waddya think of these W210 headlights?

[suginami]

I saw these projector beam headlights in the new Performance Products catalog.

They look pretty sweet, almost like the W211 headlights.

Waddya think of them? I'm considering installing these on my E430.

They even claim better lighting output:

http://www.performanceproducts4benz.com/productpage.aspx?pid=110465&name=Projector+Beam+Headlamps

[POS]

Not bad, but for me I always prefer the stock lights - except for Euro versions.

[brewtoo]

I think those look MUCH better than stock.

[suginami]

I agree. I find the stock headlights to be a hazy, foggy, ugly mess.

[Hatterasguy]

My buddy just put those on his E300D, they look sweet and work well. BTW you can get them much, much cheaper on ebay.

Now he needs to have the front end painted because the lights make the rest of the front end look tired.

[Parrot of Doom]

I'd want independent verification of their lighting output before I ever considered fitting lights like those.

I doubt their claims tbh.

[suginami]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

My buddy just put those on his E300D, they look sweet and work well. BTW you can get them much, much cheaper on ebay.

Now he needs to have the front end painted because the lights make the rest of the front end look tired.

Do you know the ebay seller who sells these?

Does anyone know who the manufacturer is or where they're made? Perhaps your friend looked at the box they came in that says the country of manufacture?

[suginami]

Originally Posted by Parrot of Doom

I'd want independent verification of their lighting output before I ever considered fitting lights like those.

I doubt their claims tbh.

Yeah, it is a concern. It'd be nice to get some other testimonials.

They sure look good, though. The original W210 headlights are an eyesore, frankly, even when brand new.

[Will_w202]

I saw some projectors for my 202. They looked great, and would really change the character. They would also require a new grille, bumper fascia, just to even out the look. Also, I heard the quality control was horrid. Oh well

[Hatterasguy]

I'll have to ask him the brand, I think they are Asian made. The quality overall was at least as good as the OE lights. The lense material seems similer to the material Toyota used on my moms new car, I wouldn't be surprised if the same company made them.

I don't know a way to measure light output, but just eyeballing it compared to his old pitted ones the difference was quite noticable. I don't know how much of that was just going from pitted lense to clear ones, vs the lights themselves. But they do project a very nice beam, almost Xenon like in regard to its sharpness.

He bought them mostly for looks, the old lights were shot and these look cool. Combined with some nice wheels, tints, and smoked rear lights his car is going to look nice.

[BENZ-LGB]

Paul, I think that your car would look better with new OEM lights (if yours are foggy) or look for someone selling OEM HID lights.

I bought OEM HID lamp assemblies from someone who was trading up his 1999 E320.

I like the look of the OEM HIDs and I love the light output.

There are several threads on BenzWorld about these Asian projector lights and how water/moisture gets into them.

So if you are going to get them, be sure that the seal is tight, some people recomended using a bead of caulk or some other sealant.

Check out the threads at BW.

IMO I think that your W210, or any W210, looks better with fresh OEM lights.

[Hatterasguy]

How difficult would it be to install Xenon headlights? If one found a totaled W210 they could pillage the needed parts.

[raymond~]

hard to tell from the pic, but just so you know, unless it's OEM projector, all
(yes, all) the aftermarket lights are inferior to OEM in terms of light output.
the 'best' one out there is Depo and it still sucks. the only redeaming value
with Depo is that the projector mount itself (4 posts) are near perfectly
spaced to accept MB E55 bixenon, as well as the RS6 bixenon...making it
one of the easiest projectors to retrofit into HID of all cars.

the price on the linked website is a few hundred over street value of the
aftermarket headlights. Depo is the costlist yet still can be had < $375.

if you browse the other MB forums, you'll see where most folks hit the
ceiling when they install these projector lights. some aftermarket versions
use smaller projectors (3" is the largest), as well as use smaller/weaker
halogen bulbs.

be very cautious. ask for bulb size, ask for projector lens size, ask for
refund policy......and be ready to purchase premium halogen bulbs, or
open the headlight to drop in a true, OEM HID projector.

the worst thing you can do is go cheap and buy HID kit, which is not
calibrated to the H7 halogen projector.

some photos of my retrofit, using E55 bixenon projector...

[BENZ-LGB]

Raymond is the guy at BW who I was referring to (as having extensive experience with these lights).

Raymond is also very knowledgeable about wheel fitment on the W210 series.

He was very helpful to me with my wheel questions.

Thanks for stepping in Raymond.

[BENZ-LGB]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

How difficult would it be to install Xenon headlights? If one found a totaled W210 they could pillage the needed parts.

It took me all of half hour to swap lights. It took me longer because once I took out my old lights I cleaned around the area, made myself an espresso and checked the scores at ESPN.

The "upgraded" W210 are a pain, however. You need to remove the bumper to access the lights.

In "some" W210 you need to take the car to the dealer so they can tell the computer that your car is using Xenons. Xenons draw lower voltage (or whatever) and in some cases you get a bulb failure or malfunction error message.

I did not have to do with my car's computer.

If you retrofit Xenons to a ar that did not have them, you will miss out two components.

1. The high pressure headlight wiper nozzles (only Xenon equipped cars came with these); and

2. The auto leveling feature. Tehre is some gizmo in the rear axle (???) that senses when the car is rear squatting and automatically adjusts the lights so you don't blinf incoming traffic. I believe that this, and the headlight washer nozzles, are equipment required in Europe.

I don't have 1 or 2 above and my lights are fine and I have not blinded any incoming motorists....YET!