jptaylor

ok, so the eyebrow lights are HIDEOUS on our cars...even when you change out to LEDs it doesnt get much better, just 2 little patches of pretty white light in a foot long housing...well there is a reason it looks like this and fortunately there is an inexpensive fix that is not TOO labor intensive...

tools needed:
flat head screwdriver
oven

panel popping tool(very important-$9 at Harbor Freight)


parts needed:

Alpena Max white LEDs(about $30-Autozone)




Process:

not going through the light removal process, been covered and Spyder has a great video on YouTube...
(This video is good as well but REMEMBER TO LIFT THE LIGHT JUST SLIGHTLY AND REMOVE THE LAMP WASHER BEFORE YOU TAKE THEM OUT...if you dont they WILL break every time)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yz3u0CDm0PU

Once lights are out take out all the bulbs, then take out the eyebrow plugs, ballast, anything that is removable from the housing....also pop off the 4 metal clips that hold the lens to the housing



fortunately for us these lights are SUPER easy to open up....pre heat oven to 210F...put light in oven...wait 10min...take out....place on towel on flat surface without the lens being face down...insert panel popping tool into gap between light housing and lens and slowly open tool until lens seperates...once its open about 1" remove tool and grab open edge of lens and pull apart in a smooth motion without stopping(this will keep the adhesive from getting on the light...this adhesive is soft enough that once you open the light you can roll the adhesive back into position and use it again...awesomeness!!!!




now at this point you will need to remove several small torx screws that hold the bezel inside the lens....once the torx screws are out you will have 2 seperate pieces, the eyebrow housing and the lo/hi beauty panel(if you want to paint match to body color now is the time)...

open the eyebrows and you will find the reason you have the 2 patches of light inside....in front of each of the bulb sockets there is a bowl shaped reflector like an eyewash kit that refracts the light like a disco ball...break that crap off!!!!!!!


now, affix the MAX BRIGHT LED strip to the rear of the eyebrow reflector...i tried it about 5 different ways and this method by far looks the best...once you have the strip in place run the wire out of the socket hole and out....

to reseal them just put them back together on the table and then pop them back in the oven for 10min, remove and press back together and reinstall metal clips as you go....thats it



now you have to decide how you want to wire them...personally i do NOT trust the wiring inside the housing because if yours is anything like mine ALL of the insulation has deteriorated off and its just too damned iffy....what i did was run the wire out of the square hole behind the rubber cover in the very upper rear corner of each light...this gets the wiring out of sight and in line to drop down to tie into the side marker wiring...the side marker works with the eyebrows(except for that standing function) so i didnt feel like i was losing any functionality...simple wiring hookup
(if you decide to do it this way then there is a trick to not having the parking light out warning on the dash...sacrifice 4 of these style LEDs with the built in resistors by desoldering or breaking off the LEDS and simply inserting the remaing 194 based resistor in the socket...computer thinks there is a light buning now as it sees amperage consumption)


and now what youve been waiting for, powering them up and seeing what youve got....




and some installed shots





this is eyebrows only...the way they SHOULD have looked from the factory....



it has totally changed the way the front of the car looks, im very satisfied and the cost was next to nothing!!!!

CarHopper

I'd hate to have you driving behind me that's for sure.

jptaylor

a lot of it is the angle and camera but they are bright

jptaylor

and considering what we drive, there is not a lot that we drive BEHIND for long.....lol

CarHopper

Have you been on the road yet? Does the light end up aiming pretty high or is it not that bad?

jptaylor

Oh no...the alignment on the lamps is perfect....the way the prism on the lens is made doesnt allow a spot or driving style beam to be projected fwd...it is much more like a very diffused flood light where a lot of light escapes through the top of the lens, that is why they are SO bright from this angle

CarHopper

Nice. Looks good. I didn't mind them on my 09 that much.

Enjoy the light!

jcfay

Wow, nice work. Impressed that you're comfortable putting your lights in the oven but guess it works just fine.

Autosport7

For the love of all things great that is bright as hell!
Nice write up!


The only thing you forgot in step 3 of disassemble was... Skittles break!

jptaylor

Believe it or not I had them on the list of tools needed but didnt want to offend any diabetics.....

AMG893

Nice write up
I like the install too. Looks good.
I did a similar thing with my ML63.
This is something i would def do. I am going to look into this futher.
Thanks for the motivation

jptaylor

over the years ive done prolly 200+ sets of headlights like this, these are some of the easiest ive ever opened(i could tell beforehand as even when i pulled them from the car the adhesive was soft)...on the opposite end of the table are the 2006+ Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler headlights, they use a combination of Kryptonite and Unobtanium to seal the housings!!!!

Granted ive done this multiple times but this job(excluding removal/install time) should take a complete novice no more than 1-1.5hr tops...

to me the factory setup just looked half-assed and that was unacceptable

jptaylor

This shot may help....the lights ARE bright but not blinding at all when viewed from the line of sight

JonathonK

Some people like putting weird crap on their cars like mustaches, tails, teeth, and eyebrows. Then there are manufacturers that don't take a step back to take stock in the look of the car before it's done.

And in those rare instances, you get something like the Mercedes eyebrow lights, or the happy clown steering wheel in the new S-Class. Thankfully, forum member jptaylor has a fix for at least one of them, and all you need is a flathead screwdriver, a panel popping tool and access to an oven.

Read the rest on the MBWorld homepage. >>

black lavender

Very common practice. The problems come when people don't seal them properly and get condensation in them.

I wouldn't mind doing this. Hate the look of 2 LEDs in mine, plus they keep burning out.

jptaylor

Man you guys are great!!!! And as you can tell I detail the crap out of everything so that I can share the knowledge, good and bad

SupremeChicago

Ive been wondering how a LED strip would look inside the eyebrow, very nice and hats off to you for the write up !

shades

Great job brother, i'll be doing this same thing before winter hits. I've always looked at the lights with disgust, but after seeing what you came up with, i'll be all over this. Great DIY...thanks

-Marlin-

Whoa, those are so bright I had to squint at my monitor. Looks good.

Definitly menacing when seeing them coming in the rear view. Props for the guts to perform surgery on ridiculously expensive headlights.

PanzerLehr

That looks very sharp. You should start taking orders lol.. If I had a PFL I would be worried about trying it myself.

jptaylor

Little preview of the next diy.....







And just like with the eyebrows remember that the glare you see is due to the camera im sure...the lights ARE bright but they are not blinding...

AMG893

Love those they bright

raz3091

Sweet write up! Wish I was brave enough to bake my headlights.. but this is what I did to mine to block out the lights. I just wrapped it with matching black vinyl.

jptaylor

Ok last tease before I put together the write ups.....

I want someone to tell me WHY a $70k car does NOT have an under hood light? Well, it needed one so it got one.....






AND ....since I was here with tools in hand, AND, since it is always staring me in the face when I pop the hood, AND I thought I could do it without it looking cheap or ricer....

jcfay

/\ How the heck did you do that?