124 headlamp bulb upgrade?
 

Hi guys. All my other 12 Volt vehicles have been upgraded to H-4 headlamps with 55/100 bulbs as I live in the mountains and it gets really dark here. I recenty aquired an 87 S-124 Wagon and can't follow my usual habit of installing Cibie or SEVs. Will the stock 124 housings and plugs take the heat of a 100 Watt 9004 bulb? I am not fooling with silly blue bulbs, or going HID. Are the factory European lenses much better for this car than the USA standard? Are the aftermarket ones as bad as I assume they are? Seeing is surviving here where the deer are as dumb as the tourists.

Get the Euros and plug in your preferred bulb of choice, and upgrade the harness accordingly.

Bosch/Hella preferred, DEPO close 3rd especially for bang for the buck.

The stock 9004's have had insulation issues with the old sockets/plugs, I've seen several members have this issue (and in my sister's '92 190E as well, lights are similar configuration & design).

Nothing, I repeat, nothing you can do to the stock 86-93 USA headlights will make them worth a damn.

I've installed a number of sets of Bosch/Hella and Depo lights in the many W124s I've owned over the last 20+ years.

The best bargain is the Depo knock off light set with standard H4 bulbs.

The OEM stuff was nicer, but not worth the 2 to 3 times the price increase. Higher wattage bulbs are nicer, but you have to do a lot of rewiring and add relays to make it work well.

Headlight adjust feature is nice, but really is more of a toy after a while, not really necessary.

If you are looking at used lights, pay close attention to the reflectors. A set of euros with dull reflectors doesn't get you any further down the road than the abysmal stock issue lights.

The 94-95 USA lights are so close to the euro lights in function, it doesn't pay to try to upgrade. The 94-95 lights will bolt into the 86-93 models, but will have an odd swage line across top inside corner which is there to clear the 94-95 hood. Works, but looks a bit funky.

Jim

Thanks. I have been looking online and most original euros look kind of hazy. Will the Depo light housings handle the 100/55 wattage? Rewiring with relays is easy for me. Done it many times. An adjust feature shouldn't be necessary with hydromat.