S-Class (W220) 1999-2006: S 320 CDI, S 320, S430, S 500, S 600

Making 2003 Headlights Work On a 2002 w220?

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Old Apr 25, 2007 | 10:15 AM
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Lightbulb Making 2003 Headlights Work On a 2002 w220?

I Seen The 2003+ Headlights on ebay OEM for about 400 a piece, What Would I Need To Do To make these work, are they just plug and play on a pre-facelift 2000-2002 w220 or if not what to do?? I Am Talking about OEM Bosch Projector Headlights...
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Old Apr 25, 2007 | 05:16 PM
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Originally Posted by S500 Man
I Seen The 2003+ Headlights on ebay OEM for about 400 a piece, What Would I Need To Do To make these work, are they just plug and play on a pre-facelift 2000-2002 w220 or if not what to do?? I Am Talking about OEM Bosch Projector Headlights...
if there oem the wont work because 03+ has a differnt body style a little bit the bumbers are different mainly and the hood. and u have an s500 i doubt there 400each because s500 come with xenons and those are probably for halogens like on the 430s. xenons tend to be much more expensive.. the only way to make an oem 03+headlight work is if u you do the bumber upgrade i would just look on ebay for aftermarket headlights. that are already made as an upgrade for the 00-02 s classes
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Old Apr 25, 2007 | 05:46 PM
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I bought them off ebay for my s500 but no one can figure out the installation of these headlights. I am kinda stuck with them. I dont know what to do so do your research first. Find someone in your city/state who can install them before you buy them.
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Old Apr 25, 2007 | 11:51 PM
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Well They Are Off A Crashed S500, They Are Used...not Brand New...
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 12:52 AM
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Originally Posted by S500 Man
Well They Are Off A Crashed S500, They Are Used...not Brand New...
You have to do some harness and program modifications and buy some other parts for your car in order to get the lights to work but they do fit (physically).there are many posts about how this was done so you should do a search to gather the information.
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 01:22 AM
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Originally Posted by my06clk
You have to do some harness and program modifications and buy some other parts for your car in order to get the lights to work but they do fit (physically).there are many posts about how this was done so you should do a search to gather the information.
there is a ton of info about the oem retrofit, but the question that really matters is how does one get the wiring harness that's required to make the whole thing work.

nobody seems to know.

from what i've gathered, there was a shop in san diego that sold them but they're out of business now. mbenznl has them but only if you buy the headlights from them.


beyond that, there's not much as far as answering that question.
having an independent mercedes shop custom manufacture one? sounds iffy, and if possible, costly. the only solution i can think of besides aftermarket plug-and-play.
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 12:13 PM
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Making 2003 Headlights Work On a 2002 w220?

Originally Posted by ksc
there is a ton of info about the oem retrofit, but the question that really matters is how does one get the wiring harness that's required to make the whole thing work.

nobody seems to know.

from what i've gathered, there was a shop in san diego that sold them but they're out of business now. mbenznl has them but only if you buy the headlights from them.


beyond that, there's not much as far as answering that question.
having an independent mercedes shop custom manufacture one? sounds iffy, and if possible, costly. the only solution i can think of besides aftermarket plug-and-play.
When you find out how to make them work properly . Please post it.
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Old Jul 27, 2007 | 02:04 AM
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HELPING E ACH other

tell me how to do it!
i know the secret to installing amps!!! i will trade info.
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Old Jul 27, 2007 | 05:05 AM
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It's pretty simple.

The new light (assuming you got the correct one cause there are two versions and many people make the mistake of getting the one with only two connections) should have 3 connectors (the other version only has two). Connect the original "headlight" connector from the car end (the oval one) to the center connector on both headlights. The other square connector from the car end is for the auto leveling system and obviously wont' fit into the new light cause the receptable is oval and not round. The company in SD that used to make these connectors are out of business and I bought one from them and consequently know the wire config. Worse case is that you solder wire onto the headlight pins and there are only 4 pins and tap the extended wire onto the wire from the car end connector. You don't need to cut the original round connector but rather you can get plastic wire taps and just crimp them on the exposed wires while still keeping the original connectors (if you need pics let me know). That's it and this will activate the leveling system. I'll take a look at my connection tomorrow morning and tell you the order. It's a vertical connector with 4 pins. They should match up to the 4 wires coming fromm the car. The leveling connector is the one closest to the side of the car or the 'fatter' end of the headlight. The remaining 3rd connector towards the middle smaller head of the headlight is not used but you will need to ground the first and last pin meaning you will need to attach a black wire to the first pin and then to the last pin and have another black wire coming out of the last pin grounded somewhere on the car or vice versa just make sure both the first and last pins are grounded. Do this for both sides. Without this ground, you will not be able to use the high beam HID. Basically you should have one short wire connecting the first and last pin and one long wire coming out of the last pin as the final ground wire. If you have questions, just let me know.
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Old Jan 24, 2008 | 09:27 PM
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Ok, I've been searching and reading for the past 2hrs+ on upgrading the regular xenons to the projector bixenons.

By far, Ansonnn is the only one that is able to get the autolevel to work.

Can you kindly post the diagram to which wires goes with what for the autolevel to work?

I pieced these pictures together from all the informations I have gathered.

Or you can tell me which wire (1,2,3,4) on the bixenon headlight goes with which pins from the square plug on the old xenon?

Also to clarify which one needs to be grounded for the bixenon highbeam (1,2,3,4)?

I appreciate the help.
Attached Thumbnails Making 2003 Headlights Work On a 2002 w220?-bixenon-pictueres.jpg   Making 2003 Headlights Work On a 2002 w220?-new-bi-xenon-light-small.jpg  
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Old Jan 24, 2008 | 09:52 PM
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Ansonnn: do you know how to do the oem hid retrofit into the halogen lights?
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Old Jan 28, 2008 | 02:58 PM
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Does anyone have any info on the plug schematics for old xenon to the new bixenon autolevel???
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Old Jan 28, 2008 | 03:00 PM
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Originally Posted by westcoast5
Ansonnn: do you know how to do the oem hid retrofit into the halogen lights?
Westcoast, check out zam2000's informative write-up
https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w220/225559-some-fact-about-hid-xenon-upgrade.html
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Old Jan 28, 2008 | 04:03 PM
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Originally Posted by 2H S5
Westcoast, check out zam2000's informative write-up
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225559
thanks for the link I have already read through it and I would perfer someone to do it or help me do it as I am still learning about these cars, and I am not confident as of yet to attempt it on my own.
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Old Jan 29, 2008 | 08:54 AM
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Originally Posted by fusion2007
if there oem the wont work because 03+ has a differnt body style a little bit the bumbers are different mainly and the hood. and u have an s500 i doubt there 400each because s500 come with xenons and those are probably for halogens like on the 430s. xenons tend to be much more expensive.. the only way to make an oem 03+headlight work is if u you do the bumber upgrade i would just look on ebay for aftermarket headlights. that are already made as an upgrade for the 00-02 s classes
not true mine fit fine there OEM
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Old Jan 29, 2008 | 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by 02S430
not true mine fit fine there OEM
02s430- do you happen to know the pin schematic for the autolevel?

Actually, did you have the original xenon for your car or halogen?
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Old Jan 29, 2008 | 02:18 PM
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Originally Posted by 2H S5
02s430- do you happen to know the pin schematic for the autolevel?

Actually, did you have the original xenon for your car or halogen?
mine are halogen they were plug n play. sorry
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Old Jan 29, 2008 | 04:17 PM
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i never figured out auto level so i left it off..........
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Old Jan 29, 2008 | 06:45 PM
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Originally Posted by fusion2007
if there oem the wont work because 03+ has a differnt body style a little bit the bumbers are different mainly and the hood. and u have an s500 i doubt there 400each because s500 come with xenons and those are probably for halogens like on the 430s. xenons tend to be much more expensive.. the only way to make an oem 03+headlight work is if u you do the bumber upgrade i would just look on ebay for aftermarket headlights. that are already made as an upgrade for the 00-02 s classes
it will fit perfectly and the only difference is bottom part of the grile which can be modified really easy
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Old Jan 29, 2008 | 07:37 PM
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Originally Posted by 2H S5
02s430- do you happen to know the pin schematic for the autolevel?

Actually, did you have the original xenon for your car or halogen?
The plug is a different shape either go to the dealer and get the new plugs and pins that go inside, or tap into the wires somehow. One side of the light is straightforward and the other sides wiring is in reverse order. An ohm meter is all you need, match the wires it's very easy. Hope that helps
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Old Jan 29, 2008 | 08:26 PM
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Originally Posted by abhatti55
The plug is a different shape either go to the dealer and get the new plugs and pins that go inside, or tap into the wires somehow. One side of the light is straightforward and the other sides wiring is in reverse order. An ohm meter is all you need, match the wires it's very easy. Hope that helps
Thanks abhatti55 for the tip.
Seems like you got this to work?
Can you briefly tell me which pin corresponds to which one?

And for the bixenon high beam, do you ground the wire closest to the inside of the headlight or do you ground the 1st and 3rd (as described by Ansonnn)?
Attached Thumbnails Making 2003 Headlights Work On a 2002 w220?-bixenon2.jpg  
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Old Jan 29, 2008 | 08:28 PM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by 02S430
mine are halogen they were plug n play. sorry
Originally Posted by S500 Man
i never figured out auto level so i left it off..........
I appreciate the input guys
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Old Jan 30, 2008 | 07:01 AM
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Hi I am totally new to forums, and this is my first attempt.
I am interested to read about your conversion as I have a 2001 and bought the latter bi-xenon lights (second hand genuine from ebay about a year ago), fitted them in the car (they went straight in) but had to take them out because I could not figure wiring out. The originals only had the one-connector plug. And the bi xenon has three, have attempted to find info on forums (as you know you can spend hours to no avail). So firstly id like to wish you good luck with your instillation and secondly ask if anyone has any advice for fitting these upgrades for my car, buy the way its U.K. car
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Old Jan 30, 2008 | 07:23 AM
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Perhaps the posts following yours will help: https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w220/209076-how-install-oem-bixenon-headlights-2002-w220.html and https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w220/177640-2001-s500-headlight-upgrade-install-question.html
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Old Jan 30, 2008 | 07:58 AM
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thanks for them , i hadnt found the first one
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