Late model W124 headlamps

[rockjockjh]

I was looking at my headlight today (1994 E420) in search of a way to make my headlights more powerful without buying european assemblies (do they even make them for '94 or '95 E420s) and I came across a second whole in the reflector the the main headlamp. It is the little hole right below the main bulb. What is it used for and is there any way I can take advantage of it? Email me for more photos. Josh

[rockjockjh]

another photo

I could easily be mistaken, but I thought that the late, US 124 cars have virtually the same headlamps as Euro cars.

Have a great day,

[Arthur Dalton]

The hole is the receptical for Euro city lights.
They use the same reflector.
It is the DOT lens that is different [ but close]
What the DOT did do was to have Benz make the USA version lens non iter-changeable with the "E" code one. Just to make sure we late 124 owners could not just buy the Euro "E" code lens and pop it on like you can with the Euros, they cemented the lens into the plastic surround mount. [ the Euros simply screw on]
Sooooo , the 94/95 have "Almost" euro lighting, but to DOT specs. They have the same cut-off , put not as pronounced.
I am surprised nobody has stuck the city lights in the reflector yet.

[ebennz]

hey josh,
i concur with these other benz brothers.
it is a dot headlamp,and the extra hole was/is for the city light bulb.
if you look cloase at your lens i think near the bottom center it will either have "dot" or "E1" stamped on the inside of the glass.
E1 being euro version or dot department of transportation, i believe.
my euro lights do NOT have the "shield"in front of the lens.
your lights do use the h4 bulb,without upgrading your wiring, take jce's advice just buy a +30 bulb.

welcome to mercedes shop.

peter

[rockjockjh]

Are the city lights just like the US and Canada daytime running lights? Is there any way I could install them and what are the benefits? Also, with buying the +30 bulb, would I have to worry about it being so hot that the plastic housing around the bulb melting or not? Thanks for everyones input.

[A. Rosich]

To install the "city lights" or "parking lights" as are known in other countries should not be difficult since you have the wholes already. They use a simple 3W bulb.

In Euro/rest of the world version, the city or parking lights works much better than the U.S. "side markers + city lights" combo where the side markers are used, because when the main H4 bulb burns out, at least you have the dim light of the 3W bulb filling in the main bulb assembly.

That would be your only noticeable gain, because once you turn your dipped or main beam, the light of the main bulb overuns the little 3W light.

About your original question, the only way I found of gaining more power is adding 80/100W H4 bulbs instead of the regular 65/55W. But, be careful, as these wattage bulbs are not legal for road use in most states.

Some companies in Germany sell an aftermaket Xenon conversion kit (not just blue-tainted bulbs, but the real Xenon gas charged beams). The pair of headlights costs well over US$2,500 and you loose the high beam set up, so if you want to keep the high beam, you must order the AMG-styled bumper for the W124 which has openings to install "high beam driving" lights. Including the new bumper, the new high beam light, the Xenon set plus all wiring and labor should cost about US$6,000.

Simple solution: the 80/100W H4 bulb.

The wiring on the new W124 should withstand the higher wattage and temperature of this bulb, as long as you do not tend to drive long distances at night. On the other had, the same bulb fried the wiring harness on my previous W123 300TD.

A. Rosich
S320, 1998
E320T, 1995

[JCE]

The '+30' bulbs like the Philips premium or vision plus don't seem to run any hotter that I can tell - they are the same wattage but have the filament repositioned for more usable light on the road. The blue bulbs put out LESS light (yellow wavelengths removed). Get the Philips or Hella Premium '+30' in this country at http://catalog.com/susq/hella.htm , or Vision Plus from a UK or Mainland Europe country store such as http://www.fosmo.com/ . Good luck ( I have been running the +30s with no problem for a year now).

[pmizell]

As John noted, you can get brighter bulbs for your Euros instead of rewiring your system. There have been significant advances in the amount of light these normal 55w H4 bulbs put out since they were originally introduced.

Go for the +30 ones that John uses, or you can go even higher with the +50 Philips Vision Plus that I'm using now.

The claim of 50% more light than stock is accurate. These bulbs are bright!

http://www.powerbulbs.com/pvph4.htm

~Paul

[rockjockjh]

I just bought a pair of Philips Vision Plus bulbs from that british website. They only cost about $30.00 USD. Does anybody know a good site that shows how to install new bulbs on a 1994 E420? It would probably be the same as installing bulbs on a 400E, so a sight on that would work to. I am also going to search this forum to see if it is already out there.

[rockjockjh]

I found the casing behind the headlights and can remove that easily, the only problem is that there is a huge air intake hose behind the headlights. There is one on the left, and one on the right. Does anybody know if it is safe to disconnect those hoses in order to get to the headlights? The hoses are about three inches in diameter. I know that the hoses are only on the V8 models of W124s, so if anybody has replaced headlight bulbs in a 400E, E420, 500E, or E500 please reply. Thanks for everyones help.