Duffer

Looking for the simplest way to upgrade the lamps on '02 C230K

For those who have upgraded, which Bulbs did you use (I was looking at Phillips) Vision Plus, Blue Vision.

Do I need 4 H7 55W blulbs? - 2 each for hi/lo beams? and 2 9006 55W foggers?

And were you satisfied with the upgrade?

If you did not use autolamps or Phillips, who/what did you use and where do I find them?

Thanks in advance.

TimmyC230boy

go to my lighting FAQ. the link is in my sig

Hope it helps

Duffer

I did use the FAQ before I posted the question. Thanks for doing that. What would be a great addition to the FAQ is info on which kit gives one the most value - bang for the buck for HIDs, and ease of installation.

My other question for the headlamps is: Do I need 2 bulbs for each side of the headlamps - 4? or just 1 for each side - 2?

TIA.

young

various light bulb comparisons
the razos are at the end of the thread.

there are 2 H7 lights in each housing (low beam and high beam) and a w5w light for those little city lights. a lot of people just upgraded the lows. up to you if you want to upgrade the highs also.

they're all easy to install. takes a few minutes. the foglights (9006) take more effort. the installation instructions are in the light faq (or in flashman's faq)

the w5w city lights are a problem for me. i want white lights, but in order to get them, you need a blue coated bulb. unfortunately, that has the effect of making the little reflector housing blue (which i don't want). YMMV

i currently have stage 1(still yellowish) hids for low and the razos for the high. i have read several people complain about the overall poor lifespan of the non-oem bulbs. again, YMMV.

Buellwinkle

There are 4 H7 bulbs that make up the low and hi-beams. I switched to Phillips Vision Plus and I'm very happy with them and replaced the bulbs on my wife's car too. There's a very noticible difference. They are a pain to replace on the coupe because it's hard to get your hand in there to the right position and they bulbs are in there pretty tight. The right side bulb is easier to get to so do that first as a confidence builder. I don't think it's much harder to put Xenon bulbs in there. The difference would be that you plug the ballast into the car's harness and then attach the other end of the ballast to the new bulb. Then take a drive to the dealer and have them set the Xenon option for it to work correctly.

TimmyC230boy

Oh my bad i mis-read the ? yes if you only want to upgrade the low beams you need 2 bulbs and 4 bulbs for low AND high beam. The Phillips vision Plus bulbs offer the most light output without getting real HID's. The Vision Plus are great in Fogs. I have a set of eurolite xenon fusion bulbs for low and high beams. they are fake ones though. You might want to try to do a search for xenons or HID and you will find more info that you will know what to do with.

Duffer

Thanks.

After reading all the posts on lighting, as a temporary solution, until I buy HIDs, I purchased a pair of the H7 Vision Plus and All Weather Fog Lamps. If you buy 2, they are giving you the 3rd free as a replacement at autolamps.

young

let me know how you like the all-weather fogs. i wanted to get them but i don't understand how they exactly work (are they truly of benefit?)

if possible, can you take a pic of them? are they yellowish?

Duffer

Young, I am such a newbie that I can't answer your questions at the moment.

I sent several emails and they said these all weather are the best solution for poor weather.

I won't take delivery of the car until next week and I will probably spend the next week putting on the CD Changer, Clearbra, Euro Mirrors, and the new lamps.

I have a digital camera and when these lamps are on I will take pics and attempt to upload a pic.

BTW, do these pulley things really work throughout the power band for 25 more horses or so? Brabus sent me their brochure and I almost sucked the air out of my office from gasping when I saw the price - about $3500 for their pully, exhaust and install - more than 10% of the car's price for 10% more horsies. There must be a better way that performs as well.

TIA