Looking at swapping the halogen H3 for LEDs. Wondering if any of y'all have had any luck with that. I don't want to mod the back sides of the mounts, just looking for direct replacements if there is such a thing. I see $20 pairs from China that look interesting but don't know if they are bright enough.

I sure hope someone finds these .

Gotta be yellow though .

I melted my head light switch last Fall and would like to get LEDs but the ones for replacing 7" head lamp bulbs all look really FUGLY .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Nate, I have 7" glass headlight H4 housings in my W123. They look almost identical to the sealed beans, but have a flatter face. I used H4 LED bulbs in them for a while with no problems. You are welcome to them if you want to swap the regular sealed beams in, I know it's a far drive from LA to OC but if you're in the area let me know.

__________________
Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission - engine spun a rod bearing

1979 300SD, ~90k original miles, all stock

Maybe these??

https://www.amazon.com/Calais-Extremely-Bright-Golden-Plug-n-Play/dp/B01CTMT01G

__________________
2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 102K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 238K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 211K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 246K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 384K (diesel commuter)

Those look like what I want, I ordered them, THANK YOU ! .

I'm not a good online shopper, I either can't find anything or too many to wade through .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Glad to help! Let us know if they work out good for you!

__________________
2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 102K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 238K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 211K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 246K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 384K (diesel commuter)

Will do ! .

They're coming by slow boat from China....

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Thanks also for the link. Ordered and got in a day to LA/OC via Amazon Prime. Dunno why vwnate's are shipping from China. They work well for now but run as hot as the halogens. We'll see how long they last.

__________________
Watch him go!!! link

#dontdealwithkahlil

Mine may well be in my P.O. Box, the seller said to wait three weeks....

Those look great .

I hope they don't draw a lot of current, I already melted one headlight switch in this car .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Are they bright enough?

About same as the halogen H3.

__________________
Watch him go!!! link

#dontdealwithkahlil

Was wondering if the base is too long to fit into the W123 housing

OK just received these LEDs today in New Zealand. Installed one and took a photo. Left side is the LED. It appears to be at least of equal output vs the original if not slightly brighter. I think it looks nicer than the original. Seems to illuminate the interior of the fog light housing more consistently. Also seems to have near zero effect on the voltage vs the old ones which probably reduced my voltage by around 0.2 volts. They fit in the W123 housing without any problem and without the need for any mods. If they don't burn out they'll be fantastic. I've only run them for an hour so far. No comments about my parallel condenser mount job please. I have Rollguy's Sanden conversion in this rig and it works great. The condenser fan is also an aftermarket mod although I don't think it added any value vs the original fan. All fans no matter what kind seem to be voltage hogs.

Attached Thumbnails

 

THANK YOU ! .

I just did this yesterday and have similar results, they're bight and yellow, sadly the night photo I took was all washed out by the glare .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

FWIW, if light brightness is an issue, or if switches are burning out, one of the best upgrades you can do is install control relays for your headlights, high and fog lamps in the engine bay, and eliminate all of the current travel and voltage loss as well as intermittent connection issues.

Take a fat suitably sized wire from a bus terminal or from the battery to power the relays, and use the existing factory wiring as a the low amperage coil trigger to the relays. The factory wiring from the relays to the headlamps can be retained, as it will be a short run. This will surely get the full voltage that your lamps need and will eliminate many of the operational issues many of these older cars with have just due to wiring corrosion and increased resistance that you can't see under the insulation.

__________________
Stable Mates:
1987 300TD 310K mi (Hans)
2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee OM642 165k mi (Benzrokee)