did some searches on this didnt really find what im looking for.
i just got my benz a few weeks ago. i though it had factory xenon head lights (so i order new ones) but it does not. they seem to be aftermarket. well i got new bulbs and i went to replace them and theres a problem. u just cant replace the bulb. the old bulb and the wire harness is one unit. so my new exnon bulb cant be used.
is there a way i can find out what aftermarket exnon lights might be in my car so i can order new 6000k exnon bulbs??

i will update with pics. the xenon bulb is wired to the wire harness

 

if its aftermarket then the bulb is most likely an h7 size bulb thats been rebased and connected to an AMP connection type. this is where there are two wires that plug into the ballast.

Heres a picture of one. It cuts off but you can see the wires coming out of the bottom.

 

this is the fog light but the head light has the same wire connectors.

 

where can i get them?? i neeed it asap pass side head out.

 

hmmm could you show a picture of your headlight bulbs then. My fogs use a 9006 and my headlights are h7, which are shown above.

 

is this what i need?

 

there is also an alternative if you want to keep the new bulbs you already bought. I am assuming you bought either a D2S or D2R sized bulb so what you would need is to get this adapter:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/H7-D2...item3ef2627b1b

and this connecting wire:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-Xen...item45f336ccfa

With these you could use your new bulbs

 

yup those are what you need. Those also come with a new power wire.

 

yes i bought the d2s. thanks for the help that what i need. ording them now.

 

no problem.

 

life saver!!

 

Your car looks nice.

It looks like someone did a "conversion" from incandescent to HID by changing the base on a counterfeit HID capsule.

OEM lamps are carefully manufactured with properly formulated metal salts and xenon to yield the correct color temperature and brightness to meet FMVSS 108. The base on the bulbs are manufactured with high dielectric strength to avoid failure caused by arcing from the 25KV starting voltage. OEM lamps last about 2000 hours.

Counterfeit lamps with an H7 base do not have the insulation protection necessary for safe operation and often fail by arcing through the material, sometimes causing a fire that damages the housing. The incandescent housing is not made of materials to properly prevent arcing of the trigger wire.

The biggest problem with these conversions is the beam pattern. The source of light is very different in HID lamps, and the reflector in the housing for H7 lamps cannot be adapted you give a correct beam pattern. I have measured the temperature and brightness of converter "kits" and the measurements show about 25% less light than the specified halogen H7 lamps. The color temperature is often a lot less than the sales literature. OEM lamps are stock 4300 K, and some 6000 K lamps are available. As the color temperature goes up, the amount of blue light increases. As it increases the relative illumination goes down. People driving with very blue lamps are making a fashion statement, but they see less of the road. I think people have adopted the blue look as fashionable because early HID systems in luxury cars used a reflector design that had a defect that looked blue when observing the headlight. Projection housings corrected that problem.

With all this bad news about inexpensive conversions, is there any light at the end of the tunnel? (pun intended)

Yes. The W203 H7 lamp housing is one of the best on the road today. The amount of light on the road is very high, and the illuminated area is very even. The large reflector and lack of a Fresnel lens (2005+ cars) contributes to that.

I would respectfully suggest you buy a set of H7 lamps from GE or OSRAM (Sylvania) and call it a day for $50.

 

+1. i agree to this. An even better option is do to a projector retrofit or buy a set of depo projectors which will greatly improve your lighting performance. Or to reduce glare use a D2R bulb instead. Won't be perfect since its still in a non xenon housing but other drivers will appreciate it.

 

Yep, I'd swap it back to halogens. Actually, I did just that. My car ran an aftermarket HID kit from DDM for a little better than a year, but the headaches eventually got the best of me and I went back to stock halogens. The beam pattern is much better. I miss the HID intensity, and my next car will definitely have them, but they're best when they're OEM.

Depending on how much money you want to spend, you can pick up a set of OEM Bi-Xenon units for your car. Expect this to cost somewhere in the $800-1200 neighborhood. I don't find that worth it.

 

IMO i dont think the bixenon is worth it. Its so expensive and the output isn't the greatest. Mercedes projectors just aren't up to par with other japanese brands. for less than half that price you could buy some depo lights and retrofit a far better performing projector inside them.

 

The bix are really nice for those of us that don't want to spend the time or effort to retrofit. There are better projectors out there and if you want to retrofit you can get some awesome results. For me the bix are great plug and play got them for a steal how much does a retrofit cost? 250 for depos, 150 for projectors and what 50 for other parts needed, and then the ballast for what 50. OK lets add that up $500 + your time. my bix were about that. BTW i did not include bulbs on purpose because i would replace them in bix i purchased anyway. This is all my opinion though but for me bix are the best for the price i got them for.

 

great infor.
im not looking to spend alot on head lights!
i spend my money on baby food and dipers ha.
i just wanted to replace the 8000k exnons head/fog light with 6000k ones.

 

+1 on getting rid of the 8000k's

 

well i just did the fog lights. pass side was done in 4 mins easy. the driver side took some time and i would not really like to have to do it again. the 6000k really look good.

i have to say i really dont like working on somthing someone else played around with. who knows what short cuts where made to make it easyer for them.