When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I own Mercedes Benz W212 E-class 2011, and my head light is halogen. I would like change it to xenon light or LED. Could you please recommend me a brand of these lights that will perfectly suit my car?
All I can say is go for proper branded one like Osram, Phillips, Slyvania and whatever others.
Not only the quality & cooling system is guaranteed to be good or decent and not garbage, but the way the LED MODULES are arranged so that no dangerous glare can happen to incoming drivers at LOW BEAM.
In my country there are so many morons who buy XYZ brand of LED H4 cheapo China shi-et which does not comply to safety standard for glare.
If I were Superman, I will fry their Azz with my laser eyes .... LOL
Since this conversion is common, youtube is your best friend.
Happy shopping
Yeah, kidda ditto on the above. Don't bother. Just buy brighter halogen bulbs. The main problem is that if you just drop in LED or Xenons into the same headlights, the projectors are only designed for halogen so the aim/throw/glare is completely different. Also while they may appear brighter, that may be in the short range and not longer range. That's why the projectors are important but many don't change them. Only drawback with brighter bulbs is that they burn out quicker. The real kicker is that most aftermarket LED or Xenon upgrades are not DOT approved, they always say in fine print that it's for off road use only. While they may appear brighter to you, it will be worse for other drivers. Don't be that guy.
Sorry - but going to disagree - Check out the new line of LED bulbs - they are great - have perfect beam cut off - and are much brighter than halogens and somewhat brighter than HID!
Be sure they are Canbus - and the right style...
They can be DOT approved - and I have installed them in my friends E350 that used to have Halogens and work perfectly - including no can bus warning!
I'm still using the LED D1s version - 5 months later with no issues\no warnings! and still prefer them to my old HID Osrams CBBs bulbs too. We now also have them in our ML550 as well replacing the D1s (my Wfies car) and she prefers and also agrees too they are brighter.
The other nice thing is when you flash people - they now notice - its instant on vs trying to warm up which has been amazing bonus too when trying to get peoples attention.
Ill try to post some pictures a little later on - Ill have to pull them from my cell phone.
I highly doubt you would be disappointed - however on your bulb you will need to align it - to get the perfect cut off - which is pretty easy to do.
(I have Zero affiliation with Auxbeam - but if you check out the type of LEDs and mounts look of how they are built will give you an idea about what to look for)
Sorry - but going to disagree - Check out the new line of LED bulbs - they are great - have perfect beam cut off - and are much brighter than halogens and somewhat brighter than HID!
Be sure they are Canbus - and the right style...
They can be DOT approved - and I have installed them in my friends E350 that used to have Halogens and work perfectly - including no can bus warning!
I'm still using the LED D1s version - 5 months later with no issues\no warnings! and still prefer them to my old HID Osrams CBBs bulbs too. We now also have them in our ML550 as well replacing the D1s (my Wfies car) and she prefers and also agrees too they are brighter.
The other nice thing is when you flash people - they now notice - its instant on vs trying to warm up which has been amazing bonus too when trying to get peoples attention.
Ill try to post some pictures a little later on - Ill have to pull them from my cell phone.
I highly doubt you would be disappointed - however on your bulb you will need to align it - to get the perfect cut off - which is pretty easy to do.
(I have Zero affiliation with Auxbeam - but if you check out the type of LEDs and mounts look of how they are built will give you an idea about what to look for)
Cheers
Post the actual DOT approval for the Mercedes lights.
Cetia seems to be correct, USA regulation is quite slow and stiff and technically halogen bulb to LED bulb conversion for driving lights High beam and Low Beam isillegal.
Auxbeam does sell legal DOT ones but complete assy : https://auxbeam.com/collections/dot-approved
Most important is, DO NOT use any conversion LED Bulb which produces unwanted glare.
My thinking is this. Germany is a very advance country for automotive, if the Osram conversion does get approval there, that means the test and standard is met without doubt.
I do not know why W212 is not in the list..... but H7 is H7, meaning properties of H7 filament light distribution and the required reflectors to aim it properly would be the same in all cars because the
light assy and its reflectors are based on H7. So light assy follow H7 beam spread...sort of.
If OP decides to be naughty, do it properly with a known approved/tested H7 like Osram. Phillips I beleive have similar ones too.https://www.ledinside.com/node/32414
Properly as in NO GLARE to others while in Low Beam
Also approved ones has capped maximum lumens.
I have experienced with quite a few LED bulbs, and haven't found anything I tried liked yet. I have tried some bulbs, but trying to get them to fit in the socket and all the little clips and what not is exhausting.
I'm running the Phillips Diamond vison right now. The color is good, but they aren't super bright. I'm considering buying an OEM xenon headlight and having it installed. I'm just not sure how to go about it, and if they are truly plug-and-play.
I have experienced with quite a few LED bulbs, and haven't found anything I tried liked yet. I have tried some bulbs, but trying to get them to fit in the socket and all the little clips and what not is exhausting.
I'm running the Phillips Diamond vison right now. The color is good, but they aren't super bright. I'm considering buying an OEM xenon headlight and having it installed. I'm just not sure how to go about it, and if they are truly plug-and-play.
The factory bixenon setup had active curve illumination and they auto leveled with headlamp washers. They also came with the auto high beams as standard with the bixenon setup. You're not going to get the same thing with just buying the OEM lights. They would also need to be coded and who knows how that works not having the auto level and active curve illumination. Basically it's not going to be plug and play and you should look up the price of the OEM headlamps, they're a lot more than the halogen ones. Like a lot of Mercedes options, the best way to add them on is to buy a car that has the option, adding them later is usually a lot more than the price difference between a car that has them and one that doesn't..
The factory bixenon setup had active curve illumination and they auto leveled with headlamp washers. They also came with the auto high beams as standard with the bixenon setup. You're not going to get the same thing with just buying the OEM lights. They would also need to be coded and who knows how that works not having the auto level and active curve illumination. Basically it's not going to be plug and play and you should look up the price of the OEM headlamps, they're a lot more than the halogen ones. Like a lot of Mercedes options, the best way to add them on is to buy a car that has the option, adding them later is usually a lot more than the price difference between a car that has them and one that doesn't..
Yeah... Ideally, buying a P2 package would've been great, but I was in a time crunch to get a new car when I got this one. It was the color scheme I wanted, and had a good history, so it was close enough.
I guess it'll be easier/cheaper to look into an HID kit.
Yeah... Ideally, buying a P2 package would've been great, but I was in a time crunch to get a new car when I got this one. It was the color scheme I wanted, and had a good history, so it was close enough.
I guess it'll be easier/cheaper to look into an HID kit.
The main problem with most kits is that they're not DOT approved. It's somewhat involved to get an approval and they're not going to do it for a low volume car. So you basically risk getting a kit that is either worse or will blind other drivers. Some appear brighter but that's in the short range and they're not actually brighter at longer ranges. And of course without the right set of projectors in the car, you also risk blinding other people. You can't just drop an HID into a projector that was designed for Halogen. It's either one or the other, not both.
Basically I'm saying don't do it. You might make it brighter for you, but it could be worse for everyone else as they may be blinded by glare that could cause them to crash into you, something else, or someone else.
The main problem with most kits is that they're not DOT approved. It's somewhat involved to get an approval and they're not going to do it for a low volume car. So you basically risk getting a kit that is either worse or will blind other drivers. Some appear brighter but that's in the short range and they're not actually brighter at longer ranges. And of course without the right set of projectors in the car, you also risk blinding other people. You can't just drop an HID into a projector that was designed for Halogen. It's either one or the other, not both.
Basically I'm saying don't do it. You might make it brighter for you, but it could be worse for everyone else as they may be blinded by glare that could cause them to crash into you, something else, or someone else.
Based off what I've read in other threads, it can be done. Just have to know what you're doing when setting the level, and be selective about the kits you buy. USA DOT approval means very little too me, since they think people are too dumb to understand sequential signals on an Audi, but perfectly fine on a Ford Mustang.
Based off what I've read in other threads, it can be done. Just have to know what you're doing when setting the level, and be selective about the kits you buy. USA DOT approval means very little too me, since they think people are too dumb to understand sequential signals on an Audi, but perfectly fine on a Ford Mustang.
Thanks.
The LED conversion does not put out light in a projector lens correctly, only from two or three positions, with the projector lens in our cars, it is better to use the bixenon upgrades as it puts out light in all directions more like the halogen bulb does, the LED conversion seems to work ok in reflector headlights, but we don't have those.
Based off what I've read in other threads, it can be done. Just have to know what you're doing when setting the level, and be selective about the kits you buy. USA DOT approval means very little too me, since they think people are too dumb to understand sequential signals on an Audi, but perfectly fine on a Ford Mustang.
Thanks.
That may be part of it, but what DOT really means is that the lights are aimed right and put out the correct amount of light. With the wrong projectors, you end up with lights that look brighter to you but you actually see less because it's brighter at short ranges producing glare for other drivers and less light at far distances which mean you can actually see less not more. But if your goal is to blind other drivers and to see less then you shouldn't really even have a license.
The LED conversion does not put out light in a projector lens correctly, only from two or three positions, with the projector lens in our cars, it is better to use the bixenon upgrades as it puts out light in all directions more like the halogen bulb does, the LED conversion seems to work ok in reflector headlights, but we don't have those.
Yeah, the LEDs don't do well with the projector lenses.
Originally Posted by cetialpha5
That may be part of it, but what DOT really means is that the lights are aimed right and put out the correct amount of light. With the wrong projectors, you end up with lights that look brighter to you but you actually see less because it's brighter at short ranges producing glare for other drivers and less light at far distances which mean you can actually see less not more. But if your goal is to blind other drivers and to see less then you shouldn't really even have a license.
Which is why I would have them leveled correctly, like I was saying. My goal is to see, not to blind people like the BMW laser lights that literally have a sticker on them telling you not to look into the headlights. Also, a lot of the newer HID kits come with new projectors as well. I wouldn't buy something and slap it in there like so many people do.
I have experienced with quite a few LED bulbs, and haven't found anything I tried liked yet. I have tried some bulbs, but trying to get them to fit in the socket and all the little clips and what not is exhausting.
I'm running the Phillips Diamond vison right now. The color is good, but they aren't super bright. I'm considering buying an OEM xenon headlight and having it installed. I'm just not sure how to go about it, and if they are truly plug-and-play.
You would have to add level sensors and have the camera and the new lights programmed, with used headlights, maybe 2k, if you could find someone capable of programming them and the features that go along with it so it's possible, but costly, even more so with new parts.
I used the cool blue and the silver stars in my older Benz's without xenons, but I was replacing them every year and a half or so, my '12 has the halogens and the silver stars seem to work well, no, not nearly as well as my '13 but it has cornering and auto high beam with xenons.
[QUOTE=cetialpha5;8665705]Only drawback with brighter bulbs is that they burn out quicker/QUOTE]
I bought a pair of "enhanced" SilverStars with a life expectancy of 100 hours. I can't believe that they would bother selling them - that is a pretty significant drawback. Worthless. I put them in the high beams because where I live I won't kill them for 30 years.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
