500E lighting upgrades?
 

Hey guys, I tried doing a bunch of different searches, but couldn't really get the info I was looking for. After seeing my friends new xenons on his bmw and how clear they look, I realized how dull my headlights are on my car.

Everyone always speaks of euros, but what actual difference is there from the stock headlights and euro headlights? What is the bulb difference?

What other kind of lighting upgrades are there?

Buy the Cheaper Euros( $250) instead of HEllA($800) and with the money you saved, install 2 HID kits in your 500E. Use 1 set for headlights, and the other set in your fogs. Your friend will be jealous. The stock bulb in your car is 9003 and the Euros use H4.

who makes good HID kits and does anyone else second this idea?

youre better off getting an HID kit out of a wrecked porsche, audi,BMW,Benz(make sure they work). Those ebay kits are crap. Look at those little ballasts that those cheap kits come with. I have the OEM ballasts out of a porsche in my 300E. I get lots of compliments on my HID's.And what ever you do, DO NOT USE THOSE BLUE BULBS!! Those blue bulbs burn your wiring to bits.

how did u find the wrecked porsche with the hid kit?

hedpe - try a search on euros - tons of info. I upgraded to Bosch euros and the difference is incredible - even with plain 55W H4 bulbs. They are very, very bright and well focused if you aim the headlights correctly. A definite "must" upgrade.

I would argue that you should spend a few extra bucks and get the Hella or Bosch euro headlights though. I don't think the cheaper brands have the same quality - just MHO...I don't think you would need HIDs running the euros...of course, if you did, you could light up several miles ahead...;)

Oh, and I agree with no blue bulbs!! Cheesy as well! The newer H4 bulbs have a whiter light anyway.

where did you get your bosch euro's from?

the porsche was at a junk yard in my area. Lets just say, the headlights were all that were left intact. That car was definetly totalled. If you have the money, go with the hella or bosch. But also go with the HID's.

I have the TYC euro's in my car. I have zero problems from them, And as a matter of fact. I bought them from Mercantile Europarts. (Ask for Alex only)

I bought them from my mechanic, here in Canada. He got me a pretty good price on them. I paid about $550 CDN for the pair and they came with new Bosch corner lights as well - the dark orange euro style ones. Since I have the newer clear/orange corner lights already, I sold the orange euro corner lights on e-bay and made some money back. ;)

They also came with the 6-pin wire connector required to attach the lights (the US version has a 5-pin connector). There are some excellent posts here detailing how to connect them and the part numbers required. It's an easy swap.

There are also some good sources for lights here on the board - perhaps someone else can chime in? I think there is a company called Puma Products or something that offers Hella euros ata good price...try the search...

is there much of a difference between hella and bosch? I've always put bosch parts on my 500E, what's the difference in lenses?

anyone else know sources for them?

9003 *are* H4's

There is a difference in Bosch and TYC. Although by looking at the glass itself you can't tell the difference... the knobs for aiming on the Bosch are better to control and easier to aim. Thats just my experience.

what is TYC? I've never heard of them before...

but whats the main difference between bosch and hella?

With a collectors car like the 500E, get the Bosch or Hella euro spec lenses, not the cheaper asian imports. Why not keep it close to OEM when the price isn't that much different for an item that's probably going to be permanent?

Also, be aware that just putting an HID kit into the euro lenses is not going to be "street legal" and depending on the strictness of your jurisidiction, the HID intensity might make you a target. You may have to mod the headlight reflectors to put some of the light off to the right side of the road to avoid excess glare to oncoming vehicles.