knvs

Hi I've been searching but haven't found much on this topic. I currently have a 98 c43 and was thinking of upgrading to HIDs. What do I need to do to upgrade. Should I go with some Euro headlights and HID retrofit kit, Bekkers HID kit, or just stick with stock headlights and retrofit a kit. I've asked about getting some OEM but that's like $2400. Way too much. What are some ways pepple have upgraded their lights? Also I've heard that once I do upgrade I'll have to go to the dealer to have them to turn the wattage down for HID. Is that true?

Thanks for any info u guys can give me!

pointman

none of that is true... just get a set of bulbs and ballasts...500.

linuxfoo

if you want to do it right, you should get the euro headlight with the HID, all factory HID uses the euro lense (e code) if you set the two side by side you will notice that the light pattern is different because HID diffuses light differently than standard buld.

steve s

yeah.. e-code lenses provide a sharper cutoff than dot lenses...so it's supposed to be a little less glare (when aimed properly) with the e-codes than the dots

99SlvrC43

yep, all true, I had HID installed in my C43 and Linux and i were talking about this exact topic at the last bay area meet, I have some close up pics of the euro lens I'll post up tonite. So Linux, what about letting me get my hands on your spare to do a side by side comparison?

linuxfoo

99slvr, sent you an email, when yo uhave time, put on the lense that i iwll send you and at night time park in front of a flat wall and see the difference.

knvs

That would be great! Where would I get e-codes, and how much do they run? There's a guy on ebay selling them for 250 right now.

linuxfoo

there is an MB part number for the e-code lenses, because thats the factory option on the xenon headlights. the question is whether the ecode lense will fit directly onto a non e-code housing which 99slvr is going to try and see. my guess is that it will, but better to know for sure before dropping down somewhat like $160 per lense and to find out that it doesn't fit.

scorchie

The OEM HID lights do not have e-code lenses on them, they have lenses that are made specifically for the OEM HID lights.

Putting HID bulbs into either DOT or e-code reflectors produces a pattern with much stray light thrown about. This is what causes the glare that other drivers complain about.

If you don't care about having good illumination on the road, and operating a vehicle in a safe manner, and just care about the looks, then HID bulbs in any housing is the way to go.

If you're trying to get good lighting pattern, OEM HID (also as sold by Bekkers) is the only way to go.

Because e-code headlights' performance with halogen bulbs produces a sharp cutoff line and broader, more equally distributed beam than the DOT headlights, this does not mean that the performance with an HID bulb will be similar. The reason for this is that an H7 halogen bulb uses a filament as a light source. This filament is about 1mm in diameter, and the reflector is designed to be used with a light source of that size. An HID bulb has a glowing capsule; when illuminated, this glowing part is called the ENVELOPE and this portion is quite a bit larger than the light source from a halogen bulb. This causes the light beam to be not controlled and focused as intended.

This has been written about and discussed all over the place; if you are interested I suggest doing some research (via Google or the Mercedes forums' search functions). There have even been direct comparisons of the various housings on the C-class. Anyone who decides that the e-code housings with HID bulbs are "good enough" is probably not very picky; you may want to consider that the next time such a person gives his opinion.

So my recommendations: cheap choice = Bekkers HID (which at one time were OEM HID reflectors and lenses in non-HID housings; works just like OEM HIDs); medium choice = set of used OEMs; best performing, most expensive choice = new OEM HIDs. Also recommendations are to stay away from anything involving putting HID bulbs in a halogen reflector. You may get popped by the cops, you may not pass inspection, or you may just not see as well as before.

-s-

linuxfoo

i stand corrected, i automatically assumed that the factory HID were of e-code because the lense pattern looked similar to my eurpean headlights that were on my 190e, sorry for my mistake.

Slvr the lense is already shipped out to you, you can feel free to still try them, they are the OEM factory HID lense that came off my car whther that make a difference or not.

99SlvrC43

need help removing the entire headlight housing. canyone can tell me where all the screws are? I removed 2, I think there is one more left, but cant get to it. I'm working on the passanger side light and where the black intake duct is, there seems to be screw there and i cant get to it.

linuxfoo

hey slvr99,
is this to just replace your lense? or you just want to take outthe headlight unit completely?

to replace the lense alone is very easy, just take off the bottom trim right inderneath the lense and you should see bunch of metal clips, carefully unsanp the clips and the lesne will come right out.

99SlvrC43

one of the lens fell off in the back area of the housing and I cant get to it and even if i could getting back the clips will be way to difficult to do and would rather just remove the housing and get it in right

scorchie

Yeah, the HIDs are E-code but there are halogen E-code and halogen DOT-only. So the HIDs are both E-code and DOT. Says so right on the lens.

Incidentally, the part numbers for HID lenses are:

A202 820 57 66
A202 820 58 66

I think. I have a couple new ones on the shelf if anyone needs any.

-s-

linuxfoo

yo 99Slvr,
were you able to take outthe headlight? yeah there is a screw right under neath the air duct, take out the air duct cover - i believe there are like two round pres in tabs, use a flat head screw driver to carefully fry that out and the duct should comee out. behind it, you should see a screw, alos there might be one behind the turn signal light as well. hope that helps.

99SlvrC43

yeah i got that far removing thetabs, the screw behind the turn signal, only one remain was the one by the duct, which would not come out with out removing much more than I wanted.

I'll take a few pics and send back the lens by friday.

kye420

If i buy these headlight lenses, will i also need hid reflector housing for hid?
Where can i get the headlight housing specifically made for hid? (simliar to bekkers) but without the hid system .
Are these made for hid system ?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33710
They say its from europe and bekkers say they get their housings from europe as well. So would this work? If i look at the ebay pic, it doesn't show a parabolic shape that the bekkers have. ANy input?

scorchie

The housings and reflectors are separate. The reflectors are definitely required to be HID; the lenses it is important to have HID; and the housings can be adapted from halogen to HID.

That lights in the eBay auction are clearly not made for HID.

Why can't you just buy the Bekkers set? Otherwise you will need to pay big bucks for an OEM set.

-s-

kye420

'


Hmm..thanks ...is it possible to change the reflectors in my oem setup to hid reflectors? The reason why i dont want to buy bekkers is because i already have a set of HID lights. This defeats the purpose of buying a bekkers setup since those headlights already come hid equipped. SO now im stuck....
Is it possible to buy the reflectors and the lens to make it HID compatible?

-Thanks scorchie
-Daniel

scorchie

I don't think you'll ever find the reflectors for sale separately.

You may want to consider selling your HID bulb/ballasts (I think that's what you mean when you say you have "HID lights"). Or you can try and fit them to your foglights or something useful like that.

-s-

kye420

Well, if i cant get the housing then im just going to use the hid lights for my lowbeams if anything. Thanks for the help...