87 420SEL Headlight assy question..
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'87-420SEL
87 420SEL Headlight assy question..
I am looking to replace the headlight assemblies on my car. I have been searching ebay and other locations. There are a million headlight assemblies claiming to be replacements for this car. However I have found the pin configuration does not match. The ebay items are 5 pin only. Their configurations has 3 pins on the bottom row and two on the top row. My car has 4 pins and a dummy prong. The dummy prong is centered at one end of the rows. There is no way the 5 pin configuration will work, or is there? Is my car a strange model or is there a secret I don't yet know about this car? Any information you can share about replacing the headlights would be helpful. I would love to upgrade to the sleeker looking Eurostyle lights.
Can anyone explain why my pin configuration does not match all of the headlight assemblies, which claim to fit my car?
Can anyone explain why my pin configuration does not match all of the headlight assemblies, which claim to fit my car?
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2009
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'87-420SEL
Surely someone will read this and know exactly what I'm talking about. I want to purchase some of THESE after market headlamp assemblies for my '87 420SEL.
The problem is, apparently, there are some 420SEL's with a 5 pin wiring connector to the headlamp assembly, and obviously there are some with a 4 pin wiring connector to the headlamp assembly.
Every time I see some lights on ebay that I like the looks of, and that CLAIM to fit a 420SEL, it turns out that they are the 5 pin ones. Again, my 420SEL had the 4 pin connector. It will not plug in to those lamp assemblies.
Did they only make 5 cars with the 4 prong wiring, and 5 million with the 5 prong wiring? I'm starting to wonder. It's looking more and more like I'm out of luck.
The problem is, apparently, there are some 420SEL's with a 5 pin wiring connector to the headlamp assembly, and obviously there are some with a 4 pin wiring connector to the headlamp assembly.
Every time I see some lights on ebay that I like the looks of, and that CLAIM to fit a 420SEL, it turns out that they are the 5 pin ones. Again, my 420SEL had the 4 pin connector. It will not plug in to those lamp assemblies.
Did they only make 5 cars with the 4 prong wiring, and 5 million with the 5 prong wiring? I'm starting to wonder. It's looking more and more like I'm out of luck.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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420sel 1989; 300E 1991; e430 1999
From my understanding, you may be talking about 2 different headlights. The 4 prong one is the US specification headlight, while the 5 prong one is the european standard. You may be able to find information on how to make the modification on peachparts.com under european headlight wiring.
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Joined: May 2006
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From: SAN ANTONIO, TX
1982 300SD***WRECKED***, 1990 ford econoline 150, 1986 420SEL
the american spec 420sel has 4 pins on it. The headlamps you are looking at mimic the euros wich use a six pin connector but only use 5 pins. you will need new plugs for those headlights wich you can find at a dealer or a junkyard. They snap off and the pins just slide out. I used an instruction bulletin from peachparts.com but only one side worked on my car, so i used a multimeter to wire the other side correctly
