Lakerz4sho

Sigh.. what a headache.

So, I purchased a DDM Slim HID Kit w/ 4500K bulbs. I read a lot of good reviews regarding the kit, and it is advertised as having good compatibility with most cars.

I received the Kit and installed it pretty smoothly. The only annoying part is drilling a hole in the dust cap at the rear of the headlight housing, in order to feed the wires through to the ballast.

I finished the install on one side.. turned on the lights, bam. look great. no flickering.

I finish the install on another side.. turn them on, and work fine too.

I am feeling pretty good about myself, so I decide I want to take a spin around the block to check out the visibility of my new lights. I turn on the engine, and lo and behold, the lights flicker and turn off. About 10 sec later, I get the "bulb out" error message.

Apparently it works fine when the engine is off, but as soon as you start the car, the errors come up on the ECU.

So, no big deal I thought. I just have to take the car to the dealer to get the Xenon=Present command put in. I take it in today, the guy looks at it. He's performed the procedure on W203's and older MB's, but not a w204. He plays around w/ the star diagnostic computer a little. He tells me that he is unable to change the settings like with previous models. Apparently Mercedes has wisened up a bit, and now restricts the ability to change those settings with the diagnostic tool. He says he can't do it.. needs some kind of security code?

(is he bs'ing me? he says he's done it before, but the w204 system is different)

So now, I have resorted to ordering a capacitor relay kit from Stealth Auto (really helpful guys, highly recommended). And hopefully this will solve the issue.

I guess my questions are... Can you get the Xenon=Present command changed in w204's? Has anybody had it done? And will the capacitor trick finally solve the issue? And is there anyway to secure the bulbs in the housing even tighter? Using the clips, the bulb doesn't feel very secure, and I feel like it could move around or bounce/shake while driving.

What an ordeal.

Lakerz4sho

So, I was running into problems with the computer giving me the "bulb out" error whenever i tried to turn on the xenons with the engine on -- engine off, the lights worked fine.

I tried to get the ECU flashed and the tech at Fletcher Jones hooked up the Star Diagnostic tool and tried, but said he couldn't change that setting.

Finally, I went with a capacitor on both sides to trick the computer into not sensing the drop-off in wattage (55w>35w), and thus, not giving me the stupid error. It seems to be working okay so far.. here's some pix:







It's a 4500K kit, and it doesn't look quite as Blue in real life.. it looks exactly like OEM if not slightly whiter and nicer.

I have done so much research over the past week that I feel I can help anybody with their problems installing.. so if you need help, feel free to PM.

MB Fanatic

Ok. First of all this is illegal. Second of all the Projector was designed for use with a Halogen bulb and its properties of lights. Xenon projectors are entirely different, have a different beam pattern, and most importantly of all YOU ARE BLINDING PEOPLE YOU ***.

Get a real ****ing OEM HID conversion with the real projectors, bulbs, and ballasts. More importantly the projectors.

Lakerz4sho

^not really. the cutoff of the lights is below the height of the headlights. the first pic is deceptive because my car is sitting on an incline (driveway). but i'll be sure to raise them up if i see you driving in front of me in the OC.

alexyanglaw

Nice! Lakerz4sho, I like your HID set up, looks really good! good to see you solve the problem.

amdeutsch

Park your car on a level surface about 25 ft from a wall as measured from the bulb center location within your low beams. Now measure the distance from the ground to the center of the bulb; measure the corner, _/, of the light on the wall from the ground. Now you see what MBF is talking about. Misadjusted headlights actually will give you less visibility.

P.S.
Keep in mind that the hi-beam usually shoots straight ahead while the lo-beam dips.

MB Fanatic

Thats if you can keep up with me.

Check the part numbers for the headlight assemblies champ. Then come talk to me. Oh while your at it, go take a physics course in light and optics.

Lakerz4sho

relax i was just joking

i had a friend drive in front of me at varying distances to test the cutoff, and he verified that it did not blind him at all.

also did the wall test, and it looks acceptable.

MB Fanatic

Trust me the HID OEM projectors will still yield beter light output and distribution. Not to mention give you true BIX. The focal lengths for HID's are entirely different than that of halogen bulbs. As it is right now, you have way too much light scatter when you look at the wall (with your lights on of course). When comparing to a HID projector you will notice how much light is being wasted, not to mention the sheer fact that it is ILLEGAL.

OEM BIX have auto-leveling (even though in US we dont get active curve illumination).

hyukki

Word, it is definitely illegal.

Alex@wheelexperts

did you get the apexcone kit?

Lakerz4sho

DDM kit (same as apexcone, except a slimmer ballast). if you get it, be sure to get the error-cancelling/anti-flicker capacitor harness.

stephensong

Just get the P2 package and put the key in, start the car, turn the lights on and there you have it, no drilling required.

benz_addict

looks real nice man good job

are you using 4700uf caps?

Andr3an

so you mean that people who don't have P2 have to change the headlight housing? is it expensive?

Lakerz4sho

yes. i needed them, because i was getting the bulb out error whenever i turned the engine on... which turned the lights off. they worked only when the ignition was not started.

adding the capacitor rig fixed the problem instantly.

hyukki

I think the housings are around 300-400 bucks. At least for the older models, they are.

Andr3an

is that the price for the whole headlight housing or just the projector?

hartford

first bought the hid kit from ebay,install them looks good no problem go inside of the car and on my dash i have a massage low beam failure ok.Now i go back on ebay and purchase some error canceller crap that dint work for my car.did some research on some web sites.just go to radio shack and buy a pair of resistors 10w.connect one end to positive the other on negative on your hid kit before the blast.maybe you want to strip the wires or soder them this will fool your computer to think it has its normal lights.all you will spend is about two bucks plus tax.

stogge

Damn this is an old thread... LoL...

hartford

About as old like your mama or car or codom in your wallet laugh at that.its just to help others that don't know idiot

stogge

BO Knows

Guys be nice.... You need to purchase CANBUS error free HID kit, so you don't need worry about buying error cancelers, resistors, capacitors, etc.

oldbeaver

Can you show examples of HID projectors sellers for W124's ?

Thanks in advance,

Oldbeaver

hondafan

I think you'll have to retrofit them. It's the best way to go anyway.

EDIT: eBay has a set, but they will not be ideal for HIDs anyway. A quick search on eBay gave a ton of results for lots of different styles, but none are designed for HIDs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-W124-Clear-Chrome-HeadLights-Front-Lamps-LH-RH-Pair-1985-1995-/321292382923?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ace84b2cb&vxp=mtr