pchrist

I have a 2013 E350 with halogen projectors. I am dissapointed that MB didn't have HID in these cars from the factory or the one i have didn't have that option? Either way I want to add it on there as i like the light output.

Now my question what has everyone done? LED, HID? how do i prevent the error code? Is there a reasonable kit out there that is under 75? Is it plug and play what modifications need to happen?

I appreciate any help on this!

hyperion667

Hello, why would someone flame you for wanting to better your ride? And by flame do you mean giving you a hard time? Seems possible, anything is possible with money!

pchrist

Yes like search the forum do your homework all that stuff. I am sure that it gets asked all the time. I have been searching but not sure what to order for my car. Just want to prevent the bulb out error and improve lighting.

Here is what we have done so far with the car. New grill hood ornament removal and back up LED's.

Before


After

AZN Optics

You'll need a canbus HID conversion kit to not throw error codes. You'll get better performance out of HIDs over LEDs for forward projecting lights in housing designed to capture halogen light spread. This is because HIDs have true 360 light output, while LEDs have point dispersion output that results in dark spots, uneven lighting, and light scatter. It'll look great when you look at the vehicle, but from behind the wheel, not so much. Don't get me wrong, it'll still be better than crappy halogens just due to brute force lumen increase, but HIDs will be superior.

We have kits that will work, just shoot us a PM or email us directly at aznoptics@gmail.com

EuroDriverSD

Good job! Car looks a lot fresher with the updates you did. As far as your query regarding HIDs, it depends on what you really want and what your budget is.

If you are just after the HID look and just basically brighter lighting on a budget, a standard HID kit with rebased bulbs will serve you just fine. Just know that in general, an HID kit in a halogen projector will result in brighter lighting, but actually poorer visibility because the projector is not designed to properly aim the light source of the HID capsule. You will end up with light scatter, streaking, hot spots and with the usable light in other places except on the parts of the road where you need it (usually it ends up in the eyes of oncoming drivers, creating glare). I can spend hours writing to explain why this is, but I'll let you do your own research on the topic of HID bulbs in halogen projectors.

That aside, the Morimoto kits are quite decent and you can order the canbus adapters to go with it. I know the E55 projectors on the W211's adapt really well to these kits with arguably no loss of lighting quality. I don't have any knowledge of the adaptability to the W212 projectors for this purpose. These kits will generally run you anywhere from $60-150. If you go this route, I would encourage you to look for modified OEM ballasts that have been rewired for universal HID kits because they warm up much, much quicker and don't suffer from many instabilities than aftermarket ballasts.

If you are after the best HID lighting quality, you can retrofit OEM HID projectors into your headlight housings and at that point, you can opt for bixenon projectors that give you OEM-quality HID high beams as well as low beams. Retrofitting involves opening up your headlights, replacing the projectors and some rewiring to connect the HID ballasts. Installation labor aside, you can expect to spend around $400-600 if you go this route.

If you want to go out in a blaze of glory, you can actually retrofit the 2014-2016 W212 full LED headlights onto your car. There's a guy in Sweden that sells a converter module that includes him remote coding your car to make them work (you will need access to a STAR/DAS diagnostic system for him to do it). I'm not 100% sure but I believe you would need to change the hood on your car to the 2014-2016 hood. Hood swap aside, this upgrade will run you upwards of $3K. Depending on what options your car is equipped with, you will likely not have automatic high beams or auto cornering functions. If this piques your interest, check out this couple of threads:
LED Headlights on W212
LED Upgrade on C207 (works on W212)

Happy modding and let us know what you end up doing.