B737

randomly i had to drive SO's GLK someplace at night. i was floored how awful the headlights had become during our short ownership period of this truck. I was like how the heck do you see anything at night?! it was downright unsafe. She does a lot of commuting during the dark.

I went out on a limb and ordered H7 Micro LED low beams from VLEDs. I figured id try them because ive used their products in my other vehicles and have been happy with them. I wasnt sure what to expect about the beam given the projector lenses are for halogen, wow was i shocked. The lenses on these trucks are quite good! The light is a crisp white, the output is fantastic, and the installation was a breeze, no different than swapping in a regular H7 bulb. It was a remarkable change.

Changing the bulbs is simple, I took the wheel route... remove wheel, remove front wheel well liner, remove dust cap, slide locking clip up, remove old H7. plug in the H7 LED (plug and play), lock the locking clip by sliding it down, install dust cap and done. tons of room to work. I did not even have to re-aim the lights when I checked them against the door. No changes or modifications are needed to make them fit or function, no error messages.

One caveat, the LEDs have little fans on them, I hope they have a long life... I have always had her DTRL disabled on her truck to reduce the duty for the low beams so hopefully that will help. I did this a few weeks ago, she has not been flashed, I also marked the old halogen beam pattern on the door before swapping. After the swap the beam pattern lined up perfectly, in fact it seemed to have better pattern than the old halogens.

hoglaw

Great Share! And from the video's I've seen, once you remove the wheel well liner, the headlight replacements are typically a straightforward experience.I have a 2015 GLK with the standard/base Halogen lights, and have been thinking about an LED low light upgrade (CougarMotor LED Headlight Bulbs All-in-One Conversion Kit on Amazon). Curious if anyone has a positive/negative experience halogen to LED replacement.

dvintglk

So, B737 are these H7 LED low beam upgrade VLED Micros a direct plug-n-play swap out with the oem halogens? No additional wiring needed etc.?

dvintglk

No flickering issues, or error codes thrown from the cars ECU? This is a very well known issue when replacing OEM with any LEDs even if they note they are CANBus and error free. On my old 2007 SLK280 I could never use anything other than stock halogen replacements due to constant flickering and issues.

B737

dvintglk

So they are direct plug n play into OEM space with no issues with your GLK350? Sounds too good to be true. They are $150 for the pair just want to be sure there will be no issues. One thing the site said if our headlamp housing has a clip we may need to buy an additional part for these to clip into place. Is that true?

B737

dvintglk

How long have you had them installed? Curious of how they react in very cold and hot scenarios (winter/summer). Thanks for all the details

B737

bop11

I see that halogen light bulbs are being outlawed in Europe this September. This is for normal bulbs, I wonder if it applies to vehicles. The LED's sound much better.

dealerss

Did you install the CANBUS module? Or are you issue free without the module?

B737

there is no canbus module, there are no error codes. it's just the LED lamp and driver. (bottom in last photo)

dealerss

Ok, great, thanks for the update! I only asked about the CANBUS modules because VLEDs offers them for an additional $30 when you purchase the H7 LED bulbs. Glad to know I don't need them!

B737

i just pulled up my order to check it; only shows "2 x H7 MICRO 5K 25W 3000LM LED BULB $150.00"
no canbus for my application at least

dealerss

Thanks for confirming that! I am ordering them today! Can't wait to have good headlights again!

ZZGlk

I am curious about your experience. I called to order and was told that for 2013 and above I would need to add the 6 ohm resistor( canbus module) to prevent hyperflash. I decided to wait until someone else took the plunge on the newer models. What did you end up going with and how is it working?

B737

makes sense for 2013+ since the model year refresh

andreigbs

I've been looking at LEDs recently, and while they may not quite as bright as HIDs, they're definitely an improvement over stock halogens. The other side benefit for those considering a lighting upgrade is that LEDs are easier to install than HID kits. Then there is the issue of quality with many HID kits. I've gone through several from eBay, DDMTuning, etc.

An excellent vendor I would suggest is The Retrofit Source (link). They're an Atlanta, GA based company with awesome service, excellent lighting components and very competitive prices.

As an example, H7 LEDs run $120 (link) and high-quality HID kits run $150 (link). I've bought several HID kits for previous cars here and the bang to buck ratio is unbeatable, plus the quality of the items is second to none. My 2004 Passat is still running the kit I got from them over 5 years ago.

(Disclaimer: I have no "disclosable interest" and I'm not affiliated with TRS in any way, just a very satisfied customer. YMMV)

B737

andreigbs

Hey, it's great that VLED worked out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pushing one over another, just sharing additional sources. Buyer beware obviously, as with all things on the Intarwebz.

I've had nothing but great experiences with TRS, and that was years ago. If I may ask, how long ago was your negative experience?

B737

andreigbs

Mmr1

andreigbs

Indeed, since LEDs tend to carry a shorter warranty than HIDs. The ones I linked up above in a previous post, for example, are warrantied 3 yrs vs the HID system which is warrantied 5 yrs.

In addition, LED technology is growing by leaps and bounds. Several years ago no one would've considered them suitable for road use as headlights. Yet today, here we are. In contrast, HIDs have been around since the 90s and have been pretty much perfected at this point. They've been proven to work reliably for years on end, while LEDs are just now starting to go mainstream.

We shall see about longevity.

dvintglk

What model MB do you have? I have a 2014 GLK350 4Matic. Just want to be sure the zero flickering issues you are not experiencing would apply in my case and I can avoid spending the $30 more for the euro error code adapters.