R129 Xenon Lights

[drewmwillis]

Anyone know where I can get a set of the Mercedes Xenon lights for my 1991 500SL?

If anyone has them already can you post whether you like them or not?

Thanks!
~drew

[TheV12pwr]

It's like night and day!!!

[ebennz]

www.bekkers.com

[G-Benz]

www.************************ has the HID kit for the R129 series. Pricey, but comes complete with the ballast resistors. A total bolt-on with no mods.

[Carlos Serrano]

Instead of aftermarket how about R129 factory Xenons. By the way they look terrible onthe car

[TheV12pwr]

Originally Posted by Carlos Serrano

Instead of aftermarket how about R129 factory Xenons. By the way they look terrible onthe car

REALY???

[Carlos Serrano]

I just don't like them, my opinion.

[coyote]

Was at Part Source today and they have a Xenon imitation that fits the 500SL for $17.99 each. Can't remember the brand name but not a bad price if you wanted to try them out to see how they look. I think it looks nice and will most likely upgrade mine once I have all the bugs worked out of the engine.

[drewmwillis]

Originally Posted by coyote

Was at Part Source today and they have a Xenon imitation that fits the 500SL for $17.99 each. Can't remember the brand name but not a bad price if you wanted to try them out to see how they look. I think it looks nice and will most likely upgrade mine once I have all the bugs worked out of the engine.

Cool, I think i'd like to test drive em a bit before I considering spending $2800 on the factory set!

[hifeverz]

Originally Posted by coyote

Was at Part Source today and they have a Xenon imitation that fits the 500SL for $17.99 each. Can't remember the brand name but not a bad price if you wanted to try them out to see how they look. I think it looks nice and will most likely upgrade mine once I have all the bugs worked out of the engine.

Is this one of those blue bulbs from the Far East??

A true story : I put a pair in my Porsche 911 and they worked for a while. Not too bad looking. Then one evening they (the bulbs) both, not one, but both literally exploded. I know how to handle these bulbs and did not allow any grease/finger oils/etc. contaminate the glass part of the bulb when I installed them. I live off of a country road and on that non-moonlit night, I had stuck my head out of the window to try to see the roadway from the illumination of my parking lights. Upon getting home I cleaned all the glass fragments from the housing and replaced with the standard halogen bulbs. No problems since.

If NOT . . . Could you post a pic for us to see what the money buys??

Thanks,
Hz.

[coyote]

The ones I saw were made by Sylvania and were called "Cool Blue". They would not look exactly like a Xenon but a friend of mine put a couple in his Mazda and (in my opinion) looked quite nice compared to a regulaar bulb. At least it would give one a small idea of what a Xenon system might look like before spending the money.

[hifeverz]

Yes, you are correct you can see the way it sort of looks like, especially for the $$. However, I found mine to NOT give off enough light on the road, especially on wet, rain soaked pavement. Mine were 100w bulbs and that was not bright enough to illuminate the roadway (for me). I think it is necessary to run the hi-watt bulbs on these blue-xenon type bulbs to get a somewhat decent visual road clarity. I have not seen these in low watt format. They do look good when you're on the outside viewing the car equipped with them, though it is less desirable from the driver's viewpoint (in my opinion).
True HID xenons give off more light and without the power draw of the 100w bulbs.
If you do run the 100w bulbs check,periodically, by touch, the wiring from your headlight switch. On my Porsche 911, I could easily place my left hand on the back of the headlight switch. Mine got pretty hot before I soldered the factory existing spade connectors and replugging them into the switch. I read in another forum that this power draw did cause melted wiring (when using the hi wattage bulbs) which could lead to an electrical fire or a dash fire.

Good Luck,
Hz