlamp assemblies, that way im not testing in the new ones.
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A box on 4 wheels
Originally Posted by CitronC230K_03
well, i dont wanna start hacking wires in my headlamp assembly. isnt there a way to test for a positive wire? there has got to be a wiring diagrams stating whether the outside brown wire going into to city light bulb is positive or negative, with the inner brown being the opposite. what is the grey wire than?
im thinking about testing this out with my busted headlamps, and then once i figure it out, install it in the new headlamp assemblies, that way im not testing in the new ones.
im thinking about testing this out with my busted headlamps, and then once i figure it out, install it in the new headlamp assemblies, that way im not testing in the new ones.
Yeah I'm interested in switching out my Parking lights as well, but I don't want to have to cut wires just to see which wire is positive. But i love the output of the PIAA but for 70$
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
Installing LED bulbs (city lights 194 W5W)
Does anyone know which brown wire supplies the positive feed to the city lights. I find it hard to believe that no one has this info, or it isnt posted somewhere. I dont want to to cut and hack away at my headlamp assembly to take a 50/50 chance one brown wire is the positve.
the wires are like this in the assembly:
----------------brown 1.
----------------brown 2.
----------------grey 3.
all three wires go to the base of the city light. which is positive. are both positve.
basically i have city lights which require a load equalizer and i need to install it. can anyone help. im guessing the outside brown, the wire labled 1, is the positve. any help is much appreaciated. i'll post pics of the wires tonight. im at work right now.
the wires are like this in the assembly:
----------------brown 1.
----------------brown 2.
----------------grey 3.
all three wires go to the base of the city light. which is positive. are both positve.
basically i have city lights which require a load equalizer and i need to install it. can anyone help. im guessing the outside brown, the wire labled 1, is the positve. any help is much appreaciated. i'll post pics of the wires tonight. im at work right now.
Last edited by CitronC230K_03; Oct 27, 2005 at 03:12 PM.
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From: Diamond Bar & Anaheim, CA
2003 C-Class Sportcoupe
Didn't you install led city lights before? Anyways, it doesn't matter which wire you connect to really. One end of the load equalizer goes to the grey wire and the other end goes to a brown wire in a bridge circuit. The load equalizer basically increases the resistance to prevent the computer thinking the bulb is burnt. That's how I installed it and it works fine.
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
yeah i installed LED lights before, couldnt get them to work so i took them out. now that my car is in the body shop and the headlight assemblies are out of the car, i figure perfect time to install LED lights and the load equalizers, since i couldnt access the headlights wires enough last time. so i am. then i had this quesiton.
plus im not sure if this is a load equalizer or a ballast. the PIAA people call it a ballast, but isnt it really just a load equalizer? thanks for your help on this pshek.
btw, they are the PIAA TERA 4500K city lights.
plus im not sure if this is a load equalizer or a ballast. the PIAA people call it a ballast, but isnt it really just a load equalizer? thanks for your help on this pshek.
btw, they are the PIAA TERA 4500K city lights.
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From: stix of florida
Honda Grom
i am suprised Andy hasn't pitched in with a post containing a picture of a multimeter. lol... sorry doug. :p :p I have been in that predicament with the wiring in these cars...... all i can say is always cut in a way you can reattach. lol... good luck.
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
i know, i know. but i woudl rather measure twice, cut once you know. ive been seriously considering testing the connections on my old headlamp assemblies. who cares if i **** up the wiring in those. then once i figure out how the wiring is supposed to be, ill do it in the new headlamp assemblies.
im just soo confused over these two brown wires. and the to cross the grey over to one.
im just soo confused over these two brown wires. and the to cross the grey over to one.
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From: stix of florida
Honda Grom
I hear ya......I hate it when I have to go the ghetto approach. I like to have everything I do in life DIY to look professional. Tried emailing steve? or scorchie? Sunman? Maybe they can help ya out man.
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From: www.Traben-Trarbach.de
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Originally Posted by electromethod
i am suprised Andy hasn't pitched in with a post containing a picture of a multimeter. lol... sorry doug. :p :p I have been in that predicament with the wiring in these cars...... all i can say is always cut in a way you can reattach. lol... good luck.
Just got home but your wish is my command.
Doug,
Brown normally is considered ground AFAIK
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From: Diamond Bar & Anaheim, CA
2003 C-Class Sportcoupe
Just connect one end of the resistor/load equalizer to the brown and one end to the grey. You can either use wire taps or you can strip the wire and solder them, but it was very hard to access the wires in my car, so I just used wire taps. And brown is usually ground (not a general rule though). Then I attached the resistors to the body frame using tacky tape. You should try to place the load equalizer far from the housing if possible so as not to interfere with the cover. Keep the resistor away from anything that can be damaged by heat. Those resistors are 55W I think, so they generate about the same heat as a 55W light bulb and can get hot (that's why it looks like a heat sink). Those TERA led's look cool, but way too much $ for leds. I bought mine in HK for a few dollars.
Last edited by pshek; Oct 27, 2005 at 08:30 PM.
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From: Orange County
2005 C Wagon (No snickering please!)
German cars generally use brown wires as ground. They are most often connected to terminal 31 on relays. I'll look at my wiring diagram (unrolling now) ahhh, The side light/Parking light E1e3 (left) and E2e3 (right) have two brown wires to one lamp terminal. These connect to ground W9 on the left, and W16/4 on the right.
The front SAM feeds +12 volts to the left lamp on a gray/black wire. The right lamp is fed with a gray/red wire.
A balast draws current to make the LED's look like an incandescent lamp load. The car is looking for current in the lamp of 5 watts or 416 milliamps. Many led's for wedge base holders are two emitters that run about 100 mA each. So the LED's only draw 200 mA. The other 200 mA can be consumed with a resistor. 47 or 50 ohms are common values, that will draw a little over 200 mA. You should have a 5 Watt rated resistor for this job. They should be connected in paralell with the LED.
Bulbs can be inserted in either direction in the socket, and work, but LED's need to be forward biased. Plug a LED in the socket backward, it won't light. There is a + (or the word anode) mark on them, and this needs to be connected to the + 12 volts. The resistor needs to be connected to the +12 on one end, and the other to ground.
So the gray/black wire (left) needs to have the + mark of the LED in its terminal of the wedge socket. One lead of the resistor needs to connect here too. Inside or outside the light housing is OK. It will get a bit warm, so allow for that. The other end of the resistor needs to go to ground, or the brown wire in the lamp housing, or outside in the harness that plugs into the housing. Repeat for the right, only it is a gray/red wire that is + 12v from the front SAM.
The front SAM feeds +12 volts to the left lamp on a gray/black wire. The right lamp is fed with a gray/red wire.
A balast draws current to make the LED's look like an incandescent lamp load. The car is looking for current in the lamp of 5 watts or 416 milliamps. Many led's for wedge base holders are two emitters that run about 100 mA each. So the LED's only draw 200 mA. The other 200 mA can be consumed with a resistor. 47 or 50 ohms are common values, that will draw a little over 200 mA. You should have a 5 Watt rated resistor for this job. They should be connected in paralell with the LED.
Bulbs can be inserted in either direction in the socket, and work, but LED's need to be forward biased. Plug a LED in the socket backward, it won't light. There is a + (or the word anode) mark on them, and this needs to be connected to the + 12 volts. The resistor needs to be connected to the +12 on one end, and the other to ground.
So the gray/black wire (left) needs to have the + mark of the LED in its terminal of the wedge socket. One lead of the resistor needs to connect here too. Inside or outside the light housing is OK. It will get a bit warm, so allow for that. The other end of the resistor needs to go to ground, or the brown wire in the lamp housing, or outside in the harness that plugs into the housing. Repeat for the right, only it is a gray/red wire that is + 12v from the front SAM.
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
thanks movela. so when you say in parallel, does that mean, that the relay stay on the grey wire? sorry but im drinking gin, learning how to bake a quiche at my former mother in laws house. 
now lets have that adult beverage!
now lets have that adult beverage!
Last edited by CitronC230K_03; Oct 27, 2005 at 10:17 PM.
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From: Orange County
2005 C Wagon (No snickering please!)
Uhoh, gin will sneak up on you. Real men don't burn quiche!
I wuld mount the resistor, ballast, equalizer (what ever they call it) outside the housing by tapping into the wires in the vehicle harness. I called out the colors above.
One lead of the ballast connects to the brown wire. Don't cut the wire, just remove a wee bit of insulation, and solder or crimp the ballast wire to it. No real need to insulate this, as it is connected to ground. You can if you want to for asthetic reasons.
The other lead of the ballast connects to the gray/black or gray/red wire of the parking lamp. Splice in a similar manner, except this side must be insulated. 3M makes some taps that just need to be squeezed over the wire, and they pierce the insulation, make the connection, and don't require electrical tape. Get them in auto parts store, Home Depot, or my toolbox.
Don't cut any wire, and insert the ballast in the middle. The front SAM will send a complaint over the CAN to the MFD that the bulb is kaput.
Pop, pour, sniff, consume.....what is better than Remy Martin Extra right now?
I wuld mount the resistor, ballast, equalizer (what ever they call it) outside the housing by tapping into the wires in the vehicle harness. I called out the colors above.
One lead of the ballast connects to the brown wire. Don't cut the wire, just remove a wee bit of insulation, and solder or crimp the ballast wire to it. No real need to insulate this, as it is connected to ground. You can if you want to for asthetic reasons.
The other lead of the ballast connects to the gray/black or gray/red wire of the parking lamp. Splice in a similar manner, except this side must be insulated. 3M makes some taps that just need to be squeezed over the wire, and they pierce the insulation, make the connection, and don't require electrical tape. Get them in auto parts store, Home Depot, or my toolbox.
Don't cut any wire, and insert the ballast in the middle. The front SAM will send a complaint over the CAN to the MFD that the bulb is kaput.
Pop, pour, sniff, consume.....what is better than Remy Martin Extra right now?
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
well a bombay and tonic is what ive been drinking, or at least a couple and oh yes they do sneak up on you.
which connector to the headlamp assembly goes to the city lights. there are like 3-4 connectors which plug to the back of these things.
which connector to the headlamp assembly goes to the city lights. there are like 3-4 connectors which plug to the back of these things.
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From: Orange County
2005 C Wagon (No snickering please!)
Looks like 2 connectors on the left, and three on the right headlight housing. Labeled 1, 2, & 3. Connector 1 has 5 cavities, Connector 2 has 4 cavities, and 3 has 6 cavities.
Connector 1 is the connector for the lamps. Here are the cavity numbers, wire colors and function:
Connector 1, Right side headlight housing
1 Turn Signal lamp (blinker) Black/Green
2 Ground Brown
3 High Beam (brighten flashen) White (fat wire)
4 Low Beam (politen flashen) Yellow (fat wire)
5 Parking Lamp (cuten liten) Gray/Red
Connector 2 connects lamp housing to axel sensors to raise and lower beam
1 To Left Housing 2-1 Yellow
2 Front Axel 5 White/Red
3 Front Axel 1 Brown
4 Star Diagnostic conn Gray
I hope this makes clear which conector you need to identify for mounting the ballast in the harness side of the lamps. It goes from Connector 1-2 to Connector 1-5.
Here is a link to the 3M wire connectors that will do a nice neat job, and they are water tight as a duck's a$$ during landing.
http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediaw...rrrvsqbMXEjWr-
Connector 1 is the connector for the lamps. Here are the cavity numbers, wire colors and function:
Connector 1, Right side headlight housing
1 Turn Signal lamp (blinker) Black/Green
2 Ground Brown
3 High Beam (brighten flashen) White (fat wire)
4 Low Beam (politen flashen) Yellow (fat wire)
5 Parking Lamp (cuten liten) Gray/Red
Connector 2 connects lamp housing to axel sensors to raise and lower beam
1 To Left Housing 2-1 Yellow
2 Front Axel 5 White/Red
3 Front Axel 1 Brown
4 Star Diagnostic conn Gray
I hope this makes clear which conector you need to identify for mounting the ballast in the harness side of the lamps. It goes from Connector 1-2 to Connector 1-5.
Here is a link to the 3M wire connectors that will do a nice neat job, and they are water tight as a duck's a$$ during landing.
http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediaw...rrrvsqbMXEjWr-
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
I hope this makes clear which conector you need to identify for mounting the ballast in the harness side of the lamps. It goes from Connector 1-2 to Connector 1-5.
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From: San Diego, Ca
2003 Citron Green C230KMT
i dont want to do the connection inside the headlamp assembly, for 2 reasons.
1. i dont want to void warranty on the headlamps, should they need replacement. ive gone thru 3 xenon assemblies because auto levelers have gone out.
2. should they assembly need replacement dont want to have to retap the ballast.
i have to insall the balalst on monday before the bumper is replaced on the car. so clarification on the wires would be helpful. the parking lamp is the city light i take it.
does the ballast go inline on that wire (connector 5) on connector 1 of the headlamp assembly?
thanks!
1. i dont want to void warranty on the headlamps, should they need replacement. ive gone thru 3 xenon assemblies because auto levelers have gone out.
2. should they assembly need replacement dont want to have to retap the ballast.
i have to insall the balalst on monday before the bumper is replaced on the car. so clarification on the wires would be helpful. the parking lamp is the city light i take it.
does the ballast go inline on that wire (connector 5) on connector 1 of the headlamp assembly?
thanks!
