C250INLA

Hi to all the forum members. I took MB up on their May Pre-owned deal and I'm the happy owner of a slightly used 2013 c250 sport with 8k miles in steel grey with black interior and the LED daytime running light strip. I just had the dupont paint / interior protection done and will post some pictures when I get a chance.

One of the things I'm looking at is the fact that it does not have HID headlights. The headlights throw a yellowish light. What are my options ? Is it just a matter of getting the proper headlamp modules + ballasts or is it not possible due to wiring harness ? If not possible am I limited to using Sylvania SilverStar bulbs then for a brighter/whiter headlight ?

Also, I'd like to put brighter lights in the rear license plate lights but I'm not finding anything but the OE units online. I was thinking that if it's not possible then I might go with a blue light (yes, blue) for the license plate. It sounds weird but I've done it with previous cars and it's not bad on silver/grey cars actually. I understand that T10 bulbs would fit ?

So far, I've got the clear side markers with stealth amber bulbs and AMG door lock pin set installed. My next change will be a tint of 40% (ceramic) all the way around. I've never had any cop problems with that here in los angeles. I have that ugly 'waffle' effect on my rear center window which is like screeching nails on a blackboard everytime I look at it. I don't think a tint is going to hide that but I'll find out tomorrow when I get it done.

I have the 18" AMG 7-Spoke Alloy Wheel set which looks fine but I'll know at some point I'll get the itch to upgrade. I've used oemwheels plus before to get 20 inch wheels but it doesn't look like the c250 can accommodate that size. I've found the following : http://www.oemwheelsplus.com/index.php/mb.html

I look forward to finding new and interesting ways to spend my paycheck on my car.

odus

There are Depo lights on Ebay that some have bought I just ordered a pair and ill see how they are. or you could retrofit the oem housing with Projectors or if you really want you can add a canbus HID kit and get that blue color but it will glare people.

C250INLA

Thanks. It turns out the yellowish light is not from the main bulb but another smaller that sits more inside/ towards center of car from the main bulb. the DEPO headlight has LED light strips instead of the bulb so I may opt for that since the DEPO units have projectors and the led strip which looks better and does not require any ballasts.

I found a complete set of LET bulb replacements at precisionled.com and have ordered a set.

I have a chip in one of my wheels. Does anyone know the color paint I can use to patch this ?

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odus

You still need HIDS for the Depo lights the Seller Fishcakes charged me 50 more bucks to get it with the Canbus 9005 bulbs I guess someone decided to make the depo lights 9005 bulb even though we have H7 but well see. He said hes shipping mine monday I plan on doing a full write up for the whole process and document how long they last. If they mess up Ill just retrofit the depos with something nicer.

As for the wheels there are guys that can repair that they do it mobile so they can come to you worth it since they make it look like it never happened.

SCTinkering

20" wheels on public roads? Did you want to do any other mods because it's a good bet that you'll have to get them repaired more than you'd like to. If they're for track days, then that's a different story.


As far as mods, you'll find plenty of them here.


The two on my list are the backup camera and blind spot retro fit. If I could figure out how to retro fit Distronic Plus and Active Lane Keeping, I would be very happy. Those were the only four things the CPO C250 I bought didn't have that I wanted, but dealers don't usually put those on cars bought for their loaner fleet.

C250INLA

Mine has the backup camera and the snooze detector (or whatever it's called) that has the coffee cup indicator in the instrument panel. I don't need the blind spot detection since I assume there's always someone there (and more than not there are). I don't know if it's me or do people actually like hanging out in my blind spot.

JaredP

Looking forward to the write up. Would be nice to have some install documentation.

The main ebay seller of the DEPO headlight sells the two variations, one with a halogen bulb in the projector housing, and one with an HID bulb in the projector housing with an external ballast for $50 more.

The "yellowish" light you describe is from your parking lights. They are a W5W wedge type bulb that can be directly replaced with LED wedges that are pure white and very nice. You can also replace your halogen H7 bulbs for your low and high beams (outer and middle bulb, respectively) with higher color temperature bulbs for a whiter color, but you will lose a significant amount of light output. I am currently running LED wedge bulbs from AZN optics for my parking lights, and Phillips Crystal Vision H7s for my low beams. They match okay, and are very white. I plan to buy the DEPO headlights once all the bugs are sorted out.

BarackOdrama

I've had my DEPO lights for about a month now without any issues.

This video is really the only thing you'll need for the install besides the tools of course:

odus

I hope It wont have any bugs Im planning on changing the bulbs after awhile cause all they had was 6k and I have anything over 5k but its what they had and im being lazy right now. But Fishcakes said they have been testing the lights before they leave so well see. I dont use the High Beams that often I used them on my GTI once in the year I had that in North Georgia in the country. So well see

JaredP

Two or three people in this thread have had issue with their high beams being stuck on:
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ht-pair-6.html

I posted that video awhile back in that thread, but one done specifically for these headlights with ballast wiring and any facelift specific instructions would be cool. I also like to aggregate as much info as possible before I buy/install. More documentation is always good.

odus

Yea well hopefully this coming weekend Ill have them and throw them on so keep your eye out.

SCTinkering

+1 on the "Always assume someone is there", but am still interested in doing it anyway.


The "coffee cup" is just Attention Assist versus Active Lane Keeping Assist which vibrates the steering wheel and if needed will apply some brake to one rear wheel to get you back into your lane. I'm kind of thinking that it won't be quite as "easy" to retro fit as Active BLS. Same goes for Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control as it as both additional hardware and software requirements. IMHO cheaper to get them when you get the car and I WILL get them when I buy my next MB.

C250INLA

regarding the DEPO headlights, I got a response from fishcakes to my question on ebay :

" I am confirming with you that the listing #121363110238 is set to have a Halogen Output for its Low/High Beam projector. You are correct in your observation that there is no HID component included within this listing.

The headlight set is plug and play for W204 Chassis with Factory Halogen settings, however one of the main differences between the OEM and DEPO brand is the housing type. From my understanding, OEM uses H7 housing, however, DEPO brand uses 9005 sized bulbs for its Low/High Beam projector.

As long as you are able to find 9005 sized Halogen Bulbs, there should be no issues in changing out the bulbs for the brands you'd like to install as the inner connector for the halogen bulb is 9005 so that the inner Low Beam wires connect to the main headlight connector for you to plug and play."

C250INLA

Odus, can you post pictures of your headlights when you get them on ? I'd like to see how they compare to the originals and how they look on the car.

Thanks,

BarackOdrama

Check this thread out: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ht-pair-2.html

odus

I will do a full write up just for help for future people and Dirty panda pretty much covered all pics minus install witch shouldn't be that hard.