My current headlights on my W211 are crap, the light output is shocking and they have gone all faded on the front.

I was checking on eBay and there are 4 aftermarket lights to chose from.

However i haven't heard anybody talk about them or seen any pics.

Style 1

Style 2

Style 3

Style 4

I personally like Style 4 the best out of the 4 because it looks basically stock however it has an extra HALO ring which could look rather clean.

Does anybody have any pics of this headlight installed or any installation tips for the Halo?

Cheers

 

I guess I'm missing the point. Are you doing this just to update the looks or do you feel that the new housing will increase light output? Seems to me if you are just replacing the OEM with another Halogen projector the light output would be the same. If you are wanting better light output why not retrofit HID into the stock housings?

If I had to pick one of the ebay options, #4 would be my choice.

 

I don't know why your current headlights are "crap". If the lenses are faded, clean them. There are many decent products for that. I personally think the black housing light assemblies look cheap. I would go for number one or four if you want an update to the look, but if output is what you are after, I can't see that you would get anything for your money.

 

Ever since i have owned the car, i have always had insufficient light output from the lights even before they faded. I don't know what the lights like on your car with your halogens however i think something is generally wrong with the lights, i have tried replacing bulbs but to no avail.

I also want to update the look of my front, if i did purchase a set of these aftermarket lights i would also retrofit HID's

Cheers

 

I would go with #4, because my headlamps are also foggy - strange how on some cars, even older cars, do not have this oxidation problem on the headlamps - its too bad that we do...

I'm not sure which products to trust to clean this up, and I'd rather install new projector headlamps, in order to have HID too, that won't blind the world as I pass by...

But meantime I'll stick with the $12 dollar halogen bulbs and foggy headlamps

 

Wow, style 4 looks real nice.

I would upgrade to aftermarket HIDs if you want better visibility. I initially purchased HID upgrades for my low beams and fogs through a local auto shop and they did a horrible job (I learned later after re-doing the install myself). They spliced a plug-and-play kit for some god unknown reason.

anyway, there's a bunch of reputable companies out there for aftermarket HIDs and they're really simple to install. DDM tuning is out there and they're on the cheap end with ebay, HIDextra is in the middle, and xenonsupply on the upper end. i tried the cheaper ebay kits initially and i learned that ballast quality matters a lot. so for a 2nd hand $30k+ car (at the time of purchase) i ultimately went with xenonsupply's premium ballasts (and also because they have install videos) and haven't had any problems in 2 years. i swapped out my HID fogs (uninstalled the autoshop crap cos one side was failing) and put in new HIDs too. Overall, 10x brighter and better road visibility.

I initially had the shop install 8000Ks but when I did it myself, i just put in 6000K and I got even better visibility. World of a difference (along with having clean/non-foggy headlights).

(oh and i drove through a sandstorm otw to vegas and couldn't polish my headlights of the foggy lens, so I just ended up having a local collision shop find me refurbished headlight housings for $150 a piece)

 

The only catch is this:

Halogen bulbs are made for Halogen headlamps, not projector headlamps.
Also, HID bulbs are made for Projector headlamps, not Halogen headlamps....

If you put HIDs in headlamps which are for Halogen, you will be "blinding everybody" and it is possible to get a ticket, although you are more likely to get a high beam flash from an angry driver, about 1 or 2 times every 2 or 3 days...

For me, i'm going to hold out for the projector aftermarket headlamps. I've had stock HID in my projector DC2 JDM integra type R, and I've also had HID in my halogen headlamps, bmw e36... Guess which one got flicked with high beams every other day?

Anyways, while I digress, I'm partial to the 4300 HID bulbs, because they are the 'original' and 'stock' color of HID, with the 6k and 8k being too blue or purple, again risking a ticket..

Thats all

 

The first statement is a bit false, unless you meant something else...

I think what you're getting at is reflector headlamp vs. projector headlamp... (not halogen headlamp vs hid headlamp) because there are three types of headlamps:

• halogen reflectors
• halogen projectors (most common these days due to manufacturers wanting you to shell out extra $2k for OEM HIDs - most aftermarket HID conversion kits are designed for this)
• HID projectors (OEM D-series HID bulbs)

reflector is the older style that acts basically like a flashlight with the bulb exposed and a reflector plate behind it whereas a projector is like your classroom projector, with a lens in front to define the light to create cut-offs. granted modern day reflector housings accommodate by installing a cut-off cap in front of the bulb that we have on our turn signals.

what most of our e-classes were equipped with are halogen projector lamps, with a halogen bulb behind a projector lens. but since it's a projector lamp, it cuts the light off at a certain level regardless of what type of bulb is behind it.

although, you are correct, it may not be optimal for HIDs because HID bulbs are slightly longer in length and are not designed for the halogen projector, but i still pretty much have the same sharp cutoffs i did when I had halogens in there and i've tested riding in other ppls cars coming at my car.

i don't know what the BMW was equipped with (reflector housing or projector housing) but a reflector housing would indeed blind oncoming traffic.

 

@confidant, so let me get this straight - you're running with HIDs in the halogen projector headlamps, and its all good?

 

Yes, sir. Same cut-off lines, I could get some pictures and put it up, looks real clean. With HID conversion kits for halogen bulbs, H7 HID for H7 halogen bulb, it's in one of the sticky'd posts for the e320 w211.

Although, I can't say the same for fog lights, since those are in reflector housing and not in projectors. But I only turn those on for extra light during lonely drives.

 

Ditto, what Confidant said. The projector lenses with aftermarket HIDs will give you the identical cut-off line that you get with the halogen bulbs.

Or you can get the 3M kit to polish your lenses. If you follow the instructions exactly, the lenses will appear like new when done.

 

I don't want to jack the thread, but can you expand on this? I'm scared...

 

Search for 3M or Mother's Brand headlight restoration kit. Don't get the RainX ones with small sandpaper, those are useless (I've tried). You have to get the restoration kits with the rotating buffers/sander that attaches to any household drill.

You'll want to tape up the paint around the housing and really go at it. Theres a youtube video on it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t1RBw0IGXA

It's not as scary as it seems, I mean... the headlight itself has a plastic UV film coating when it's new and overtime that gets dirt, grim, grease, blasted by rocks and ages under the sun. How well it works depends on how bad your headlights are. I polished a few times but in the end I just went to a collision shop and ordered some refurbished headlights.





As I promised the cut-off line with HID bulbs in Halogen Projectors. (I am aware the parking light LEDs don't match -_- because I used to have 8000Ks in my headlights/fogs, now they're 6000K)

 

Wow thats awesome! I'm going to weigh my options for costs to upgrade to HID, and I will see about the sand polish vs aftermarket headlamps..!

 

Well, cost wise, to let you know what I got mine for, it's $30-40 for the polishing kit and ~$300 for the pair of used refurbished headlights. ~$150 each installed. Brand new headlights are like $200+ each if I remember correctly.