I read up on some HID kits. I know there's a whole headlamp assembly I can get, but they're a lot more expensive. I can get a kit, with the anti-flicker kit (I hear the flicker causes a lot of problems), for $50 or so.

I've heard nothing but good things about the bulbs themselves, but what kind of problems will I have, if any, if I get a kit that even includes the anti-flicker?
I have enough problems in my life.....I don't want to buy more!

I can simply stick with the original type of bulbs for $10 each and be done if the kits are problems.

1991 W124 300d, 185k

The kits themselves are cheap but fine. I've run DDM Tuning kits in offroad lights before, and they held up well to the abuses of being banged around on a leaf-sprung pickup.

The issue, though, is beam pattern. HID bulbs and halogens glow quite differently, and this has a dramatic impact upon where your headlamp is sending light. Retrofitted into a reflector and lens assembly designed for a halogen bulb, you're sending light all over the place. I have yet to see a straight bulb replacement into a lamp designed for halogens that has anything like an acceptable beam pattern.

The way to do it would be to fit a HID projector assembly into your stock headlamp housing, as one gentleman either on here or on BenzWorld has done, but it's a big job. Otherwise, stick with a pair of good halogens, like Osram Silver Stars.

EDIT: Since you've got a pre-facelift model, the very best upgrade for you would be Euro headlamps, which are a dramatic improvement in lighting quality. That'd certainly be what I'd do. They also look waaaaaaaay better than the US headlamps.

The DDM kit on my 124 worked perfectly for 18 months until I dropped one of the ballasts while changing the air filter... derp. So yes, they are very reliable unless your name is butterfingers. Get the 4300k kit, its the only aproprita color for road use. 35w kit put out more than enough light.

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I second the sentiment that HID lamps in any reflector not designed for them are a bad, bad thing. Oncoming drivers will be cursing your name each and every night you use them.

If we were talking about a w123, I'd suggest just dropping in a pair of 7" round H4 lights from Bosch or Hella. Strictly plug-and-play, yet made a tremendous difference in my car for little cost. From what I've heard the euro lights for a w124 are a far more expensive and troublesome deal, but I'd still recommend that in a heartbeat over attempting most HID conversion kits. Frequently, you get what you pay for in aftermarket lighting, in both design and build quality. Since it is a safety issue for yourself and others, this isn't really a place to cut corners with what equipment you buy.

Good luck!

In a nutshell, no they're crap. Even if the quality is good, on a basic conceptual level putting an HID capsule into a headlamp designed for a halogen bulb is still a complete failure.

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

At the bottom of the link above are the results from an independent lab testing the compliance of HID kits. None passed.

Please note that Sam recommended Osram Silverstar bulbs, and not Sylvania Silverstar bulbs. This is significant, as Sylvania's Silverstars are blue coated garbage, with the least lumens, least life, and highest price of all of Sylvania's lineup. Osram Silverstars on the other hand have no blue coating and are a solid lighting choice.

If you currently have sealed beams, there are lots of good lighting options available from Daniel Stern and from Rally Lights. There's also lots of crap out there, so tread carefully.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

Get euro housings for your 124, the usdm housings are so bad you could put air craft landing lights in those housings and they would be dim. Some DEPO Euro lights or a pair of used OEM euros will rock your world.

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

But that is the entire point of getting HID lights ( well at least for ricers or the Calvin peeing on something sticker set )

Regular bulbs have a black tip to control the light pattern.

The focal point matters too ( location from light source to reflector. )

If one controls light from the tip and gets the focal point right, they might work.

In a nutshell, his website is crap. The information contained hasn't been updated in at least 10 years. Current hid kits are completely different from what was available back then. There are plenty of factory headlights on the road today designed for either HID or halogen bulb while using the same reflector and lens.
W124 H4 housings also have a built in glare shield that does the same thing and the focal point on HID bulbs built for H4 housings have the light source positioned exactly in the same spot as as the stock H4 bulb.

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the glare shield is also built into every H4 bub I have seen along with the little trough in the low beam element, It throws the light up and back. HID elements dont have this. So all you get is a ball of light

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

H4 hid have the the low beam glare shield built in. This one is low beam only.


There are also H4 hid bulbs that move the bulb relative to the shield so you have both low and high beam.


Personally I prefer the single beam H4 HID because its more reliable and I have separate high beam bulbs.

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It doesn't matter when it was updated, the info is still valid. Putting HID capsules in a halogen housing are flawed on the conceptual level.

Show me a lab report from a reputable source showing a single instance of an HID retrofit passing DOT specs.

Show me a single instance where an OEM part is the same for both HID and halogen headlights.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

I wish cops would nail more people using illegal HID kits that blind the crap out of other people. Here it's is a $210 fine per occurance, two headlights means two occurances, and I see some jackwagons running HID kits in their fog lights too. It's ridiculous and dangerous and has no business being on the road.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

Well I guess I'll leave the conceptual level to you. I'll just park my practical level right here.

My HID bulbs in halogen housings.

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This is what I will be putting in my 240D when I get the time to finish the job. I made these about a month ago. These are Bixenon projector retrofits using "Mini H1" projectors which are plentiful and perform decently. The most difficult part of finding a set of reliable ballasts.



as mentioned before in the thread, please don't stick HID burners in halogen housings!!

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1982 240D 4-speed
2013 Jeep Wrangler Sport - 4.10 e-locker

try theretrofitsource.com, they make a 7" round headlight that works with the W123 and comes with everything that you will need to build the headlights. as stated before do not use bi-xenon (HID) kits with lenses made for halogen headlights, the fluting in the lens is not meant for the type of light output. in other words it causes glaring toward oncoming traffic. the other option is to vacuform high or low spec euro plastic lens for your lighting application.

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