2011 GLK + HID Kit & lighting installed
09-25-2011, 04:18 PM
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2011 GLK + HID Kit & lighting installed
After a month of researching and contacting dealers in the Bay area, my wife and I finally found the car that fits her needs. I wanted the lighting package so much and I really didn't want to purchase the fully loaded so I settle for the AMG package w/o it.
Luckily for me, there was Xtreme HID store near by the Beshoff dealer and they recommended me over there. I had the headlight, parking and license plate chagned. The labor is cheap IMO and the owner Johnny is very friendly and cool guy. they did the installation in the daytime so couldn't tell much until night time and WOW..I love it. It ends up costing me 1/3 of the lighting package but now I have LED lighting both exterior and interior. Here are a few pics..
Luckily for me, there was Xtreme HID store near by the Beshoff dealer and they recommended me over there. I had the headlight, parking and license plate chagned. The labor is cheap IMO and the owner Johnny is very friendly and cool guy. they did the installation in the daytime so couldn't tell much until night time and WOW..I love it. It ends up costing me 1/3 of the lighting package but now I have LED lighting both exterior and interior. Here are a few pics..
09-25-2011, 07:16 PM
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Very nice but what you don't get and IMO is the most important is the Active Curve Illumination. I have it on mine. I was introduced to it in my wife's 2007 Lexus. It is without a doubt one of the best features for night time driving.
Did you have the directional and stop lights changed to LED's?
Did you have the directional and stop lights changed to LED's?
09-26-2011, 11:21 AM
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Very nice but what you don't get and IMO is the most important is the Active Curve Illumination. I have it on mine. I was introduced to it in my wife's 2007 Lexus. It is without a doubt one of the best features for night time driving.
Did you have the directional and stop lights changed to LED's?
Did you have the directional and stop lights changed to LED's?
I wanted to do custom built the 2012 too but 2-3 months wait wasn't going to work with our schedule since we have only 1 car.
I'm not sure which one is directional but no i didn't change those. The issue with signals and any blinking bulb in replacement of LED would be blinking faster than normal and I didn't want to take that chance.
09-27-2011, 12:42 PM
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I replaced pretty much all bulbs EXCEPT signals and the LED fog lamp.
NO ERROR CODE as they had guaranteed me before the installation.
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09-28-2011, 12:38 AM
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w202 C220
Was it a plug & play installation, or did they have to reflash your ECU so that you don't get any error codes?
09-28-2011, 12:10 PM
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It was plug and play directly.
09-28-2011, 12:17 PM
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09-29-2011, 04:36 AM
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As far as I know there is still no legal way to convert a Halogen headlight fixture to HID in any North American or European country.
Did the guy who installed your headlights provide any documents showing your conversion was street legal and conforming to US DOT FMVSS 108?
If not, you could be setting yourself up for a big expensive fix it ticket if you are caught using those lights on any public road.
Phillips is the only top tier supplier of HID conversion kits that I know of who have certified lighting conversion kits but those kits are only being sold in the Far East and Asia because of the lighting laws here in North America. Those kits are frequently sold on eBay fron sources in India and China but they are still illegal to install here in the USA.
A major reason why HID kits are illegal here in North America is the design of our FMVSS 108 lights. American lighting laws require a measured amount of "glare" to be directed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for "visibility" and an additional amount of light directed upwards at approx 45 degrees to light up unlighted reflectorized road signs. Putting a light source that is three times brighter than the fixture was designed to use creates levels of glare three times greater than the legal limit and no amount of re-aiming of the light fixture will eliminate the glare because it is a design requirement.
One quick test is to observe your lights on the car ahead of you. If any part of the light BELOW the horizontal cut-off point is lighting any part of the interior of the car ahead of you, you're producing illegal levels of glare and will eventually **** off some cop and get cited.
Did the guy who installed your headlights provide any documents showing your conversion was street legal and conforming to US DOT FMVSS 108?
If not, you could be setting yourself up for a big expensive fix it ticket if you are caught using those lights on any public road.
Phillips is the only top tier supplier of HID conversion kits that I know of who have certified lighting conversion kits but those kits are only being sold in the Far East and Asia because of the lighting laws here in North America. Those kits are frequently sold on eBay fron sources in India and China but they are still illegal to install here in the USA.
A major reason why HID kits are illegal here in North America is the design of our FMVSS 108 lights. American lighting laws require a measured amount of "glare" to be directed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for "visibility" and an additional amount of light directed upwards at approx 45 degrees to light up unlighted reflectorized road signs. Putting a light source that is three times brighter than the fixture was designed to use creates levels of glare three times greater than the legal limit and no amount of re-aiming of the light fixture will eliminate the glare because it is a design requirement.
One quick test is to observe your lights on the car ahead of you. If any part of the light BELOW the horizontal cut-off point is lighting any part of the interior of the car ahead of you, you're producing illegal levels of glare and will eventually **** off some cop and get cited.
09-29-2011, 08:44 AM
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As far as I know there is still no legal way to convert a Halogen headlight fixture to HID in any North American or European country.
Did the guy who installed your headlights provide any documents showing your conversion was street legal and conforming to US DOT FMVSS 108?
If not, you could be setting yourself up for a big expensive fix it ticket if you are caught using those lights on any public road.
Phillips is the only top tier supplier of HID conversion kits that I know of who have certified lighting conversion kits but those kits are only being sold in the Far East and Asia because of the lighting laws here in North America. Those kits are frequently sold on eBay fron sources in India and China but they are still illegal to install here in the USA.
A major reason why HID kits are illegal here in North America is the design of our FMVSS 108 lights. American lighting laws require a measured amount of "glare" to be directed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for "visibility" and an additional amount of light directed upwards at approx 45 degrees to light up unlighted reflectorized road signs. Putting a light source that is three times brighter than the fixture was designed to use creates levels of glare three times greater than the legal limit and no amount of re-aiming of the light fixture will eliminate the glare because it is a design requirement.
One quick test is to observe your lights on the car ahead of you. If any part of the light BELOW the horizontal cut-off point is lighting any part of the interior of the car ahead of you, you're producing illegal levels of glare and will eventually **** off some cop and get cited.
Did the guy who installed your headlights provide any documents showing your conversion was street legal and conforming to US DOT FMVSS 108?
If not, you could be setting yourself up for a big expensive fix it ticket if you are caught using those lights on any public road.
Phillips is the only top tier supplier of HID conversion kits that I know of who have certified lighting conversion kits but those kits are only being sold in the Far East and Asia because of the lighting laws here in North America. Those kits are frequently sold on eBay fron sources in India and China but they are still illegal to install here in the USA.
A major reason why HID kits are illegal here in North America is the design of our FMVSS 108 lights. American lighting laws require a measured amount of "glare" to be directed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for "visibility" and an additional amount of light directed upwards at approx 45 degrees to light up unlighted reflectorized road signs. Putting a light source that is three times brighter than the fixture was designed to use creates levels of glare three times greater than the legal limit and no amount of re-aiming of the light fixture will eliminate the glare because it is a design requirement.
One quick test is to observe your lights on the car ahead of you. If any part of the light BELOW the horizontal cut-off point is lighting any part of the interior of the car ahead of you, you're producing illegal levels of glare and will eventually **** off some cop and get cited.
09-29-2011, 04:24 PM
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As far as I know there is still no legal way to convert a Halogen headlight fixture to HID in any North American or European country.
Did the guy who installed your headlights provide any documents showing your conversion was street legal and conforming to US DOT FMVSS 108?
If not, you could be setting yourself up for a big expensive fix it ticket if you are caught using those lights on any public road.
Phillips is the only top tier supplier of HID conversion kits that I know of who have certified lighting conversion kits but those kits are only being sold in the Far East and Asia because of the lighting laws here in North America. Those kits are frequently sold on eBay fron sources in India and China but they are still illegal to install here in the USA.
A major reason why HID kits are illegal here in North America is the design of our FMVSS 108 lights. American lighting laws require a measured amount of "glare" to be directed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for "visibility" and an additional amount of light directed upwards at approx 45 degrees to light up unlighted reflectorized road signs. Putting a light source that is three times brighter than the fixture was designed to use creates levels of glare three times greater than the legal limit and no amount of re-aiming of the light fixture will eliminate the glare because it is a design requirement.
One quick test is to observe your lights on the car ahead of you. If any part of the light BELOW the horizontal cut-off point is lighting any part of the interior of the car ahead of you, you're producing illegal levels of glare and will eventually **** off some cop and get cited.
Did the guy who installed your headlights provide any documents showing your conversion was street legal and conforming to US DOT FMVSS 108?
If not, you could be setting yourself up for a big expensive fix it ticket if you are caught using those lights on any public road.
Phillips is the only top tier supplier of HID conversion kits that I know of who have certified lighting conversion kits but those kits are only being sold in the Far East and Asia because of the lighting laws here in North America. Those kits are frequently sold on eBay fron sources in India and China but they are still illegal to install here in the USA.
A major reason why HID kits are illegal here in North America is the design of our FMVSS 108 lights. American lighting laws require a measured amount of "glare" to be directed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for "visibility" and an additional amount of light directed upwards at approx 45 degrees to light up unlighted reflectorized road signs. Putting a light source that is three times brighter than the fixture was designed to use creates levels of glare three times greater than the legal limit and no amount of re-aiming of the light fixture will eliminate the glare because it is a design requirement.
One quick test is to observe your lights on the car ahead of you. If any part of the light BELOW the horizontal cut-off point is lighting any part of the interior of the car ahead of you, you're producing illegal levels of glare and will eventually **** off some cop and get cited.
I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY TICKETS FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS FOR USING THESE HID KITS.
It's the same as when you buy the Lighting package in the stock conditioin, all you're doing is replacing the temperature of the bulb..as long as it's not blue but white then there isn't an issue.
09-29-2011, 08:49 PM
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w202 C220
As far as I know there is still no legal way to convert a Halogen headlight fixture to HID in any North American or European country.
Did the guy who installed your headlights provide any documents showing your conversion was street legal and conforming to US DOT FMVSS 108?
If not, you could be setting yourself up for a big expensive fix it ticket if you are caught using those lights on any public road.
Phillips is the only top tier supplier of HID conversion kits that I know of who have certified lighting conversion kits but those kits are only being sold in the Far East and Asia because of the lighting laws here in North America. Those kits are frequently sold on eBay fron sources in India and China but they are still illegal to install here in the USA.
A major reason why HID kits are illegal here in North America is the design of our FMVSS 108 lights. American lighting laws require a measured amount of "glare" to be directed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for "visibility" and an additional amount of light directed upwards at approx 45 degrees to light up unlighted reflectorized road signs. Putting a light source that is three times brighter than the fixture was designed to use creates levels of glare three times greater than the legal limit and no amount of re-aiming of the light fixture will eliminate the glare because it is a design requirement.
One quick test is to observe your lights on the car ahead of you. If any part of the light BELOW the horizontal cut-off point is lighting any part of the interior of the car ahead of you, you're producing illegal levels of glare and will eventually **** off some cop and get cited.
Did the guy who installed your headlights provide any documents showing your conversion was street legal and conforming to US DOT FMVSS 108?
If not, you could be setting yourself up for a big expensive fix it ticket if you are caught using those lights on any public road.
Phillips is the only top tier supplier of HID conversion kits that I know of who have certified lighting conversion kits but those kits are only being sold in the Far East and Asia because of the lighting laws here in North America. Those kits are frequently sold on eBay fron sources in India and China but they are still illegal to install here in the USA.
A major reason why HID kits are illegal here in North America is the design of our FMVSS 108 lights. American lighting laws require a measured amount of "glare" to be directed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for "visibility" and an additional amount of light directed upwards at approx 45 degrees to light up unlighted reflectorized road signs. Putting a light source that is three times brighter than the fixture was designed to use creates levels of glare three times greater than the legal limit and no amount of re-aiming of the light fixture will eliminate the glare because it is a design requirement.
One quick test is to observe your lights on the car ahead of you. If any part of the light BELOW the horizontal cut-off point is lighting any part of the interior of the car ahead of you, you're producing illegal levels of glare and will eventually **** off some cop and get cited.
NEVER received a ticket. NEVER received high-beam warnings from opposing traffic.
I understand that in some cars, the size of the projector is larger (BMWs) than the size of the projector on halogen lights.
But in Audis, the projector sizes are the same. When I installed the aftermarket kit in my Audi, the beam pattern and angle of the lights were perfect.
An argument could be made that without the self-leveling system, the aftermarket HIDs would blind opposing traffic. Not true. So long as the projectors are aimed properly, you're fine. (See: Honda S2000).
I understand there is such laws in place, but so long as it's done properly, you can stay under the radar of local law enforcement.
Now, I absolutely despise the people who put aftermarket HIDs in headlamps that do not use projector lamps, especially when the 909 kids (here in SoCal) install 8000k kits in their Chevy Silverados. THEY deserve the tickets.
11-15-2011, 12:06 PM
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11-15-2011, 02:22 PM
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OK - I just want to jump in real quick and give my .02 cents... "Any HID kit" that supports CANBUS will not throw a code... MB, Audi, BMW... just do a search on eBay or Amazon for HID + CANBUS...
Secondly, if you have flickering, which most euro cars do, you'll need a filter or sometimes called a capacitor. A pair runs about $10-$15 dollars...
Last of all, new kits coming out have this built-in, it looks neater and is less to install inline...
Really the last thing... the guys that get popped in our area are running kits in reflector housings' not projector housings, meaning, there's glare all over the place... also, a dead giveaway is if you're running anything above 6000k it's just asking for a ticket... All the ricers run 8000k and up to 12000k that throws purple - these guys are just begging to get pulled over...
My experience? I used to sell kits on eBay and did pretty well. There's just too much competition and it slowed sales. Mine were $99 shipped with any bulb, any color... There selling the same thing for $59, so after I sold out, that was it. If you "any" questions, please let me know...
Mark
Ps. i did my GLK with 5000k and it looked great! Don't forget the higher you go, the less light you get...
Secondly, if you have flickering, which most euro cars do, you'll need a filter or sometimes called a capacitor. A pair runs about $10-$15 dollars...
Last of all, new kits coming out have this built-in, it looks neater and is less to install inline...
Really the last thing... the guys that get popped in our area are running kits in reflector housings' not projector housings, meaning, there's glare all over the place... also, a dead giveaway is if you're running anything above 6000k it's just asking for a ticket... All the ricers run 8000k and up to 12000k that throws purple - these guys are just begging to get pulled over...
My experience? I used to sell kits on eBay and did pretty well. There's just too much competition and it slowed sales. Mine were $99 shipped with any bulb, any color... There selling the same thing for $59, so after I sold out, that was it. If you "any" questions, please let me know...
Mark
Ps. i did my GLK with 5000k and it looked great! Don't forget the higher you go, the less light you get...
Last edited by emdem; 11-15-2011 at 02:29 PM.
11-15-2011, 03:40 PM
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OK - I just want to jump in real quick and give my .02 cents... "Any HID kit" that supports CANBUS will not throw a code... MB, Audi, BMW... just do a search on eBay or Amazon for HID + CANBUS...
Secondly, if you have flickering, which most euro cars do, you'll need a filter or sometimes called a capacitor. A pair runs about $10-$15 dollars...
Last of all, new kits coming out have this built-in, it looks neater and is less to install inline...
Really the last thing... the guys that get popped in our area are running kits in reflector housings' not projector housings, meaning, there's glare all over the place... also, a dead giveaway is if you're running anything above 6000k it's just asking for a ticket... All the ricers run 8000k and up to 12000k that throws purple - these guys are just begging to get pulled over...
My experience? I used to sell kits on eBay and did pretty well. There's just too much competition and it slowed sales. Mine were $99 shipped with any bulb, any color... There selling the same thing for $59, so after I sold out, that was it. If you "any" questions, please let me know...
Mark
Ps. i did my GLK with 5000k and it looked great! Don't forget the higher you go, the less light you get...
Secondly, if you have flickering, which most euro cars do, you'll need a filter or sometimes called a capacitor. A pair runs about $10-$15 dollars...
Last of all, new kits coming out have this built-in, it looks neater and is less to install inline...
Really the last thing... the guys that get popped in our area are running kits in reflector housings' not projector housings, meaning, there's glare all over the place... also, a dead giveaway is if you're running anything above 6000k it's just asking for a ticket... All the ricers run 8000k and up to 12000k that throws purple - these guys are just begging to get pulled over...
My experience? I used to sell kits on eBay and did pretty well. There's just too much competition and it slowed sales. Mine were $99 shipped with any bulb, any color... There selling the same thing for $59, so after I sold out, that was it. If you "any" questions, please let me know...
Mark
Ps. i did my GLK with 5000k and it looked great! Don't forget the higher you go, the less light you get...
02-01-2012, 05:16 AM
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Any chance you can take a pic of the beam pattern with the HID kit? Excessive glare above the horizontal cutoff line?
Btw...as long as you get the CANBus (error free) HID kit...any brand will work.
Btw...as long as you get the CANBus (error free) HID kit...any brand will work.
02-02-2012, 11:09 AM
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The GLK looks very nice!
I am looking to change into the LEDs. Would you know which bulbs were used?
I was lucky enough to find a GLK with Lighting, AMG and Premium.. If not I was going to wait and get one built...
I am looking to change into the LEDs. Would you know which bulbs were used?
I was lucky enough to find a GLK with Lighting, AMG and Premium.. If not I was going to wait and get one built...
After a month of researching and contacting dealers in the Bay area, my wife and I finally found the car that fits her needs. I wanted the lighting package so much and I really didn't want to purchase the fully loaded so I settle for the AMG package w/o it.
Luckily for me, there was Xtreme HID store near by the Beshoff dealer and they recommended me over there. I had the headlight, parking and license plate chagned. The labor is cheap IMO and the owner Johnny is very friendly and cool guy. they did the installation in the daytime so couldn't tell much until night time and WOW..I love it. It ends up costing me 1/3 of the lighting package but now I have LED lighting both exterior and interior. Here are a few pics..
Luckily for me, there was Xtreme HID store near by the Beshoff dealer and they recommended me over there. I had the headlight, parking and license plate chagned. The labor is cheap IMO and the owner Johnny is very friendly and cool guy. they did the installation in the daytime so couldn't tell much until night time and WOW..I love it. It ends up costing me 1/3 of the lighting package but now I have LED lighting both exterior and interior. Here are a few pics..
