Wow...I've been crusing through the archives for the past hour and am totally blown away by the quality of discussion, knowledge of participants, and respectful responses. This may be my favorite site as the MBCA site just keeps getting goofier.

By way of intro, my name is Dean and I have a problem...I'm addicted to a 94 E500, beryl exterior and parchment interior, with 73,000 kms. Bone stock except for a Superchip (good deal, good results). Professionally I'm a police officer (no Officer Speed jokes please)and have previously owned (in order)a 79 Volvo GT, 81 Volvo Turbo, 73 911E, 86 Audi 5000 TQ, and 97 E320. Frankly, I was disappointed with the E320 and traded straight across for a one-owner 94 E500. Happiness at last, particularly with a 3 year Mercedes Signature warranty.

Can I ask for some feedback on a few items?
a) anyone have the EVO II 17" wheels? How are they working out and are they considered "aftermarket" for Concours judging?
b) I am in desperate need of high-output headlamp bulbs to replace the stock HB2 bulbs...its too easy to overdrive them (alignment already checked OK)and with darkness from 4pm to 9am this time of year it gets spooky often. Any sources?
c) My wife and I are planning to rallye in the Silver State Classic in Nevada the fall of 2000. Anyone been there? It sounds like a hoot but safety requirements mandate a 5-point racing harness and quick-release fire extinguisher for average speeds over 110 mph. Does anyone have experience with installing a racing harness with MINIMAL drilling or other mods to the body? Any hints where an extinguisher bracket might go? How about a video camera bracket to catch the action a la Speedvision?

Well, thats it for this post. I can offer comments on the Superchip and high performance winter tires for those interested. Ciao for now.

Dean,
Hello and welcome to the "family"...(of hot rod benz owners/enthusiasts) Thank you for the kind words on the site. I'm glad we are able to help.

As for your questions:

A) have seen the EVOII wheels done and they work just fine but will not pass at a concours I don't think. For them to pass you might have to prove it was a euro car which would open a colossal can of worms. You'd be better off to buy a set of 17" wheels you like (BBS's, AMG blocks, tuner fare, etc) and just bolt on the OEM 16x8's with 225/55/16's for concours appearances. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the EVOII's...

B) For about $80 you can try a set of plug-in PIAA or Solaris bulbs that might help. After that, the next step would be a swap to Euro headlamps which runs (on a "normal" W124) about $200 a side. Past that, you can go for a HID conversion but expect the pricetag to range in the $2,000 ballpark. You might try over-wattage bulbs, but you will likely melt things so I would advise against. Never noticed a problem with night driving in my 92 500E, but that is with the lower bumper lights + regular headlights + brights... Let me know which "stage" piques your interest most and we can take it from there.

C) I'd skip drilling anything into the stock seats. You would be much better off unbolting the stock seats and buying some Recaro racing seats for occasional use. When you go racing just lose the stock seats and replace with the Sparco/Recaro/etc racing seats, then swap back to the stockers for daily use. I'm sure one of the popular racing seat companies makes a bolt in kit for the W124. If you have to drill in for an extinguisher bracket you could try putting one on on the passenger side of the driveline tunnel. If you went into the carpeted vertical area near where the passenger's left leg would be you could drill/mount then remove it and fuzz up the carpet over the holes when you were done. As for the camera (now there would be an exciting home movie!) I'd think of attaching it to one of the bolt-in racing seats somehow. If you have to drill, hack, and paste it is better to canibalize the non-OEM seat. I don't know it for a fact, but perhaps you could order some kind of camera bracket with the seats???

Love to hear how you like the superchip tuning. Have you before/after timed or dyno'd? What do you run for tires?

Hope this helps...Lee

Hello Dean! And excellent choice of automobiles, I might add!

I've got a '92; it's Almandine Red (think raspbery metallic)/black interior. Both options (integrated phone & CD changer). Only mod is an upgrade to 17 X 8.5 AMG 5-spoke wheels/Michelin Pilot 245/45. Absolutely LOVE the car. Still have the 300TE I bought 3 years earlier, and the upgrade to the 5 was dramatic to say the least. Seriously quick ride.

Very much interested in your feedback on the chip...did you install it yourself? What were the changes in terms of gains vs. driveability losses (if any)? If I might ask, what did it set you back?

Welcome aboard. I'm sure you'll pick up quite a few good bits of info here, as there are a LOT of knowledgeable people kicking around in here.

Enjoy your car!

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Best regards, Michael
'92 500E
'88 300TE

Lee, thanks for the info on the EVO II wheels. I understand they were stock on euro 500E's only however, they are also listed as a dealer-intalled option locally...so how does the fitment of such an "accessory" affect concours judging? Any judges out there?

On the headlight problem - I don't want to modify the car with euro lamps due to the same concern for originality as with the wheels. If a bulb is not available I guess I'll live with it(driver slower?).

Regarding the Superchip - I paid $299US and installed it myself. The instructions were fairly clear but the illustrations were awful. I made a CPU module extractor out of coat hanger wire. The module requires torx drivers to open. The Superchip piggy-backs onto the factory chip, so be careful not to yank out the soldered-in base chip!! I'm awaiting spring to dyno the results but seat-of-the-pants impressions were an immediate gain in smoothness and faster wind-up through the revs. There is more power there...I just don't know how much yet.

As for tires - I'm a great Michelin fan (after suffering through years of spotty Pirelli quality) and am currently running Pilot HX MXM summers and Pilot Alpin winters, both stock sizes.

Nice to have you join us....

Lee and Michael have already given out the best suggestions. So, I will just keep it short.

HB2 = H4, however, US versionn of W124 has 9004 light bulbs. I would suggest you swap in the Euro spec headlights FIRST, then do whatever you want to do with the headlight assembly(PIAA bulbs, HID conversion...etc.). And after you switch to Euro spec lights, you should see improvement in lighting right away, and even more with over-watt PIAA Plasma SuperWhites.....

Happy Motoring....
Andy Kuo

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<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>1992 Mercedes-Benz 400SE
<LI>Moonstone Grey/Black Leather
<LI>Blue/Red Headlights
<LI>Xenon-Look Foglights
</UL>

ICQ#26950002
http://drive.to/akry

got a 94 with upgraded bulbs. no problems. 80/100 h4 in headlamp. 100 h3 in fog. 100 h3 in driving lamp. just replace the stock bulbs with good german bulbs. the 94 e500 does not take 9004.

may have gotten confused between h3 or h1, but just replace what you have with higher wattage of same type bulb. i did state the wattage correctly. there are even more powerful h4.

Yes, the updated 1994 W124 DOES have H4 for low/high beam, and H3(I think)for fog lights.

And pre-1994 W124 takes 9004 bulbs.

Hello akydakyx

Does your car have the daytime running lights required here in Canada. Mercedes simply wired the headlamps and parking lights, front and rear, to go on automatically when the car is running. I am concerned that the increased heat from HO bulbs on ALL THE TIME may cause problems with the plastic lenses and/or wiring...anyone with experience in this situation??

It is not uncommon for overwattage bulb fittments to melt the assembly and/or wiring. If your car is wired to have the lights on 100% of the time this will only accentuate the problem. My recommendation would be to go with stock wattage bulbs in a higher color temperature. (non HID, but whiter appearing halogens) Or go with the euro headlamp conversion.

Autosupermart should be able to fix you up with the PIAA or Solaris bulb to fit the first recommendation. http://www.autosupermart.com

I know we can get euro headlamps for normal W124's, not 100% sure if 500E/E500's use the same. If you would like to go that route just fill out a PartsShop inquiry and we will get digging.

The PIAA/Solaris bulb fittment should be about $80 for the main bulbs, extra for any additional bulbs converted. (fogs, aux driving lights, etc)

The euro conversion should go for about $200-$250 a side.

One thing you can do that can dramtically help night-time lighting is to keep your windshield very clean (inside and out) at all times. Also a treatment with something like STP's VisionBlade really helps in the rain and/or after dark in the rain.

Hope this helps...Lee

Hello All

My choice is now clear...keeping with a philosophy of incremental change I am going to install PIAA H4 Super Whites (non-HID look)in stock wattages.

Thanks for all your suggestions and comments.