Headlight Upgrade?
11-16-2014, 10:18 PM
#1
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2008 ML350
Headlight Upgrade?
Hey the Halogen bulbs on my ML have died, so I was really thinking of upgrading to either Xenon or maybe even LED.
From what I can see I need to change out both left headlights, and the inside light closer to the grill (hi-beam?), so a total of 3 lights. However if I upgrade should I switch any other bulbs? The halogens from the old owner are yellowish, so if I switch to white or blue, what others may I need to change?
I was also looking at the costs- LED kits seem ridiculously expensive, so I'm thinking they arent worth it especially because they are mostly for show.
As of now I was looking at converting by four headlights to xenon with a kit like of .
Let me know what you guys think- even open to anything else that might be worth upgrading on the Merc.
PS- any reason for annoying tire pressure light (tires are new, had them checked for leaks)
From what I can see I need to change out both left headlights, and the inside light closer to the grill (hi-beam?), so a total of 3 lights. However if I upgrade should I switch any other bulbs? The halogens from the old owner are yellowish, so if I switch to white or blue, what others may I need to change?
I was also looking at the costs- LED kits seem ridiculously expensive, so I'm thinking they arent worth it especially because they are mostly for show.
As of now I was looking at converting by four headlights to xenon with a kit like of .
Let me know what you guys think- even open to anything else that might be worth upgrading on the Merc.
PS- any reason for annoying tire pressure light (tires are new, had them checked for leaks)
11-18-2014, 11:55 PM
#3
Hey the Halogen bulbs on my ML have died, so I was really thinking of upgrading to either Xenon or maybe even LED.
From what I can see I need to change out both left headlights, and the inside light closer to the grill (hi-beam?), so a total of 3 lights. However if I upgrade should I switch any other bulbs? The halogens from the old owner are yellowish, so if I switch to white or blue, what others may I need to change?
I was also looking at the costs- LED kits seem ridiculously expensive, so I'm thinking they arent worth it especially because they are mostly for show.
As of now I was looking at converting by four headlights to xenon with a kit like this of this.
Let me know what you guys think- even open to anything else that might be worth upgrading on the Merc.
PS- any reason for annoying tire pressure light (tires are new, had them checked for leaks)
From what I can see I need to change out both left headlights, and the inside light closer to the grill (hi-beam?), so a total of 3 lights. However if I upgrade should I switch any other bulbs? The halogens from the old owner are yellowish, so if I switch to white or blue, what others may I need to change?
I was also looking at the costs- LED kits seem ridiculously expensive, so I'm thinking they arent worth it especially because they are mostly for show.
As of now I was looking at converting by four headlights to xenon with a kit like this of this.
Let me know what you guys think- even open to anything else that might be worth upgrading on the Merc.
PS- any reason for annoying tire pressure light (tires are new, had them checked for leaks)
There were some teething issues with the kit back then but TRS has fantastic customer service and got me upgraded bulbs and ballasts (which are now standard) for free. They stand behind their product. The product is backed by a 5 year warranty.
The kit itself is fantastic. Installation is pretty straight plug and play. The worst part of installation for me was getting the bulbs to sit in the stock bulb holder. I had to buy to allow the wires to pass through the clips and then get them seated into the housing. Don't modify the stock clips - if you goof up, they're only available through MB with the full headlight assembly, about $1000 apiece. You will also need to find good places to mount the ballasts.
You will never get the kind of light output and beam distribution as you will from an OEM setup unless you do a much more expensive projector retrofit, and even then you won't get the adaptive lighting (that requires a full OEM swap for ~$3200) but for what it is, putting this kit in your stock housings works great. It's a clean cutoff with no glare in other drivers' eyes. I know, because I tested it thoroughly. It's the light distribution under the cutoff where the stock halogen housings fail in relation to an OEM xenon setup. I parked next to an OEM xenon equipped ML and adjusted the beam slightly upward to match. The difference is astounding. You will see parts of the road you will never have been able to see with the stock halogens. It gives you great confidence driving on the darkest roads.
Good luck. Feel free to PM me for any help or answers to your questions.
