John,

an interesting one to one comparison.

As far as I know, the differences between 300E lights and 500E lights are :
1. the lenses and
2. the fog / highbeam reflector.
All other parts are identical.

In Germany Hella does NOT sale any 500E lenses or complete light units to the public, you have to order them at the dealer. Hella produces these lights only for Mercedes!

If you got lenses from Hella with the meltet blob, that might be grey market units or second choice. If your lenses look curious and the light pattern is not as sharp as it shoud be, give them back!

There should be no drop in quality if you buy Mercedes lights / lenses.

Last year I replaced my 12 years old 300TE lenses with used but nearly new 500E lenses - and the result is amazing. While the old ones where sand blasted over the years, the nearly new ones are great. I replaced the main reflectors as well and put new H4 55W/60W +30% bulbs into it.
Also the additional high beam is unbelievable :-)

BTW: The Hella lenses will fit on a Bosch body without problems, that's how I did it.

bis denn,
Christian

1989 300TE

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