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.

I can understand that...

I realize that alot of people ended up getting hella lights from puma

I just want to know the main difference between the hella and the puma

I have the HID kit in my 300e and the police do not harass me. The easy way to become a target with HID's is to aim them high. The lights then beccome so bright that the police see it as a serious safety hazard. You can become momentarily blinded by all the glare from an improperly aligned HID kit.My light pattern turns the road into daylight,but it does not blind oncoming drivers. The TYC lights do come with the beam adjusters and are even able to be vacuum adjusted! I agrre with the "keep the 500E oem" but hey if you are on a budget and want the HID's go wwith the TYC.

still lookin for the difference between hella and bosch :p

anyone had experience with them?

TYC is a Taiwan supplier of "OEM-Like" replacement parts for cars, not just Mercedes. Body shops will use "OEM-Like" parts in repairs to keep costs down. They are drop in replacements for OEM, but they don't have the "heft" or "feel" of the Bosch units, probably from differences in the manufacturing materials and process.

There may be a slight difference in the glass used in the Bosch versus the Hella. Some have said the Hella glass is slightly darker than the Bosch, which may be the result of the lens cut pattern or the reflector shine.

so the bosch are clearer than the hella?

I don't know about Bosch vs. Hella, I would assume they are very similar. My Bosch however, are exceptionally bright even with the standard 55W H4 bulb and the light pattern they cast is very accurate. It looks like this:

_ _ / _ _/

Both lights have a sharp upper cutoff on the right hand side. very cool. You use it when aiming the lights.

Because the headlamp assembly for all W124's including 500E's are NOT designed for the "arc" light of a HID, you're only getting about 45% efficiency.

Moroever, unless you ONLY want the 500E's pencil-beam, you will LOSE your H4 highbeams, unless there is a HID kit that does both HIGH and LOW beams.

IMHO, you will get better performance and lighting if you do the following in order:

1) Get Hella or BOSCH Euro 500E headlamps (contact Paul at Puma- http://www.puma-access.com );

2) install headlamp relays using 10-ga. wire ( http://lighting.mbz.org/ ) along with Hella ceramic hi-temp H4 connectors http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/relays/relays.html ;

3) upgrade to OSRAM or Narva Rallye H4 bulbs (130/100);

4) upgrade your H3 pencil-beams to relays & 10-ga. wire and 80W or 100W bulbs ( http://lighting.mbz.org );

5) upgrade your alternator from a 1997+ S500 or SL500 (150-amps!) with a 2-ga. wire from the alternator to the battery;

6) install a relay to activate LOW beams as well as HIGH, and PENCIL beams.

Assuming stock bulbs, with item #6, you're putting out 340-watts of light;

With 130/100w H4's and 80w H3's, 620-watts of power, NOT including your FOGS!

:-) neil
1988 360TE AMG
1993 500E

Yeah, that will do it. :D

Can someone please forward the bosch part number for a 1992 500e?
I have done the upgrade in my old 300E (God rest this car's soul as the EX has it now) I want to upgrade the lights on the 500E and everyone keeps looking at me stupid when I ask for the 500E lights.

The hella number that was given me is 1EJ004440-371 +381 can someone either confirm this and or cross to Bosch?

Thanks in advance

Moose