So, this is turning out to be a royal PITA (and one of the reasons the last owner sold the car I am sure). Ever since I bought the car over a year ago (06 E55), the headlights have been terrible on low beam. I have just gotten used to it. After talking with some locals in my AMG club, I settled on the Depo lights for cars with Xenon from the factory. I couldn't get a good look at the ballasts so I thought that I was good to go. Unfortunately, my car has the AFS system so these did not plug n play. I heard from the seller that if I can find the Ballast from a non-AFS car, they will work. Having a hard time locating them used though. Any other ideas? the restocking fee plus shipping means this will cost me about $100. I am hoping that I can find someone with some knowledge in this area to guide me.

I was in the same boat as you a week ago I also have a 2006 E55

I have depo face lift headlights and did not care for the AFS

the correct part number you need is 002 820 24 26
(I bought a pair on ebay for about $60) worked great

i manually adjusted the headlights and couldn't be happier with the outcome
I got into star diagnostic and turned off the AFS feature

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-03-06-Me...ZXRr~m&vxp=mtr

Here is one that cost $35 each

Hmm, the seller indicates a slightly different part number but that does say 03-06. Guess I give that a shot for $70. The other P/N A 003 820 60 26 is much more rare and pricey.

would the ballasts on retrofit source not work in this case?
I'm kind of heading in the same direction, my lenses are rough and i don't think i can recover them, light beam isn't very strong either, my first plan of attack (on my 06) is to replace the bulbs with morimoto's and then go from there

It will work with the part number I supplied you.

Ballasts will work and are the same part number. it's the headlight module that won't and you would have to swap it with the part number shown. The Active lights won't work either if you care for it

If and when I get to that point (my lenses are in.pretty good shape), I would get the depo lights heat them up and swap the lenses only. Possibly paint the factory insides while they were apart

I tried bulbs first. I think that it's decay of the reflector bowls. When you purchase new housings, you do not get the electronics, you have to move them over - Igniter from back of bulb, ballast and control module, both on the underside of the housing. I'll spell it out -

There are basically 3 configurations -
1) Car came with halogen and you want to upgrade to Xenon
2) Car came with Xenon and not the AFS option
3) Car came with Xenon AND the AFS option.

#1 and #2 are straightforward. There is no aftermarket for #3 so either pay through nose to Mercedes or do what I am doing (as suggested by e36uc ), Move the Igniter over, move the ballast over and buy a non-AFS control module to install in the control module location on the bottom of the housing. Waiting on my modules to arrive. Will post when done. I bought a set of Depo "Facelift" headlights which have the look of the E63 (slots in the clearance bulb section). $404 shipped on eBay for the pair.

thanks for helping me understand this.

If for some strange reason i don't do the AFS when retrofitting , will the ECU flip out?

Maybe I wasn't clear. If your car came with AFS from the factory, you will have to do some extra work. More than likely it did not, it wasn't a popular option. If you want to know for sure run your VIN through the Mercedes VIN decoder and it will list AFS as an option if you have it. If you don't (most likely scenario), but a set of headlights meant for the cars that came with Xenon and simply swap over the 3 components that I mentioned.

Thanks

I did this to mine ... Mine have AFS also ... stripped down and rebuilt completely:

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...build-diy.html

I ordered a set of those control modules but no luck. One Depo Facelift units do you have? One thin I noticed is the pin count is different in the module and the housing. Did you have to do something in Star for them to come on or just to disable AFS?

DOH!!!!! So, I decided to go back and check just to see if maybe the bulb was bad. When I unplugged the ballast on the back of the bulb, I noticed that I had not plugged it into the harness! Grrr. Anyway, they look great. Thanks for the tip!

BTW - After I saw that they were working, I noticed 3 screws sitting on the tray and I though I forgot to secure the control module. Turns out, it wasn't even installed. I put it in anyway just in case but it almost seems like you don't even need it installed.

Maybe I missed it, but you can just bake both sets of lights and swap the lenses from the depo lights on to your OEM lights. Once the OEM lights are baked open, it is really easy to remove the wiring for the AFS if you don't like it. Then your lights are fixed in place, and there's no weird wiring/fitment issues or other components to replace.

I believe you have have the headlight cornering functionality turned off in SDS, but I don't know from firsthand knowledge as I don't have a system.

Also I think you'd be surprised how far gone headlight lenses can be and still be able to be restored. It's just the clearcoat that has oxidized... a little patience with sandpaper and a polisher and they'll look good as new.

Thanks. I just decided that I liked the Depo "Facelift" which gives it the newer look of the '07- models. The original approach was going to be as you said and I was going to buy the new guts from the guys who sell the parts for Xenon swaps for all different cars. In the end, now that I know a bit more, this is much easier. Yes, Star can disable AFS which is what I will do if I get any messages on the display.

I believe the chrome trim that is just inside the lens can be swapped over as well, to give you the updated look without having to worry about changing over a bunch of components.

Not sure why people would want to "de-feature" their cars but to each his own I guess. I personally like to add features. It is definitely easier to replace the headlight than to go to all the trouble of baking open etc ... For the AFS feature, it is probably a minor feature. You will likely not get messages in your display. The only messages that may come up are if you do an SDS scan of the system. At least this is from my own experience. So what are you going to do with the old housings with AFS feature? You may want to see if people want to buy them as lights with this feature are fairly expensive even used.

The inserts from newer facelift OEM headlights are not a direct fit to the old headlights. There is some modification to the housing or the reflector (I can't remember). I am not sure about aftermarket ones.

Yeah, well I "de-featured" it because I didn't want to spend a couple grand on headlights. I also didn't want to become a headlight assembly tech and bake them apart, replace the bowls, try to get new lenses, etc.

Excuse my ignorance, but "AFS"?