Hey guys I'm new to the forum and excited to be part of this MB community. I had a question regarding the 2014 Mercedes ML 350. My car does not have the HID headlamps nor the HK sound system. I was wondering if it is possible to just purchase the HID head lamps and just swap them out for the factory basic headlamps. Is the wiring the same? Would I need to obtain a new "computer" component/software for them to function? Same goes the the HK sound system. If i was to purchase the HK sound system would the wiring be the same? In addition, have any of you gone with an after market sound system that fits in the pre-existing MB speaker holes? If there is an alternative sound system that is better that does not require me to get an after market navigation screen than that would be great too

 

Not even close to being that simple...

From what I've read here, your best bet is to go with an aftermarket kit for the lights. This one vendor in particular seems to have a great reputation.
https://mbworld.org/forums/vendor-an...-solution.html

 

This is the kit we'd recommend to do an HID conversion:
Hybrid H7 HID conversion kit

Canbus enabled kit, error free, plug and play.

 

Re: the HK system, the easiest solution is to buy the HK speakers off of eBay or MB parts direct, and swap out the ****ty stock speakers. However, there is a catch. The two mid-range speakers in the front doors have to be spliced into the top tweeter wiring. That is IF you choose to add the mid-range speakers. It rounds out the sound, but not 100% necessary. The reason you have to splice into the tweeters is because the wiring loom for the non-HK system does not have the mid-range speaker connector on it, hence tapping into the tweeter feed. There is more than enough power in the amp to handle the load of these two speakers.

In addition, you will NOT be able to add the two speakers in the d-pillar trunk area, because you would need to replace the entire roof lining for the one that has the cut outs for those two speakers and that part ($1000 roof liner for the premium sound system) is no longer avail. I'm sure you could rig something, but you'd have to then tap into more speaker wiring and run all the way back to the trunk area, and the trade-off isn't worth it IMHO.

Finally, for the sub -- forget the HK sub you can buy for $600 or so. Get a LOC and tap into rear door speaker for signal feed, and add an amp + sub box. It will sound 1000x better than the HK woofer.

Yes, this is a lot, and you need to be comfortable pulling a lot of trim pieces, but if you're like me, you hit yourself over the head for not getting a truck with the HK system, and wanted to do the best job you could to retrofit. I also replaced the tweeter speaker grills in the front with the HK ones, so it's as close to the HK system as possible (minus the 2 d-pillar speakers, and the center channel speaker, which again IMHO is a gimmick since you have to have the Logic7 processor to enable it, and music is not recorded in 5.1 to justify having this center speaker). Music is stereo, let it be the best version of stereo possible.