I'm thinking about purchasing the OEM HID lights offered by www.bekkers.com for the the W210 (E430 model).

Has anyone done this? I am wondering how hard it would be to install. I was told that it is a matter of removing it and plugging it back in.

Any advise will be appreciated. Thank you.

__________________
'00 E430 White / Gray w/ Xenons
Brabus 19'' Monoblock V, 2 piece
H&R Sport Springs

'03 Porsche Carrera Coupe, Silver / Blk, 6-speed
Xenon, Sport Suspension, Bose, GT-3 Side Skirts . . .

If they are true Xenon HID lights as they appear to be, there will probably be quite a bit involved in the installation. Even if the installation is easy, $1,600 is a very high price. If you will search you can find a thread with a link to a company in California that had upgrades for less than $1,000.

That said, I paid $1,000 extra when I bought a new 210 car in '96. I was not totally disappointed, but I wouldn't do it again. The problem is that the Xenon is LOW BEAM ONLY on all these lights. If they could give me Xenon on low AND high, I would be much more inclined to spend the money again. Having HID on low beam just doesn't help your vision very much.

Good luck,

jeneric21:

You should contact Hella USA (the manufacturer) for more information regarding the installation process. Hella might be able to send you the installation procedure, so you can digest it and decide if you have the skills to do the job. The most complex part is the Headlight Washing System if you don't already have it.

I can tell you that the HID does improve the side vision as well as the distance vision. With HID, I don't even need to turn on the fog lights in rainy days. I agree with Larry that the HID does not have the high beam capability, but how often do you use it?

Good Luck
Car Nut
99 E430 Sport

www.hellana.com

I have done a lot of research before deciding who to purchase a HID kit from, for my Year 2000 E320CDi Wagon.

I finally settled on Autolamps Online.
They are an Authorised Dealer for Phillips Automotive Lighting.

H7 Xenon HID Headlamp conversion kit $600.00
If you want the latest 6000k Cool Power lamps it will cost you an additional $200.00

They supply the Bulbs, Ballasts and Car Specific Wiring Looms.

They are in the UK, like me, but will deliver anywhere in the World Free.

Additionally they will issue FREE 2 Phillips BlueVision halogen main beams with every pair of D2's or conversion kit bought.

I will have mine fitted in about a weeks time and will post results on the site.

Take a look at their SITE -

Autolamps Online

Autolamps Online

They also do H1, H4, 9005 and 9006 Kits.

RE MAIN BEAM HID HEADLAMPS.

Don't hold your breath waiting for them.
The problem is that any HID of the present generation takes a FINITE amount of time to "Light" up.
This is not condusive to having the light when you want it.

Also the "life" factor of HID's is to a degree linked to the number of times that they are switched on.
As you can realise when you switch on Low Beam it stays on for a long time.
Hi Beam is On/Off many times more.

Manufacturers are working on keeping the gas in the bulb at a VERY high temperature to overcome this problem but no results yet.

Mike Stone

"How often do you use it?". That was the obvious question that I missed asking.

This depends on your driving locations. I live in the country and my high beams are MOST IMPORTANT to me. I drive narrow country farm roads at night A LOT. I have to watch for deer and escaped livestock. And even on the wide two lanes I use and depend on the high beams.

However, if you don't drive in the country and mostly city driving where you don't use high beams there is typically plenty of light from street lights etc. In that case you can almost drive without your lights on. I do A LOT of both types of driving and find the HID lights not very useful in either case.

That's just my own experience. Of course, I think some people want them because they look cool, not that they help them see better.

Have a great day,

jeneric21-i agree with what everyone has said, but there are several more things to consider for I have gone thru the same thought process and I am still without xenon.

non-xenon cars do not have the high pressure headlight washer and it is not feasible to have it installed. xenon light is much more concentrated and more easily refracted thus the importance of having the headlight lens clean and free of debris.

non-xenon cars to not have the auto-leveling/auto-adjust feature built in and it is not feasible to have this installed either.

lastly, i am not certain if the wiring harness are the same. if you can just unplug the halogen unit and then plug in a xenon unit...

as for what Mike did, i believe that is a conversion and he did not change out the headlight housing. i don't know about the euro-spec cars, but the US cars use different headlight housing units in halogen vs. xenon equipped cars. therefore i do not know how conducive a halogen headlight housing will be with a xenon conversion.

no doubt xenon looks cool, but due to these questions and doubts about "true" lighting performance gain, i have yet to buy anything...i'm just not sure if it is worth the trouble and money

__________________
1997 E420

blackmercedes-you are probably correct. what i should have said is that all the "older" w210 (96-99) that i have seen do not have the high pressure washer system. i do believe the washer system is a stand alone option, but not seen very often, especially here in so cal. all the cars around here i see with the washer system have xenon. i guess it is due to the lack of rain, snow, mud, bad weather around here...

the "old" wiper system is not optimal on the newer cars especially since the w210 lights are round and curved...

__________________
1997 E420

I have the factory fitted Xenons on mine. I have had the car just under 2 years and I cannot really remember using the pressure wash for really cleaning the lamps. Now I have used them - but mainly for looking good/showing off. The real fact of the matter is that by the time the lenses get dirty the whole front of the car is filthy and needs washing anyway. Besides if you use the pressure wash when the car is clean you'll have those horrible water streaks all over your newly cleaned car.
Furthermore I have removed and replaced both lamps before and I mean the whole unit and it ain't rocket science.
So in my opinion go for the lamps.

__________________
Tolahouse 97 E420
Azure Blue - Xenon Headlights
Pioneer HU/EQ/CD, PPI AMPS, MB Quartz Speakers
Brabus 19inch Monoblock5 2pc/245/275Yokohama AVS Sports
H&R Springs/Bilstein Shoxs
"Sound, Power & The Ride"
0o=|=o0

Please don't try to do a CONVERSION to HID by just changing the bulb. The lens and reflectors of HID setup are TOTALLY different from halogen setup.

For those of you who pay attention to lighting system, you should notice HID setup has CLEAR protective lens and PRISMATIC lens inside the headlights. The Halogen setup has PRISMATIC lens as protective lens. Therefore if you just jam the Xenon bulb into the a system that is intended for Halogen bulb, you probably end up with lights EVERYWHERE!!!!!. You just transform a safety system into a suicide/killing system. Imagine you are traveling in a pitch black back country two lane road like Larry, you can blind the on coming traffic with your MESSED-UP low beam. Yeah, you can see very well.......the on coming traffic crash into you HEAD ON.

Good Luck
Car Nut
99 E430 Sport
OE HID with Headlamp Washers

Thanks for all of the replies.

Regarding the auto-leveling and lens cleaning. I recall reading that Acura's and Lexus' HIDs don't have one or the other. I believe this is an European requirement and perhaps not a U.S. DOT standard(?)

I read a post on this board where a member successfully installed ML55 HID lights to his ML430, sans the auto-level and washers. So it is possible.

I would like to change to whole assembly and not just the bulb. Car Nut raised a very good point about blinding the other drivers.

My main concern is the installation of the entire kit. On the W210 with the "new" 2000 front nose design, it looks like I may have to remove the bumper cover to remove the light assembly. I would like to avoid touching the bumper. I'll email HellaUSA and Bekkers.

__________________
'00 E430 White / Gray w/ Xenons
Brabus 19'' Monoblock V, 2 piece
H&R Sport Springs

'03 Porsche Carrera Coupe, Silver / Blk, 6-speed
Xenon, Sport Suspension, Bose, GT-3 Side Skirts . . .

jeneric21-keep us posted, i'd be courious to know how it turns out. especially if the wiring harness is just a plug-n-play.

__________________
1997 E420

The headlight washers have been available on the 210 cars since the beginning as an option, irregardless of headlight type.

Have a great day,

Irregardless is not a word. Regardless of my language peeve, Larry is right.

__________________
John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

Well pardon the h$!! out of me!

The following was copied from an online Collegiate Dictionary.


usage: Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that "there is no such word." There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead.

Larry,

Irregardless of grammatical errors, I appreciate the vast store house of knowledge you're sharing with us less experienced "shade-tree-ers" (is that grammatically correct?). I have found that mechanicing and good grammar (at times even moral grammar--not that I resort to profanity, but it sure is a temptation at times) are not compatible. Besides, us Sumner people have to stand up for each other--nobody else will! (Our town is also affectionately known by locals as "Scumner" & "Slumner"!)

On the lighting issue--I can't imagine spending a grand on headlights! However I did once mount a set of aircraft landing lights in the front bumper of my '68 Beetle. You could see a mile, literally, with those things. They set me back less than 50 bucks for the whole kit. Only thing is they're for "off road use only"

Have a good day guys.