Upgrade from Halogen to LEDs
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C220
Upgrade from Halogen to LEDs
Hi,
Iv been following this forum since a while now and found it really interesting, especially to seen how actively the members offer help and their valuable advice here.
I got a C Class Jahreswagen (means a one year used vehicle) and have unfortunately got halogen headlights on them. I find that the LED Intelligent Headlight sets makes this Beast a real Beauty. Wanted to know if any of you here had experience changing the Halogen Headlights as a whole set and how much it costs?
Regards and thanks in advance.
P.S : Been following the Diamond Grill thread too. Real great job.
Iv been following this forum since a while now and found it really interesting, especially to seen how actively the members offer help and their valuable advice here.
I got a C Class Jahreswagen (means a one year used vehicle) and have unfortunately got halogen headlights on them. I find that the LED Intelligent Headlight sets makes this Beast a real Beauty. Wanted to know if any of you here had experience changing the Halogen Headlights as a whole set and how much it costs?
Regards and thanks in advance.
P.S : Been following the Diamond Grill thread too. Real great job.
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C220
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c300
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If the stock halogen headlight housings are projector type, then you can use drop-in LED bulbs. If they are not projector housings then the light from LED emitters will not be focused enough. It will create glare for oncoming vehicles and will not send illuminate far enough ahead.
Phillips and Nokya both make high quality LED emitters that fit to standard halogen sizes.
Phillips and Nokya both make high quality LED emitters that fit to standard halogen sizes.
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C220
I have heard that there is also a transmitter thats to be added and should be programmed. I will be contacting MB today regarding this and will keep you guys updated. Actually I wanted it for the looks more.
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2016 C300
you should really think about doing this.......
i've done a retrofit in my old maxima. let me tell you, it ain't cheap if you want it to last. the initial work was about $800. and being an old japanese car, it was very easy to install by myself. however, i don't know how complicated it is in a Benz.
every aftermarket HID kit i've ever used (ranging from $40 all the way to $300) has failed within 3 years. the retrofit above was done with OEM (acura TSX) projectors + oem acura bulbs and ballasts. it lasted about 4 years before the ballast and the bulbs went 1 by 1. it wasn't pretty.
i believe german cars are not plug and play. something about canbus if i'm not mistaken. needs additional adapter otherwise it throws an error code.
i got most of the info for retrofitting @ hidplanet.com
i've done a retrofit in my old maxima. let me tell you, it ain't cheap if you want it to last. the initial work was about $800. and being an old japanese car, it was very easy to install by myself. however, i don't know how complicated it is in a Benz.
every aftermarket HID kit i've ever used (ranging from $40 all the way to $300) has failed within 3 years. the retrofit above was done with OEM (acura TSX) projectors + oem acura bulbs and ballasts. it lasted about 4 years before the ballast and the bulbs went 1 by 1. it wasn't pretty.
i believe german cars are not plug and play. something about canbus if i'm not mistaken. needs additional adapter otherwise it throws an error code.
i got most of the info for retrofitting @ hidplanet.com
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C220
you should really think about doing this.......
i've done a retrofit in my old maxima. let me tell you, it ain't cheap if you want it to last. the initial work was about $800. and being an old japanese car, it was very easy to install by myself. however, i don't know how complicated it is in a Benz.
every aftermarket HID kit i've ever used (ranging from $40 all the way to $300) has failed within 3 years. the retrofit above was done with OEM (acura TSX) projectors + oem acura bulbs and ballasts. it lasted about 4 years before the ballast and the bulbs went 1 by 1. it wasn't pretty.
i believe german cars are not plug and play. something about canbus if i'm not mistaken. needs additional adapter otherwise it throws an error code.
i got most of the info for retrofitting @ hidplanet.com
i've done a retrofit in my old maxima. let me tell you, it ain't cheap if you want it to last. the initial work was about $800. and being an old japanese car, it was very easy to install by myself. however, i don't know how complicated it is in a Benz.
every aftermarket HID kit i've ever used (ranging from $40 all the way to $300) has failed within 3 years. the retrofit above was done with OEM (acura TSX) projectors + oem acura bulbs and ballasts. it lasted about 4 years before the ballast and the bulbs went 1 by 1. it wasn't pretty.
i believe german cars are not plug and play. something about canbus if i'm not mistaken. needs additional adapter otherwise it throws an error code.
i got most of the info for retrofitting @ hidplanet.com
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From: Portland, OR
C450, GLC43
You can drop LED (not HID) emitters into a vehicle with canbus system. If the emitters are not canbus compatible then you must splice in a resistor to match the resistance of the correct wattage halogen that you are replacing.
Drop-in HID kits are a totally different animal. Most of them look like crap and create a ton of glare for oncoming drivers. The retrofit kits can be nice but remember, you get what you pay for.
Drop-in HID kits are a totally different animal. Most of them look like crap and create a ton of glare for oncoming drivers. The retrofit kits can be nice but remember, you get what you pay for.
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c300
Yeah, good luck with that. No MB dealer will do it for you. Why? Because the car with halogens is not compatible for LED lights. Been there, tried that.
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c300
You can drop LED (not HID) emitters into a vehicle with canbus system. If the emitters are not canbus compatible then you must splice in a resistor to match the resistance of the correct wattage halogen that you are replacing.
Drop-in HID kits are a totally different animal. Most of them look like crap and create a ton of glare for oncoming drivers. The retrofit kits can be nice but remember, you get what you pay for.
Drop-in HID kits are a totally different animal. Most of them look like crap and create a ton of glare for oncoming drivers. The retrofit kits can be nice but remember, you get what you pay for.
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From: Portland, OR
C450, GLC43
I'm not sure what you're talking about, but my guess is you're talking about swapping out the bulbs from the halogen lights for some aftermarket LED bulbs. If that's true, that is not the case here. The guy is trying to replace the halogen headlight assemblies with the LED headlight assemblies (the ones with the arc). Those are 2 different animals.
Halogen = standard bulb with filament
HID = electrical gas discharge (uses an arc through what is typically a Xenon filled tube) These require a ballast and need properly designed projector housings to focus the light properly.
LED= Light emitting diode (energy efficient, produces less heat, typically less bright than HID but the higher end emitters are close) These can be mounted in standard halogen housings but will not be focused correctly unless used in a projector style housing.
HID retrofit involves using a stock housing and crafting it into a proper HID projector housing, then adding HID lights and ballasts. Sometimes a companion halogen bulb is retained for the high-beam (bi-xenon). The best examples of retrofit HIDs look very clean and are difficult to distinguish from OEM. Lower end kits are garbage.
Another option is purchasing aftermarket projector housings and replacing the OEM assemblies. This almost always requires fitment of the individual parts and the quality of components is highly variable. Caveat emptor.
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c300
You're confusing HID and LED and bulb/emitter replacement vs. replacing the entire housing.
Halogen = standard bulb with filament
HID = electrical gas discharge (uses an arc through what is typically a Xenon filled tube) These require a ballast and need properly designed projector housings to focus the light properly.
LED= Light emitting diode (energy efficient, produces less heat, typically less bright than HID but the higher end emitters are close) These can be mounted in standard halogen housings but will not be focused correctly unless used in a projector style housing.
HID retrofit involves using a stock housing and crafting it into a proper HID projector housing, then adding HID lights and ballasts. Sometimes a companion halogen bulb is retained for the high-beam (bi-xenon). The best examples of retrofit HIDs look very clean and are difficult to distinguish from OEM. Lower end kits are garbage.
Another option is purchasing aftermarket projector housings and replacing the OEM assemblies. This almost always requires fitment of the individual parts and the quality of components is highly variable. Caveat emptor.
Halogen = standard bulb with filament
HID = electrical gas discharge (uses an arc through what is typically a Xenon filled tube) These require a ballast and need properly designed projector housings to focus the light properly.
LED= Light emitting diode (energy efficient, produces less heat, typically less bright than HID but the higher end emitters are close) These can be mounted in standard halogen housings but will not be focused correctly unless used in a projector style housing.
HID retrofit involves using a stock housing and crafting it into a proper HID projector housing, then adding HID lights and ballasts. Sometimes a companion halogen bulb is retained for the high-beam (bi-xenon). The best examples of retrofit HIDs look very clean and are difficult to distinguish from OEM. Lower end kits are garbage.
Another option is purchasing aftermarket projector housings and replacing the OEM assemblies. This almost always requires fitment of the individual parts and the quality of components is highly variable. Caveat emptor.
I'm aware of what those are. I was just pointing out that the OP wanted to replace the whole headlight housing. But you were referring to retrofitting the bulbs.
but can somebody confirm that the US Spec ILS headlights be swapped out for the EURO Spec ILS headlights with no problems?
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2014 C300
Highly doubt it because the Euro model likely has a different coding that needs to be applied. Remember in Europe the ILS headlamps has more features that the US isn't allow to have.
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From: Portland, OR
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Housings are probably identical. I suspect that they just have different cards that control for the logic controls of the motors. Logic circuits are "probably" not integral to the lighting housing but this needs to be confirmed. I seriously doubt that replacing N American spec housings with Euro spec will achieve Euro spec functionality. If the Euro spec housings are compatible from a strictly hardware standpoint, then they should have the same part number as the N American housings.
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C220
So finally MB replied. The whole housing front and back should be changed along with the sensors, the light regulators and the whole wiring. Cost comes up to about 6000-7000 Euros. Pretty much not worth the effort.
