pb39374

I am hoping someone with more knowledge than me with regards to installing LED’s in the W212 can help me out.
I have the 2010 E350 Sedan (it has the 4 round lights for fogs and drl) and I want to swap out the halogen low beams/fogs/DRL for LED’s.

I installed the error-free SH23W for the DRL’s and all is good, no flickering (I didn’t use resistors/cancellors).

I just installed the H11’s Nova Series from XenonHIDs.com in the Fogs today (I didn’t use resistors/cancellors) and they are working fine, no errors. Was I supposed to use separate resistors for these? The bulbs come with a canbus module attached so I would have thought I didn’t need resistors. I assume I would have received and error and some flickering right away if I truly did need a resistor?

i didn’t install the H7’s (also Nova Series from XenonHIDs.com) in the low beams yet b/c I actually needed to order a separate H7 LED adapter so the bulb can snap on the housing. I do plan on using the resistors with the H7’s though. But again, these H7’s come with a “canbus module” attached, so do I even need to add resistors?

pb39374

My main question is if I install an LED (H7 or H11), will I know right away if I should have installed a resistor/cancellor? Will it immediately thrown an error and flicker ? Or is that something that will happen over time.

kajtek1

No direct experience, but on competitive forum in W211 section, good contributing member handle Rossafuss made a topic how to make the conversion.
Do some search.

Mud

"Canbus module" is essentially the resistor pack. You should not need anything more.
My Morimoto H7 HID kit came with the canbus modules. Installed about 4 years now, zero issues.

pb39374

Ok thanks, that’s what I thought. I don’t know why these people at XenonsHID.com are telling me that I need the separate resistor/canceller wire.
Also, getting the right H7 LED retainer clip to fit correctly in the housing is a challenge. I bought a set but couldn’t get it to fit so I just ordered a different set.

AZN Optics

You'll get codes pretty much right away if your setup isn't canbus enabled. Might need to power cycle after install though to reset the SAM if outage was detected during install. Also you'll want to check polarity as well. Good luck

BTW, HIDs will give you better performance in halogen headlights vs LEDs.

pb39374

Thanks

yeah HID’s don’t last as long though. I only want to have to do this once while i own the car as the drivers side low beam is a pain to get to.

Mud

I can't say for the LED clips but the HID versions were sort of a U shape to go over the wiring. Maybe the LED clips are similar. They were a bit fiddly to get into place. Note that the LED bulb needs to be aligned correctly just as the HID bulb needs to be. The better quality lights ensure correct alignment to get light throw and cut off correct. In all cases you MUST ensure any wire entry into the headlight access cap is sealed against moisture.

Not turning this into HID vs LED , but I agree the HID is more effective lighting after installing both into various conversions. The benefit with either is that the stock halogen projector lenses are very good. Lighting focus and especially cutoff are excellent. I've compared them to E55 bi-xenon projectors and can't really find significant differences. You will not blind oncoming traffic and the cutoff rise to the passenger side is perfect to light right side curb/shoulder areas.

IMO the HID conversion for us poor-folk P1 owners is one of the best upgrades you can do. I think the LED upgrade is also very good but you want to ensure proper alignment of the LED bulbs, critical to successful lighting improvement.