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Swapped my headlights, tail lights, and fog lights with aftermarket units
I have always wanted to update my 2009 ML550 lighting with more modern LED units.
Swapped factory tail lights with these LED tail lights form Spec-D Tuning. Did this swap a couple of years ago now and they are performing very well. No error codes or issues. The installation process was super easy - plug and play. Took a noob like me about an hour to swap both. Pictures attached.
The swap took more time than expected due to the amount of time spent removing the hidden nuts/bolts to remove wheel well liner, loosen bumper etc.
Pulling the factory headlight out even after removing all the bolts took a bit of effort. Seating the new headlight also too quite a bit of effort.
There seems to be larger than normal gap between the bottom of the new headlight from Spec-D and the bumper. Could be a design/dimensioning miss.
Might as well buy and replace the headlight seal (gasket) as well since the rubber crumbles after these many years. Bought mine from a local dealer.
The OEM headlight seal (gasket) doesn't seem to be a great fit for the Spec-D headlights. The circumference is perfect but the width of the seal seems to be smaller than the headlight along the bottom length. Pic included.
Have a couple of wheel well liner clips (retainer clips) handy just in case if the existing ones are broken/missing.
Spec-D instructions are not like Ikea assembly instructions. Need to use a few brain cells. Instructions are not super accurate for some steps - like it mentions 2 nuts to remove from wheel well when I had 4 nuts. Could be differences between trim levels or model years.
High beam and low beam are not LEDs. They are H1 and H11 bulbs with 4000K color temperature. Due to this you'll notice multiple color temperatures when headlights are on - yellow-ish H1 and H11, and pure white LED strip. I wish all bulbs are high performing LEDs.
The resistors are not marked with '+' and '--' polarities. The instructions ask for '+' to be connected to '+' but no identification marks on the resistors or the car wiring. Called Spec-D but they couldn't help much either for this particular miss.
OVERALL - All headlight functions are working.
ERRORS - I do get 'Front Signal Light Left' or 'Front Signal Light Right' error intermittently. There are no errors 50% of my start-stops. The other 50% I get either the left or right error. I couldn't find a pattern or replicate on-demand so far.
RATING - I'll give 3.5 out of 5. Reducing points because of #3, #8, #11.
I am yet to drive more than 1 mile in the dark. I'll update this thread after I drive for 100+ miles in the dark.
Also swapped my factory fog lights with LED ones from eBay a week ago. They don't come with resistors like the head lights. They are working well so far. Gave me fog light error when I first installed it but the error seems to have gone by itself now - didn't see the error since. Pics included.
I have always wanted to update my 2009 ML550 lighting with more modern LED units.
Swapped factory tail lights with these LED tail lights form Spec-D Tuning. Did this swap a couple of years ago now and they are performing very well. No error codes or issues. The installation process was super easy - plug and play. Took a noob like me about an hour to swap both. Pictures attached.
The swap took more time than expected due to the amount of time spent removing the hidden nuts/bolts to remove wheel well liner, loosen bumper etc.
Pulling the factory headlight out even after removing all the bolts took a bit of effort. Seating the new headlight also too quite a bit of effort.
There seems to be larger than normal gap between the bottom of the new headlight from Spec-D and the bumper. Could be a design/dimensioning miss.
Might as well buy and replace the headlight seal (gasket) as well since the rubber crumbles after these many years. Bought mine from a local dealer.
The OEM headlight seal (gasket) doesn't seem to be a great fit for the Spec-D headlights. The circumference is perfect but the width of the seal seems to be smaller than the headlight along the bottom length. Pic included.
Have a couple of wheel well liner clips (retainer clips) handy just in case if the existing ones are broken/missing.
Spec-D instructions are not like Ikea assembly instructions. Need to use a few brain cells. Instructions are not super accurate for some steps - like it mentions 2 nuts to remove from wheel well when I had 4 nuts. Could be differences between trim levels or model years.
High beam and low beam are not LEDs. They are H1 and H11 bulbs with 4000K color temperature. Due to this you'll notice multiple color temperatures when headlights are on - yellow-ish H1 and H11, and pure white LED strip. I wish all bulbs are high performing LEDs.
The resistors are not marked with '+' and '--' polarities. The instructions ask for '+' to be connected to '+' but no identification marks on the resistors or the car wiring. Called Spec-D but they couldn't help much either for this particular miss.
OVERALL - All headlight functions are working.
ERRORS - I do get 'Front Signal Light Left' or 'Front Signal Light Right' error intermittently. There are no errors 50% of my start-stops. The other 50% I get either the left or right error. I couldn't find a pattern or replicate on-demand so far.
RATING - I'll give 3.5 out of 5. Reducing points because of #3, #8, #11.
I am yet to drive more than 1 mile in the dark. I'll update this thread after I drive for 100+ miles in the dark.
Also swapped my factory fog lights with LED ones from eBay a week ago. They don't come with resistors like the head lights. They are working well so far. Gave me fog light error when I first installed it but the error seems to have gone by itself now - didn't see the error since. Pics included.
Cheers!
It is more modern but do you like it though? Thanks for sharing OP.
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