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An idea of what 6k 55w and 5k 35w looks like color wise
I have to ask a dumb question.....Why are there two blubs in the driving light lens? I looked ta my car & I have two as well. Only one lights up. What does the blue one do?
Are the Mtec conversion kits for W211 really "error" free?
I doubt that considering most everyone needed some sort of a capacitor across the trigger wires to stop flickering or to even have the lights stay on? Sorry if i'm sounding like a novice but I take claims of "error free" or "guaranteed to work with any car" with weariness
Like I said I won't know until I hook it all up. I'll post results when it's done regardless of the out come.
I have to ask a dumb question.....Why are there two blubs in the driving light lens? I looked ta my car & I have two as well. Only one lights up. What does the blue one do?
The lower LED is the city light as you know, and the upper blue bulb is the high beam. The bulb in the projector is only the low beam so when you hit the brights it lights up the high beam which is the blue bulb in addition to the low beams.
Originally Posted by ShinyHypnotoad
Are the Mtec conversion kits for W211 really "error" free?
I doubt that considering most everyone needed some sort of a capacitor across the trigger wires to stop flickering or to even have the lights stay on? Sorry if i'm sounding like a novice but I take claims of "error free" or "guaranteed to work with any car" with weariness
No worries in regards to the halogen vs. xenon temperature myth man, it's fine I just don't want people to believe the myth. With DDM Tuning yes they are error free and I assume the MTEC kits are as well. Really all they are doing is tricking the CANBUS sensor to think that the bulb is pulling enough amperage as not to cause an error, so I've found with the capacitor AND the BOW3 error eliminators that come with these kits it will work just fine.
Originally Posted by LemonSqueezy
Here is 55w 5000k
@LemonSqueezy given the opportunity to do it again I would probably go 6000k for both low beams and fogs or maybe 5000k all around like you, it seems to match better color wise. Eventually I may swap out either my fog lights to 6000k or my low beams to 5000k, the only problem with the former is that it would be hard to find a city light LED to match 6000k.
Last edited by AMGAffalterbach; 02-27-2014 at 08:43 PM.
No worries in regards to the halogen vs. xenon temperature myth man, it's fine I just don't want people to believe the myth. With DDM Tuning yes they are error free and I assume the MTEC kits are as well. Really all they are doing is tricking the CANBUS sensor to think that the bulb is pulling enough amperage as not to cause an error, so I've found with the capacitor AND the BOW3 error eliminators that come with these kits it will work just fine.
What capacitor and BOW3 do you speak of?! Which kit comes with these, i've always had to buy the capacitor from radioshack or something.
Also can we code our cars to not turn the fogs off when the highbeam comes on?
DDM Tuning sells BOW3 error eliminators for something like $14.99 a piece if I remember correctly, however I have to run both on my system for some reason or I get that weird issue where one side will not turn on. Get a 2200uf capacitor from Radioshack (I can get you the part number if you need it, it's on the HID sticky tutorial) and wire it in line and you won't get the issue. I'm sure you could just run the capacitor without the BOW3 eliminator and you'd be just fine but the reason I run both is the capacitor acts like a battery at start up so I don't have to run a relay and the ignitors get the proper power, and the BOW3 error eliminator acts as a resistor to shed the necessary current during operation so the system doesn't freak out. I think you probably only need the capacitor but I'd do both to be safe.
And no, you cannot (easily) code the car to turn off the fog lights when the high beams come on. There's actually a law that cars have to disable their fog lights when high beams are on for fear of blinding oncoming drivers or something stupid, not sure what the actual provision is or why they have it but it's tied to legal reasons. You could probably wire them to bypass that module like run a separate relay to the front SAM but it would be a lot of work for no reason.
The lower LED is the city light as you know, and the upper blue bulb is the high beam. The bulb in the projector is only the low beam so when you hit the brights it lights up the high beam which is the blue bulb in addition to the low beams.
No worries in regards to the halogen vs. xenon temperature myth man, it's fine I just don't want people to believe the myth. With DDM Tuning yes they are error free and I assume the MTEC kits are as well. Really all they are doing is tricking the CANBUS sensor to think that the bulb is pulling enough amperage as not to cause an error, so I've found with the capacitor AND the BOW3 error eliminators that come with these kits it will work just fine.
@LemonSqueezy given the opportunity to do it again I would probably go 6000k for both low beams and fogs or maybe 5000k all around like you, it seems to match better color wise. Eventually I may swap out either my fog lights to 6000k or my low beams to 5000k, the only problem with the former is that it would be hard to find a city light LED to match 6000k.
I have to say they both look really good. They both have various tints of blue. I would be very happy with either set up.
Thanks Thomas! It's not hard to do just remember the capacitor and the aftermarket retainer clips and it will go smoothly. That really helps too I'll have to consider those. However at the moment my HIDs are working flawlessly so I'll wait until a bulb goes *knock on wood* to make the change.
Hi guys, I'm new to this, whilst on the subject of lights, I have recently acquired an E class Avantgarde in the UK I want to take this car to France and re-register it there. Does anyone know if I can alter the headlight setup to left hand drive, a garage I use thinks this is possible to rotate the xenons in their housing as he says there are a number of mounting holes at different positions?? and he has done a similar job on BMWs with the same setup. My dip beams are very low, one of my sons has the same model and his are much higher, and I've seen a thread on here telling he how to do it so thanks guys for that.
So now that I have my new bulbs what's the best way to change them? There is no room for my hand to fit behind the driver side, the passenger side is tight. What about the fog lights? Do they have to come out to change the bulbs?
I messed around with them for about 15 minutes. Between the cold & the tight spot my hand & wrist became frozen & scraped up.
So now that I have my new bulbs what's the best way to change them? There is no room for my hand to fit behind the driver side, the passenger side is tight. What about the fog lights? Do they have to come out to change the bulbs?
I messed around with them for about 15 minutes. Between the cold & the tight spot my hand & wrist became frozen & scraped up.
I did the same in the same situation, very cold day. I have large hands, and yet was able to replace all the bulbs including drivers side fog.
Was it easy? NO. I got my hands scuffed up pretty bad. The fog I did by popping the trim cover next to it and stuck my hand in that way. I'd say the best way would be to remove the front belly pan, then you untwist 1/4 turn and pull like the others.
MB decided that only kids should be able to do work on the front area of the car. I usually feel like going on a rampage when I try to reach for those bulbs.
Also make sure you have those retainer clips on your new bulb so you don't stand there for an hour thinking why it wont lock in.
MB decided that only kids should be able to do work on the front area of the car. I usually feel like going on a rampage when I try to reach for those bulbs.
Also make sure you have those retainer clips on your new bulb so you don't stand there for an hour thinking why it wont lock in.
Having a significant other who is way smaller than you usually helps in this situation!!!! I got my wife to reach into the headlight area and she got the bulbs out with ease (turn signals)
Having a significant other who is way smaller than you usually helps in this situation!!!! I got my wife to reach into the headlight area and she got the bulbs out with ease (turn signals)
You're going to have to buy some new clips or use your old clips by cutting into them. The clips also only work in one direction i believe, so you might have to flip them around if you still run into trouble. Also make sure the bulbs are working and no errors are showing up before you lock em in.
You're going to have to buy some new clips or use your old clips by cutting into them. The clips also only work in one direction i believe, so you might have to flip them around if you still run into trouble. Also make sure the bulbs are working and no errors are showing up before you lock em in.
Usually they either come with the kit or you can cut your open your original one.
These look like they will probably work too.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Retainer-Clips-BMW-Mercedes-Audi-Saab-VW-Xenon-HID-H7-Bulb-Base-Holder-Adapter-/121277941841?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c3cba8851&vxp=mtr
I hated working on my HIDs because I had the exact same, extremely frustrating problems you all described with no room to work and getting a scuffed up hand in the cold. Luckily with aftermarket retainer clips I had sent to me from BoardBoy (he had extras and was super cool about sending me his unused ones), it worked fine. I don't recommend cutting into and reusing the OEM clips because the tabs are smaller on them and they won't lock in and will eventually fall out.
The key with the OEM tips is to push the tabs in as hard as you can with your fingers, then rotate until they lock in.
Bumping this thread, finally had my HID's installed. I put new fog light lens housing's in because the old ones were beat up and cloudy.
6000k HID's for the head lights and 6000k L.E.D's in the parking lights
I installed bright white L.E.D's in the fog lights. They are 25 watts high power CREE SMD Q5 & Plasma LED 9006 HB4
6000K xenon HID white color light temp and needed resistors installed as well.
The day time and night time head on pics don't do them justice.
The pic showing the light pattern was taken in a pitch black yard. No lights back there at all.
I like the lights very much. It's a better driving experience now.
Last edited by The Thomas J; 02-12-2015 at 01:37 PM.
Reason: Added correct bulb info.
Looks great, I miss my HIDs with the DiamondVisions which have a nice color temperature but definitely aren't as bright. Considered going LEDs all around but just too lazy to work out more issues.
Looks great, I miss my HIDs with the DiamondVisions which have a nice color temperature but definitely aren't as bright. Considered going LEDs all around but just too lazy to work out more issues.
You went back to halogen? why? Or did you finally sell the car?
Keeping the car for another year to year and a half max and getting a 2012 E63, decided on this about 6 months ago and that's what I am sticking with.
Long story short, the DDMTuning HIDs were terribly unreliable. I fixed most of my issues by soldering in radioshack capacitors (on top of the BOW 3 error eliminators) and it worked for a while then my fog lights started wigging out. It all had to do with the fact that the HIDs were not CANBUS compatible from factory like the morimotos should be and were a major pain in the ***.
So I switched back to halogens from Philips DiamondVision, I know I posted pictures somewhere here on the W211 forums but they are still very white just with less output.
As luck would have it, the aftermarket clips I was using for the HIDs ended up causing the wiring socket coming from the car to overheat as the clips were too big and acting as a heat sink and melted one of them. Therefore I purchased a new wiring harness kit that will be installed as soon as I get the time with new clips and socket.
Never should have gone HIDs without going CANBUS compatible or LED possibly. The new Halogens look yellowish in the picture but they are pretty much pure white in person, also had HDR enabled on that one which didn't seem to help with color balance. I ensure you they are wayyy whiter than the stock halogens. For reference, the LED city lights are exactly the same color in both pictures.
Reposting these:
With 6000k HID 55w High Beams / 5000k HID 35w Fogs / AznOptics LED City Lights
With 5000k all around Philips DiamondVision Halogens / AznOptics LED City Lights
Last edited by AMGAffalterbach; 02-12-2015 at 01:35 AM.
02-27-2014, 06:49 PM
