Hey All,

Im Curious about euro headlights for my 1986 300e. I havent seen any closeup pictures or heard any substantial description of the improvement that they made. I'm alittle wary of shelling out the 400-500 bucks for a set without hearing alittle more about them
Thanks alot!

Jason M.
86' 300e 88k
1999 Crew Cab Chevy Dualie 7.4L

Do a search on the fproum. You can't go wrong with them, the diference is dramatic.

Where do most of you who have made this mod, purchase them? I tried the In Pro website but couldn't get the english version to work. Otherwise have only seen them for 450-500 dollars.

Is this what most of you are paying?

Thank you,
Brian W.
92 400E
90 300E
87 260E

Hi:

Go to this page to see pics of Euro lights on my 124

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-performance-paddock/11995-pictures-everyone-contribute.html

For places to buy, there are a lot of places that carry the Euro lights, including http://www.************************ ,and http://www.Bekkers.com . They can often be found used on ebay as well. There are also places that discount these items substantially. There is a Canadian site http://www.luxeuro.com/ with great prices because the parts are cheaper than in the US - the Euro light was standard equipment there, I believe. Customs forms, import duties, exchange rates, and shipping offset the cost for me, however. I purchased some used grey market Hella units (with the MB star on the parts) from a parts place in California called http://www.europarts-sd.com/ and the price was lower than the Canadian site ($295 if I recall correctly). (They ship cross country). I highly recommend the lights, and the article on aiming them at http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/how_to/aim/ , which also has great info on improving your headlight wiring. I recommend the following page for info on the bulbs that go in the lights http://catalog.com/susq/hella/bulbs.htm - don't bother with the blue ones, they put out less light. The Xenon +30 or +50 bulbs are the ones to use, as they have a standard wattage but redesigned filament for 30% more light. Hope this helps.

Euro lights make a huge difference and are a very important upgrade for those who are concerned about proper night-time illumination. Instead of the crappy US spec pattern, the Euro lights use a very precise beam pattern. There is very little light above the horizontal to the left of the car to avoid blinding oncoming drivers. In addition, the light beam steps up at a 15 degree angle to the right of center in order to light further down the road and light up road signs on the right side of the road.
I have noticed that the newer Mercedes do utilize this pattern as stock equipment in the US, interesting.
-Ali Al-Chalabi

I'll be shocked if anyone argues with me when I say that the 124 has the worst set of US spec lights ever put in an MB product, period. They are terrible!

Now, would you like for me to stop being nice and say what I really think?

Have a great day,

Great info JCE, Thank you!

Larry, tell us how you really feel!

Brian W.

all I have to say is I think Euro Lights are a Necessary Upgrade to the 124 cars. I'll be getting around to getting mine soon.

They not only make the car look better, they make the lighting when driving at night a tremendous difference.

The difference between the euro lights and the regular US code lights is like the difference between night and day.

Euro Lights should have come on the US cars from the start.

Alon

euro lights
 

jason & brian

don't you wish larry would quit beating around the bush!? just "change it hot,and change it often"! sorry larry i couldn't resist!

gentlemen try a "search" on euro lights, you will find tons of info.
in addition to jce's car pix i have some on page 3 of that thread or just go to my webpage if you want another look at some.

i have done a lot of posting on this subject as well.

they're the best money i've ever spent on any car, EVER.

let us know what you'll decide...

Mercedes Boys:
 

My Euro lights came with PHILLIPS 50/60W H4 bulbs.
What are these +30 / +50 bulbs all about?
Has anyone tried the PIAA Superwhite H4's?

What do you boys think?

Later,
MIKE MCKINNEY

Shyne:

The +30 bulbs are described at the http://catalog.com/susq/hella/bulbs.htm site described above. They are basically a standard Halogen bulb with a repositioned filament and a little Xenon gas for cooling and spectrum shifting that results in a more focused and visibly whiter beam than standard halogens. They are the same 50/60 watts, however, but focus "30% more light on the driving area". The +50 is the Phillips version of the same thing. As I understand it, and from what I have seen with the +30s on my car, most of the efect is in the low beam, with a little effect on the high beams.

The http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/how_to/aim/ site also has a page discussing the hyper blue PIAA type bulbs, as do many other sites that have tested them. The test results show less light output because many wave lengths outside the blue range are attenuated out (white light is a mixture of all colors, red, blue, violet, green, etc.). Objects look more blue white by filtering out the reds and oranges with a coating on the bulb, but less total light gets out. The effect is especially noticable in the rain, according to these reports. Again, it comes down to what you are looking for - a 'blue light special' or more light on the road.

JCE
 

Thank you for the link to the Hella page! I'm VERY interested in the bulbs you've mentioned. I'm looking for bulbs that emit a florescent white type of light. I would like lights comparable to my father's '01 S40 which have a very WHITE light as well as an excellent beam pattern. I love those lights so much that I will say that they are COMPETITIVE with the standard lamps on the '01 C240!!!

What do you recommend for the WHITEST OF WHITE light possible?

THANK YOU,
MIKE MCKINNEY

Philips makes both +30% called Premium and +50% called Vision Plus lights. See http://www.fosmo.com for details and do check out the philips site too http://www.eur.lighting.philips.com/automotive/html/products.html

Shyne:
The ones I am using are: 78150 - Replacement H4 (HB2) Bulb, XENON, 60/55W $10.43 Each. The web site describes them as "XENON bulbs that use a mixture of Halogen and Xenon gases to allow the filament to burn hotter, thereby increasing output to 30% over an equivalent Halogen only. The color of the light is altered by the Xenon and is white/blue. For a good technical description, try the Hella New Zealand Web Site at http://www.hella.co.nz/xenon.htm ". I have found them to be whiter than halogen, nowhere nearly as blue white as the $1500.00 xenon light systems. They also have88880 - Replacement H4, 12v, 60/55w (See Below) Optilux
and 88881 - Replacement H4, 12v, 100/80w (See Below) Optilux. They are described as quartz bulbs filled with xenon gas. These bulbs are manufactured in Korea for Hella US. The globe is manufactured from a blue quartz, allowing the bulbs to simulate the color of actual daylight. However,
"in October/November, the quality of the Optilux bulbs fell below the high standards that HELLA demands. We are no longer selling this line of bulbs until the New Optilux bulbs are available".

So for now, the first of the bulbs listed is about as white as you can get with a Hella product. I would love to acquire some of the Philips Vision Plus bulbs from Europe - they are not sold in this country according to their web site Philips http://www.eur.lighting.philips.com/automotive/html/products.html Maybe some of the European forum members want to start an export business!




[Edited by JCE on 02-02-2001 at 06:41 PM]

Euros Cheap
 

For those of us who don't want to pop $500-600 for new lights, I found a source for used Euros.
W124 used Euros $395.00/pair minus $100.00 trade-in for your OEM assemblies.
$16.00 S&H. Total for one pair of used Euros $311.00 at your door.
Try ADSIT CO.,INC. at 1-800-521-7656 or http://www.adsitco.com
Happy Trails Beep Beep from Houston
Donald, El Cheapo stricks again