millz2k1

So the other day I helped my buddy out who wanted to upgrade his headlights on his 2003 (and many other years) G500. There are several lighting upgrades that are available from $89-1599 and everywhere in between. We bought these LED Halos for $89 on ebay and they look amazing! The only ting was we couldn't find ANY helpful install info, so we made this video to help anyone else looking to upgrade their Gwagen lights. We put some added information in the description showing the type of lights and any other tools etc that would be required. Feel free to reach out to me directly with any other questions @ FaucheauxMoto@gmail.com Hope this helps!

Depending on what year you have you MIGHT need these (or similar to avoid the flicker or intermittent functioning since the G will be looking for old fashion lighting. It may not start flickering immediately, we ended up adding this after 3 days and I happen to have these in my same Jeep project box lol! They’re plug and play as long as you buy correct ones for your year. I’m happy to try and advise accordingly. For his 2003 with a 3 prong factory harness we used these.

https://www.extremeterrain.com/raxio...s-j139546.html


If you could like and subscribe that would be swell.

You Tube

gstar1

This is good info for the most part, the only thing missing is a way to adjust the beam.
The better headlight frame to use is an adjustable one made for a Harley motorcycle, you can get a pair on amazon for around 50 bucks.
It requires some finessing but not anymore than the Jeep frames you used.
~My 2 cents.

GOBP

this is great of those of us looking to upgrade our current stock halogen lights. Shame these were not reviewed (or at least I could not figure out if they were) on Headlight Revolution's 7" comparison video. If you have a site/video that tests the lights you used, please share with the rest of us to we can see technical tests such as lumens (low and high beam), color temperature, as well as light pattern/cutoff. Currently looking for a generic set of the bi xenon headlights used on the 2007/2008+ models, but having been tested to make sure they work as well (if not better) as stock lights.

8899

Following. Also looking to upgrade either the bulbs or entire headlight assembly on my 2008 G55 which I believe is running the OE bi-xenons.

Lhommec13

I actually did what you're suggesting and the results came out great. Using @millz2k1 video as a guide, I installed a similar set of 7" sealed beam LED halo headlights made by Oracle Lighting on my 2006 G500. Instead of the plastic mounting bracket, I opted for these adjustable metal ones. The process was the exact same, except for having to drill through metal instead of plastic. The aftermarket lights do require a resistor to be compatible with the factory CAN-BUS. Overall, a huge improvement over stock and cost was about $300 all in.

GOBP

A very well known poster on this forum used these adapter rings on his headlight conversion (using JW Speaker lights):

black06c230

since you have a 2008 you wouldn’t need adapter rings. You could use lights like I used on my 2011 which you can see here

https://mbworld.org/forums/g-class-w...alled-wow.html

8899

While the lights you purchased are still $440 for a pair.....shipping cost is now $233. So is $670 worth it, or is there another alternative?

GOBP

Love the looks of the ±$670 headlights, but not having any kind of tests on them and knowing that tried/tested/known product are in the ±$350 range (Morimoto & JW Speaker) make it a tough pill to swallow...

8899

Anyone happen to know if these would work in a [circa] 2008 G55 with HIDs:

GOBP

Looks to be the same bulb type (D1S), so in theory, it should work.

That said, LEDs and projectors (instead of reflectors), don't always play "nice" and you could actually worsen the light output... I'd call on a company that does tons of reviews/research on bulbs/headlamps and ask for their opinion, thus potentially saving headaches down the road. I am in NO WAY affiliated with them, but based on the content they have posted on YouTube and my recent talks with them in trying to find a headlamp that caters to my needs, the people from Headlight Revolution were extremely professional, courteous, and very informative.

8899

Thank you. So Headlight Revolution seems to be the same as The Retrofit Source. Same web user interface and even same customer service phone system. Unfortunately, when calling them (just like The Retrofit Source), they just don't answer the phone.

GOBP

Shame you haven't had the same luck as I have with them (Headlight Revolution). Only "negative" thing I found from them is that in one of their video reviews of the 8700 Evo 2 headlights, the presenter said that the Evo 2J can be used in any car as long as you use a H13 (Evo 2J) to H4 (Evo 2) adapter. Besides the plug type, the Evo 2J has some electronics specifically designed for Jeep vehicles, and it also has a "half moon LED DRL strip" on the top part. The manufacturer told me that if I wanted to avoid any kind of issues on my vehicle, to skip the Jeep-specific version (Evo 2J) and limit myself to the regular Evo2 version. Perhaps this is why another member here who installed the Evo 2J had to adapt some resistors? Working on figuring this out with the manufacturer directly.....

shiann

When I swapped in the 8700 Evo J2's to my G, the only real reason I got them over the standard non-jeep version was because they were on heavy discount (got them for ~$400 NIB) and they could be had in black. At the time, the Evo 2's could only be found in silver.

The other main reason I went with the JW Speakers is because they are DOT legal, whereas the Morimoto Super 7's (at least at time time) were not, and all aftermarket OEM-like offerings were not either. Also, LED replacement bulbs for reflector housings really weren't mainstream enough to be affordable, nor good enough to be considered good replacements for halogens. Now, Truck-light has an option, as well as KC Highlights, and a few other well known brands. It also seems like the OE-like designs have improved significantly and look good and have proved to be reliable.

Either way, upgrading the headlights on the G is the best thing I've done so far. Literally night and day difference. Now just need some more lights up high and a good set of fog lights down low.

black06c230

I don’t know where to get the best price but here is a pic of the LEDs on the G and a Morimoto EVO swap I did on my E using Osram CBB bulbs.


left side G LED right E with EVOs and CBB bulbs

black06c230

buy on AliExpress and they are only $500 shipped

US $500.00 20％ Off | Headlight For Benz W463 G500 2007-2022 Car автомобильные товары LED DRL Hella 5 Xenon Lens Hid H7 G350 Car Accessories
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mMMbBwi

GOBP

If you can get over the looks of the JW Speaker 8700 Evo 2, here is quite a bit of detailed information on them: https://www.jwspeaker.com/products/l...#product_parts

Now to figure out if the anti-flicker harness is required for our vehicles and if the price listed is for the pair, or each. Pretty pricey on their mounting ring kit.... Thankfully there are other alternatives for a lot less money and do the same thing.

8899

What year is your G500? And, do you have OE bi-xenons in there now?

shiann

Price is per pair.

The anti-flicker feature built in to the jeep version (Evo J2) does not 'work' with the G's electrical system. They may have been the cause of some of my issues, no idea. I had to build a whole load resistor setup for my headlights to not turn off after a short time. Your results may vary though.

8899

So, exactly which bulbs did you install in your G55? Possible to provide a link [please]?

GOBP

Truck I’ll soon be acquiring is a Euro spec 2002 G500. It currently has the stock halogen headlamps.

GOBP

Spoke to JW Speaker (Sally) and confirmed that more than likely the anti-flicker adapter (part #800031) will be required for our older vehicles. It is one adapter per headlight and they are sold individually (currently priced at $101.14 each on their site). This adds ±$205 to the total cost of the headlights bringing the grand total to ±$570. In line with other options mentioned on this thread, but those have not been tested as thoroughly as these.

Anyone has experience installing LED bulbs on original reflector-style headlamps (non-projector versions found in 2002-2006 models)?

black06c230

these bulbs in the xenon projectors might not look like a huge upgrade simply due to the age of the bowl and lens design. I used them on my wife’s GLS and they are just OK. My E as posted above is modded swapped projectors and lens adjustment they match the LED light output of the G. I would not expect them to perform to the LED level without modding the lens at least. At that point I would simply buy the LED set I got. But if you want OE look with better performance there is a path. I used the same bulbs on our old LR3 and swapped a lens and they matched the G with LEDs as well. Let me find a pic.

OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Boost D1S Xenon Car Headlight Bulbs (Twin) 66140CBB-HCB https://a.co/d/5otk1g9


LR3 with the Osram CBB bulbs and a modded lens. The LR3 uses the same E55 Hella projectors as the G/E.

I don’t have a G LED side by side with the LR3 but you can see it’s much like the above.

8899

In my quest to uprade the lighting on my G55 (you know, so I can actually see the road at night) I just purchased the following bulbs:

Headlight bulbs: https://www.bevinsee.com/products/d1...hid-xenon-lamp
Foglight bulbs: https://www.bevinsee.com/products/be...ight-bulbs-kit

I'll be sure to report back once I have them installed.

Moving on to G63 headlight bezels with the LED strip functioning as DRLs...I'm considering buying some used OE bezels (with no lights) off of eBay, and then buying a pair of these to install in the bezels:
https://www.getmercedesparts.com/oem...amp-4639065300

Would anyone happen to know how the wiring would work? Would I need load resistors to avoid flickering or canbus errors?

GOBP

Greg: did you talk to someone at Bevinsee before purchasing the bulbs for your headlights? I only ask as my experience has been that LEDs don't illuminate as much as xenon bulbs when it comes to projector-style headlamps. Perhaps technology has changed in the past 18 months when I learned about this the hard (expensive) way.. Besides the way light is spread out, I recall there was an issue regarding the position in which the locked LED bulb had to be in order to avoid blinding oncoming traffic due to improper alignment. Again, I'm no tech, but I did take my time and called a few known suppliers after the local shop misled me. The known suppliers all told me the same thing: get better xenon bulbs, not LED bulbs, for your projector headlamp. Reflector style headlamp/foglight? No problem, there your best bet is to replace the halogen bulbs with LEDs.

More than likely you'll need anti-flickering devices to avoid codes being thrown off...

Interesting idea you have going on with the non-LED DRL strip and retrofitting them with LED DRLs. Best of luck and keep us informed!