koko381

I have an 04 E500 and am a little dissatisfied with the headlights at night. I do not have the bixenons. I am looking for maybe better bulbs or at least a set of bulbs that will match the headlights. I mean match the two sets of headlights in color. Thanks

W211 Ryda

If you just want halogen bulbs, try here

http://www.hoen-usa.com/index.htm

DWP

Do the strangers I pass in the dark care what color my bulbs are?

koko381

Im not doing it for strangers. Im doing it for myself. Just like I bought this car for myself. Strangers dont care whether I pass them in a Mercedes or a Kia. I am just looking for information on headlights or bulbs.

koko381

Thank you

JTMarlinCeo

W211 RYDA,

I own a 05 e320 with halogen headlamps non-bi xenon.
Anyhow my question is if i were to purchase xenon bulbs for low beam/hi beam, corner lamps and fog lights, would the factory assembly be compatible to bolt right on without any adjustments to the wattage setting?

W211 Ryda

The factory HID setup utilizes D2S Xenon bulbs and Hella ballasts, which will not bolt on or snap onto your halogen headlight assemblies.

1st option - There are numerous aftermarket HID conversion kits that you could purchase online, that comes with rebased Xenon bulbs to fit on certain halogen sockets such as H7, H4, H11, 9005, 9006, & etc. I strongly advise against using these aftermarket conversion kits, as they are difficult to install, they have scattered light patterns, which in most cases causes glare to oncoming traffic, and many have complained of premature bulb life. I’m not aware of any ill effects these conversion kits may have on the car's onboard computer since the ballast draws 35 watts vs halogen bulbs which draws 55 watts. It might trigger a burnt bulb warning of some sort, but I'm not sure. Someone else wanna chime in on this?

2nd option (would be your best choice but it will cost you) - If you desire the light output that HID emits, then I strongly suggest swapping in a factory bi-xenon headlight assembly. Try contacting scorchie or MBenzNL on here. They sell MB parts and they’re MB gurus. I've also seen some bi-xenon assemblies sold in the classified section on MBWorld, www.autowerksdirect.com, and ebay as well. I just found one for sale here https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/93857-w211-bi-xenons.html

3rd option (cheapest option) - If you just want the Xenon "look", you could get halogen bulbs like PIAAs, HOEN, Polarg, Raybrig, Osram, & etc that have a Kelvin rating that range from 4000k - 10,000k. Please keep in mind that your light output will not be drastically improved with this alternative. You’re basically just changing the color of your bulb with a slight increase in lumens. This will be the easiest to install since you're merely changing light bulbs.

If anyone else could add to this, pls do. I’m not an expert, just speaking based on personal experience.

SAguirre

There should be a sticky thread about this subject since there are so many people asking similar questions about this stuff. I sent this information about my upgrade when someone PMd me.

Also, I would not simply upgrade the light bulb! If you get anything that poses as Xenon but still has a filament, they might get too hot. If you get a Xenon kit for an H7 harness, then you still need to tell the on board computer to change its setting since they use less power and will get you an error message. Also, you might have some problems when you put on the high beams (but I am not sure about this one).


Here is what I wrote before:


"This is what I know about upgrading the W211 to Xenon
headlights:

2004 and newer light assemblies have both height
leveling and curve following systems. These
headlights are cost prohibitive and not worth it if
you car does not have the correct harness to run them.
The way around this is to buy 2003 model headlights
that are only load leveling.

By chemistry definition but the H7 and Xenon lights
are both “halogen” lights since they are halogen gases
in the periodic table. The difference is that Xenon
gas lights use over 20,000 volt ballasts and do not
have a filament. The interesting thing about Xenon
lights is that compared to the H 7 (which use 55watts)
the Xenon put out the equivalent light of about a 120
watt light but only use 35 watts. The difference in
power consumption is what will cause a problem for the
electric light diagnostics. Since the Xenons will
only use 35 watts the computer will display saying
that the headlights are burned out. Also, the
standard H 7 bulbs are dimmed when the daylight
running lights are on. They are dimmed to prolong the
life of the bulb since their life is quite a bit
shorter. If you install the Xenons and don’t change
the computer (with the “Star Diagnostic” computer)
then you might damage the ballasts by having them
dimmed.

The person who told you that the harness could not
manage the Xenon lights is very confused. If he was
referring to the harness getting too hot, then he
should know that Xenon lights burn a lot cooler than
the H7 bulbs. This is obvious; they consume only 64%
of the H 7’s power! There might be a connector on the
light housing that will not get used (for curve
following or for load leveling). But the main
light/electrical hookup is the same.

My dealer documented a 2.5 hour charge for the
installation. The hourly rate is that of accessory
installation and it cheaper than the mechanical repair
rates. If I would have had to pay the bill, it would
have been $260.00. That included the removal of the
front bumper, the installation of the headlights and
the changing of the computer settings. Very much
worth the money.

If your car has the “Airmatic” suspension, then it
might have the sensors in the suspension to run the
load leveling part of the headlights. If it can not
run it, then you can still manually adjust them and
set them a bit lower than normal so that when your
trunk and back seat are full, the lights will not
blind. You need to fine tune this yourself, but it is
easy to do with just a Philips-head screw driver.

Since you are buying the (much cheaper) 2003 bi-Xenon
lights that do not have the curve following lights,
you don’t need to worry about that harness. The
splash pattern of these lights is so good that you
will not really notice if you don’t have the curve
following feature. These lights are worth every penny
they cost to upgrade!!!!

As per your dealer saying that you are voiding the
warranty. . . I personally will not worry about it.
My dealer knows me and will do anything to keep my
business. You might need to build a relationship with
your service writer and head mechanic. This is my
third MB since I have been in Colorado and they know
me well. I bet that there are still ways around that
issue. However, Xenon lights last at least 4 times
longer than the best H 7.

I bought my BI-XENON lights at
www.performanceproducts.com (800) 853-6360 and used
James -7601 when I placed the order. Each light cost
$640, or there about, plus shipping and other taxes.
Again, worth every penny! I cannot believe that these
lights are not standard. So far they have been
flawless. I did do some fine tuning to lower them.
Since then, I have never gotten blinked.

This is all fact and I have done this with the help of
my dealer’s head mechanic. Everything has worked out
very well. However, don’t hold me responsible if you
encounter something different. I have a 2004 E320
4-Matic. They are a lot the same and a lot different
in some ways."

Hope this helps,

Steve A.

HELL ONA HARLEY

I have no advise for you,
but thought I'd say your car looks really nice...

SAguirre

koko381,

If that is your car on the reply . . . It looks like it has headlight washers in the picture. If it does have them, I thought that headlight washers only come with Xenon lights. Could this be??

If so, you are the first W211 I see that has headlight washers, but no Xenon lights!

Steve

koko381

My car does not have headlight washers. The Brabus bumper only come that way. As you can see there is a cap over the hole where a headlight washer would be.

JTMarlinCeo

W211 RYDA,

Thank for all the info. It was greatly appreciated and informative. The route that im taking for now is going to be the inexpensive way. Im looking into upgrading my light setup with the h7 piaa h11 replacement extreme whites. *Bluerascal* has the same setup https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/93948-upgraded-my-bulbs-tonight-pics-links-sizes-prices-included.html
Im just a little worried if the bulbs burn out and scramble with the mbs comp system. what are your personal thoughts? have you heard anything bad by going this route.

etenn

I (and many others) changed bulbs a long time ago. Have not had any problem and don't know of anyone else who has any difficulty.

JTMarlinCeo

thanks for the heads up etenn

W211 Ryda

You shouldn't have any problems if you're just going to swap the halogen bulbs with the Xenon "look". It's imperative to get replacement bulbs of the same wattage. There are some manufacturers out there, like Nokya, that offer H7 bulbs that are rated 100 watts. These bulbs will be brighter than the normal 55 watt bulbs, but they will either draw too much a current causing your wiring harness & sockets to melt and usually these bulbs don't last more than a year. Mine lasted a month before the bulb exploded from the extreme heat.

ATS

Hey Ryda or anyone that knows.. I just put in some Nokya H11 80 watt bulbs for my fogs.. 7000K, they seem to match.. Do you guys think it is okay to use that wattage in there? Funny thing is that the Nokya box says 100 Watts but the bulb actually says 80 on it.

W211 Ryda

I would observe your foglight assembly, especially the base where the bulb mounts to. See if there are any warping after prolong use (excessive heat). I would also keep an eye out on your wiring harness. I don't want to scare you, but my friend put in 100 watt bulbs on his Expedition and after a few months, his harness melted causing him to lose connection. So I bought him a KYO upgraded harness and soldered it on as a replacement earlier this week. Stock harness uses thinner plastic and about 16-gauge wiring. The upgraded harness has a much thicker plastic that could withstand 480 degrees, plus it comes with 14-gauge wiring. Unfortunately, I haven't seen upgraded harnesses for the H11 bulbs.

Here is a pic of his melted harness. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic, but you could see warping at the center.




Here are my 55 watt AdvancedOptik Yellow-Ions. (low beams are off)

ATS

Yeah I will check it out. Thanks for taking the time to post the info..!