97 SL Headlight sockets melted. Why did they and how do I replace them?

[SLer]

I noticed my low beam fading in and out. When I wiggled the wires, they would fade in and out too, so I removed the bulbs (difficult) to discover melted female sockets. The plastic inside the ceramic melted and hardened as dark brown globs on both lights. Anyone know the cause and how do I replace them? The wires look manufactured into the socket mold and the wires go through the headlight assembly into the great unknown. Is there a junction where wires detach?

[TheV12pwr]

I have the sockets $40.00 shipped to US.

[SLer]

Thanks TheV12pwr...

Found the parts locally and got terrific and immediate help from Ron & Phil, the MercedesShop's parts duo. Appears the socket melting is due to aftermarket bulbs that generate more heat than OEM bulbs. The replacement sockets are not original spec and I'll have to splice them into the factory wiring harness, but they'll be more tolerant of aftermarket bulbs. LESSON: Buy OEM bulbs, even the littlest bulbs in the instrument cluster, and avoid much bigger troubles.