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Just thought I would post some notes if it helps anyone. I made a weird mistake as outlined below. Replacement lens can be bought on ebay. I am pretty sure all w211 are the same but some don't list the E55 for some reason. They are all from China. Resurfacing the lens usually doesn't last very long. I have done it twice before on a previous AMG and the E55, neither lasted more than 1 year. One I did myself with a kit, the other was professionally done and ceramic coated. There are some good video's on what to do below- one uses the oven, one does not. The front bumper needs to be removed. From each headlight remove the 3 tiny rubber 90 degree vent "hoses". Remove the main headlight bulb, the full beam bulb, the indicator bulb and probably the parking light bulb (I forgot about this one but since it is with the full beam halogen it can likely withstand very high temps which it did- still works perfectly fine). Don't touch the glass of the bulbs, any skin oils will cause them to burn out. Also take out the two electronic modules from beneath. I used the general recommendation of 270 F or 130 C for 7 minutes. You can simply pull the lens off with your hands after this, I just wore my leather work gloves as it is kind of hot.
It goes without saying, make sure you can fit the headlight in the oven before turning it on. Most average ovens are 600mm wide and the inside is much smaller. It was pretty tight. Make sure the headlight doesn't touch any of the sides as plastic may melt if it is touching metal. Ignore the disgusting oven. Pull the lens off about 1inch at the top, then pull the strands of black mozzarella away at the top so there is no chance they will break and fall onto the chrome projector. The sides and bottom are fine. The chrome inside will come off VERY EASILY. I knew about this already but I couldn't believe how delicate it is. I didn't damage any that you can see from the outside but I had some black butyl sealant land on the outside and it lifts the silver coating right off. Even just touching them can flake it off.
Now for the stupid weird thing, when replacing the new lens I somehow managed to install it with the inner projector assembly misaligned. One of the wires from the indicator bulb housing managed to get caught as in the photo. The bulb obviously won't clip in place or make contact. Check the alignment carefully before putting the new lens on. The inner projector just sits held in with the sealant but can move during disassembly. Don't bother cleaning off any of the old sealant from the groove in the plastic. Half of it will be on the old lens. I ran a whole new bead around the outside on top of the old stuff and there wasn't an excessive amount. Headlight and windscreen butyl sealant are the same thing. I bought a box containing a 4 meter long amount which was listed as 8-10mm wide. I used 2/3 of it. I put it back in the oven on a lower temperature 250 F or so for 5 minutes to soften the new sealant with the new lens shoved into it as best as it would go. After heating it was easy to push in properly. I had a couple of clamps but ended up holding the other sides by hand. The gap between the lens and housing was 1-3mm on the original lens. I don't think either the lens or housing are perfectly straight.
Since I screwed some things up I checked all the lights worked normally before even bothering to bolt the headlight back in. I connected the wires and gave it a go. It would be just my luck to put the bumper back on and find it all needed to come off again.
Would have replaced the entire projector too or at least the lens to projector to a clear one
Morimoto EVOs with Osram CBB vs stock - low beam Morimoto EVOs with Osram CBB vs stock - high beam One is my G wagon LED vs the E55 with Morimoto EVOs and Osram CBB. Can you pick which is which?!?
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
