blackglk350

1) Just got a nice glk in black, love it... but i'm not too excited about the orange reflectors on the headlights, sort of makes it look cheap. Was wondering if there was a way to take them out or replace them? I don't do much customizing with lights so i'm pretty new to it.

2) I was thinking of buying the running boards from the dealerfit mercedes website... but would my mercedes dealer install them if I didn't purchase it from them? I wouldn't feel too safe having another auto place install them. Do you guys think the glk looks better with or without the running boards? I can't decide!! ha ha

3) One more thing... The aluminum roof rails, is it safe to add those on too and replace the black ones? Has anyone had it done through mercedes? and what was the cost w/ installation? I'm in the US by the way.


Any advice, or suggestions would be helpful! thank you!!

NYCGLK

Congrats on new ride and welcome.

1) It's actually not easy. I know on other cars (i'm sure GLK is the same way), you basically have to heat up the headlight unit in an oven to melt the sealant to take it aprt and remove the reflector, and then put it back together. I would not do it unless you really know what you doing and know it can be done (not sure if the replector can be removed at all). If not done properly you can have mositure trapped inside.

2) Have you tried getting in out of GLK with running boards? Try it before deciding to install them. To me the look is good either way.

3) Haven't heard of anybody having it done. Since your GLK is black might as well leave the black roofrails.

blackglk350

thanks! yeah if the reflectors take that much work, i won't mess with it...don't want to ruin anything! i have tried getting in and out with the running boards, not much difference... but it looks a lot nicer with them on i think. i'm still thinking about the aluminum roof rails...makes the appearance better..but not too sure yet. i heard installation was alot of $$.

NYCGLK

Save your $$$, just wait a month and the itch will go away haha. I know how it feels when you get new car, you wanna make it that much more perfect. Get HID's if you didn't get lighting package, I think that might be a worthwhile investment. Also get PCMCIA adapter and SD card for music if you got the multimedia package. Those things you can actually use when driving.

F18BEN

All Mercedes dealers will be happy to install parts you bought somewhere else, as long as they are genuine new Mercedes parts. Thats how the service department makes it's money. Each dealer may charge differently to install the same part. They all use the same rate book that tells them how long it should take. The hourly rate is up to the individual dealer..... Frank

antsGLK

u can change the orange light for the eyelid. they have LED's for them. i wonder if anybody knows what side the bulb is? oh yeah...and never ever take your lights apart because it will leave moisture in them. always! and i wouldnt smoke the tail lights either as it will damage the lights over time. unless your ballin out of control and just buy another pair.

antsGLK

oops...i mean what size* the bulb is?

antsGLK

i wish they had black housing headlights....=(

webada

The orange eyelid blub size is w5w (501) The headlight is H7 if you don't have HID package.

NYCGLK

Is that same as 194 bulb (different convention)?

Since I figured out how to make eyebrows and fog light to be on without xenons I might upgrade them to matching white lights.

webada

yes its the same. but how does one compensate the LED reduced wattage without setting the light warning on the dash?

ie, w5w uses 5w, LED version is about 1w or so.

NYCGLK

hmm idk, but seems that Sean74 and MadlorGLK put leds in with no problem. I'm thinking of putting leds into eyebrows to have that C-class look (eyebrows and fog lights only ON), but facing two problems.

1)GLK's eyebrows don't seem to light up in the same way, the light is not distributed through the eyebrow
2) GLK has city lights that come one with parking lights, I would not want them on, cuz then it looks like GLK has supper cheap DRL's from 10 years ago.

This is the look I would like (just with white fogs)



Thanks to whoever posted that pic on C-forum

Schutzen

I was planning on installing the aluminum rails on my black GLK...I think the black rails look ok with a light exterior color like white or silver or brown...but the contrast with aluminum rails and dark exterior IMO looks good. I also have the side running boards. The aluminum rails are now available as well as the side running boards
http://mercedes.dealerfit.com/store/...at909_2481.php

The only concern with the roof rails is the interior header and side curtain airbags as the bolts attach from the inside. I am looking into the service manual to see if it is a do it yourself job. I am in Canada and the aluminum rails were not available on the Canadian sport package until recently. The Canadian dollar is close to the US dollar I was quoted $900 a rail $1800 for both...crazy...check the link I can get both in the US for $900 and pay the duty. The dealer quoted 1-hour of shop time.

antsGLK

yea thats pretty nice. ive been looking at wanting to use the eyebrows as daytime lights. but not sure how to do it on automatic mode. i need hids too. whats the best choice?

NYCGLK

you can use eyebrows as DRL, just have to turn them on every time. The problem is that blinker on C is in the headlight, and in GLK it's in the eyebrow. So unless you can figure out a way for blinker light to stay on, there is no way to have eyebrow lit up like on C-class. Only the outside portion of the eyebrow is lit up on GLK with the parking light. And on top there are those city lights that come on with eyebrow parking lights. So bottom line is C-look on GLK is no go, at least for me for now.

As far as HIDs, search for posts by MadlorGLK (he's from LA too) and Sean76, they both put xenons on as they could not find GLK with lighting package back in spring.

F18BEN

Since we are talking about lights. (something I know nothing about). I have the standard headlights not the xenon. Is there a different bulb I can pop in (H7) that would give me brighter headlights without changing the whole system? Thanks Frank

NYCGLK

^yes, there are whiter/brighter hallogens you can install, I belive. I'm not sure how much better than stock they would be tho. You can try one and return if don't like it. I would highly recommend getting xenon set like some ppl did here. I have stock xenons and think every car should come with them (unless you don't drive at night).