no_clue

Before I begin, I must said, we are NOT debating if I should stay w/ OEM or not. I want to spend as little as possible. ( I am getting old, and I do need more powerful light, and I really really can't get used to Seattle constant rainning weather)
And I will apologize to all incoming traffic, if I have to.


I search Ebay and found price range are $100 to $400 for H7 Kit.

My question is simple.....
1. Anyone tried the cheaper HID kit? Instead of Mtec ( Yes, I am cheap! )
2. Does it give you error code?
3. How do you secure the HID bulb on the housing? ( I notice OEM has this plastic clip on the connector area where it can twist and lock the bulb into position. However, if I replace w/ the HID bulb, how do I secure it? )

health services

No!!!!! Do not do it! Research your product and ask them a lot of questions. This way you will also find out if there is anyone there to help you if you run into problems

Right now I have two of those cheap kits. $119 each pair shipped so you have an idea who they are. I have one pair for the headlights and one pair for the fogs. I suspect one of the ballast is bad since one light flickers a lot every three minutes or so. I have asked for a warranty exchange with no luck. I ordered a H1 for my fogs as they indicated they would be H1. They were wrong as when I remove my fogs light bulbs they were H11s.

From their ebay site (and I thought my grammar is bad!):

‘4. Our HID kit covers one year warranty for all parts. Anything wrong, we will replace it, no questions asked.’

They charged me $20 to do an exchange and they were the ones who recommended the H1 bulbs!


2. Our HID kit will not cause any Automotive on board computer error message, it is made for any types of car.

The headlights flicker when auto or constant on is used contrary to what they advertised. The faulty bulb indicator goes on too when in this mode. They do work well and flicker only once (one flick) every 5 minutes or so when the manual switch is turned on. I still find this a little irritating.

3. Our HID kit dose not need any types of relay ( except bi-xenon ), it is a fully plug and play installation, no wire or tool needed to install.

I do not consider them to be plug and play if there is no connector for your original headlight plug to plug into. They just give you a spade connectors. They also claim the kits are not from China and are from Korea... well after seeing what Korean HID looks like I think I want the Chinese ones! The Ballast and bulbs look very similar to what everyone else sells. But there is definitely a quality difference. And by the way the ones you get are not exactly the same as what is shown in the pictures.

I guess when the product is so cheap and the profit is so small they have to sell 20 to recoup from one warranty exchange.

Whichever kit you purchase make sure you seal the headlight box and it is air tight after you do your install or else dirt and water will eventually make its way into the housing.

Oh if you aim you lights correctly you can still see without blinding everyone.

I am still waiting for a word from them since I complained. I'm normally very forgiving and may have to eat my words. I do have to say that they are slow at responding to follow up questions. Funny they were quick to answer when I haven't bought yet!

health services

And when the fogs are working they are totally worth changing to HID!

health services

Oh I just bought my set a couple weeks ago. I have installed several kits in the past and this set looks good quality wise but performance wise is not up to par.

When you shop, look at the pictures closely because some of the kits are actually even worst than this kit. If you look closely at some of the kits the heat shrink used is cheap, and they use the common spade connectors you would find in a low end auto parts store.


If you are really wanting a cheap kit I'll consider selling you mine in the next coming weeks when I find a better replacement

no_clue

Health Services~~ thanks for the reply.
I guess I will move little "UP" on the price.

BTW, how do you secure the H7 in the socket?

health services

When the bulb is still connected to the harness it will look like this.




The bulb is the H7 bulb removed from the housing in my 2005 E500. the bulb on the left is the HID in the plastic container. leave it in there as long as possible to keep any oils (like the natual oil on your hands) off of it.



Take note to see how the retaining clip was clocked or phased on the old bulb. Remove the old retaining clip and install on your new bulb.



This will be a pain to put on and you will most likely need to cut off the dust plug (big round plug on some of the wires these kits have) to install. Note you should not need to cut or damage any part of the wires or ends. Again be careful not to touch the bulb. if you think the bulb touch anything you can dip the bulb in some rubbing acohol.

no_clue

Health Service~ YOU DA MAN~~~~~~ (thanks for such detail pic)
Well............ I will try the little more expensive model.
haha.... I know, I am old and cheap.

I am looking at the Bosch HID kit. Which is about $160 shipped.
I will see how it turn out.

Unless anyone has something to say about it?

health services

This appears to be a pigtail where one end goes directly into the Ballast and the other end goes directly to your headlight plug. Note that there are no bare wires or spades. Look closely or better yet ask, as some of the more expensive models still do not have the proper connectors either.

health services

I like to find a good kit as well so if anyone has any input this would be great.

no_clue

Thanks again. So you are back on regular bulb for now?

health services

No I am still running the HID. I just do not like that it flickers every 3-8 minutes. I tried to go back but its like using a flashlight to see afterwards. I have a friend looking for some damage factory bi xenon HID housings that are damaged take offs from an accident. Hopefully I can retrofit the inner working onto the H7 housings i have on the car now. That way I can have high beams too.

Oh If the headlights are aimed properly, when you are looking at the car from the front it should not look bright at all from oncoming traffic.

health services

And yeah I'm getting old too. Driving at night in the other cars is like like driving with tint on the windshield or something.

no_clue

LOL~~



I will order the "Bosch kit" tomorrow. Or if other member has anything to say about it. Hopefully, it will not flicker!

Clinton Horn

I will not try to convince you that aftermarket halogen bulbs are equal to the HID setup. I have a Japanese car with HID and they are excellent. I replaced the factory halogen bulbs in our 2003 W211 with Sylvania Silverstar 5000K (I believe). I lined the two vehicles up side by side after the retro fit and the HID was still better but not by that much. The lens on the M-B compensates somewhat for the inferior bulb. The Sylvania bulbs are not that finicky, are nearly as white as the HID and they cost about $30 for the pair. They make a hotter (whiter) bulb as well but I felt these were sufficient. I am a huge do it your self advocate and I would not hesitate to retrofit HID but from what I read (flickering / error codes/ moisture problems etc) it is not worth it. Neither is the used market for factory take-offs. These are totally ridiculous in price. I am older as well and good lighting is a significant factor in night driving. I am curious if LED is on the horizon - Anyone?

health services

The hid fog light retrofit is extremely easy to install. If you can replace a light bulb you can retrofit the fog lights. It takes all of a additional 5-10 mins more to install a HID system on the fog lights than just replacing the bulbs.

You may just want to put the Sylvania bulbs in the headlights and change the fogs to HID as this did not cause any coding. It will also be easier on the battery too (less drain) if you like to set fogs to stay on for some time after you shut off the car.

I feel this upgrade as a good alternative to doing the headlights.

But this is exactly what I did first. But I have to warn you after doing the HID on the fogs there was such a difference that I just had to do the headlights. Just do not aim the fog lights higher than the height of the fog light itself and you should be safe.

To do the headlights properly will be more time consuming because the wiring for the light is inside the housing itself. You'll want to seal off the light housing properly to keep the dust and moisture out. For some of you just cutting a hole and putting some silicone will suffice but to others to do it properly will require cutting a hole and putting a proper grommet in.

One Warning most fog lights bulb replacement charts show the E500 has H1 bulbs, mine had H11 for some reason. Please remove your bulb to check before ordering. It will save you a bunch of time and aggravation.

W Cole

Try www.cqlight.ca I have heard good things about these guys on the forums - $180 shipped.

raymond g-

no-clue...dood, you live what....about 3-4 miles from Bill Gates' mansion? just
park your car near the access road and put a sign on it "Will work for real HIDs".

(hey, i'm off most of next week. let's do lunch or something)

no_clue

I was absolutely against "HID kit" at first.
Then I moved to Seattle from Virginia.
I ask one fellow member who also live in Seattle.
As the result, I just changed to the Super Bright.

Well... After 2 weeks....I still can't see anything in this depressing city.
( I just had new glasses also, and my car isn't tinted! )



so, here I am!


p.s. that gentleman is on top of this reply...hahhaa... ( yeap, Lunch next week! )

pps. I just ordered a cheapo Bosch 4500K HID kit off ebay. Will see how it turn out.

DM1PRODUCTIONS

HEY NO CLUE HOW MUCH DID U PAY FOR THE KITOF cheapo Bosch 4500K HID kit

no_clue

$160 shipped off ebay.

According to member of other forum, he also purchased "cheap" HID kit and three of them all working perfectly. (one for himself, and two he help to install for his friends' Mercedes)

ONLY thing he mentioned about the solving possible Flicking problem is go to the dealer and have the tech reset the computer to "HID present".

p.s. I chose 4300K instead of 6000K or 8000k simply because long wave actually travel further. ( I am not buying HID for the color factor )

DM1PRODUCTIONS

Nice I Will Be Getting Hid But I Have To Find An Indoor Garage Since The Streets Race Love To Steal The From Headlights Just For The Hid I Dont Know If I Want That To Happend Maybe In Acouple Of Weeks Or Sthanx Anyways

no_clue

I have found a SOLUTION that does NOT require ECU Reprogram by dealer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( Health Service, Allen, will have this method write up, after all, it was his idea that trigger my expriement and testing )

It is actually quite easy and it is not as complicate or require rocket scientist to figure this thing out.

health services

Thanks I'll see if I can get something written up by the begining of the week. Although this work for me, no_clue, and a couple others there are many systems out there that do not require modification at all. We just happen to be a little more frugal with our money and got burned. I will just go over what we did to ours that worked. I will also do a general install for those thinking of installing one of these retrofit kits.