Euro headlights
 

Hey guys, I'm lookin at getting a set of the euro curved glass style headlights for my 73 280sel. Can anyone tell me ways of getting them? I would imagine there would not be a shortage of them, but I see ebay pairs asking outrageous cash $$$. Thank you very much. This is not a show car, it is a daily driver, I just really appreciate the look.

Sam

Hi Sam. I bought my two sets from forum members here. First were shipped from Australia at one-half total costs of Adsit. Second came from Canada (after &*^% deer took out one of my first set) and cost 1/6 of Adsit price.

You could post separately in "Parts Wanted."

I believe headlight assemblies originating from right hand drive countries will have different lenses.

what are you calling outrageous prices? most W116 euro headlights are sold for around 100bucks on ebay.

Left hand drive countries headlights are not only not a recommended upgrade because you lit the wrong side of the road, they theoretically are illegal.

Post a WTB (Want to buy) thread over in parts.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-used-parts-sale-wanted/

thank you very much!
 

Theres a new Wanted post! Thanks guys. If anyone sees this and has a set they'd like to sell, metallicat1243@netscape.net

Sam

Be aware that, in addition to the LHD vs RHD headlamp issue, there's two styles of Euro one-piece headlamps that fit in place of the stacked sealed beams used on us-market W111, W112, W108 and W109 cars. The early version, as I fitted to my '60 Fintail, has a glass cover with a very rounded 'bubble' look, while the later style glass has a much flatter face. Personally, I prefer the look of the early 'bubble' glass on any of these cars, but if you have a late model and you're really a purist....

Five years ago, I paid over $200 on eBay for one set of Euros that turned out to have internal damage and missing parts, but that's OK as they're good for experimenting, and spare parts for the good second pair, bought for under $200, that eventually wound upon my Fintail. I also picked up one spare NOS Bosch bubble glass for $90, so I'm less paranoid about driving my Fintail in traffic.

Also, the original Bilux headlamp bulbs used in the Euros aren't that easy to find in the US, though I've been told that there's one supplier in the DC area that stocks them. A friend that often travels to Germany got me replacements for my headlamp bulbs - now made as an H4 lamp in an OE Bilux base, but he was unable to find the amber-tinted replacements for my original oversize-bayonet foglamp bulbs, so he brought me clear ones.

Happy Motoring, Mark

BiLux Bulbs CHEAP !
 

Lots of Vintage VW places sell these as does Flanders Motocycle supply in Pasadena , Ca. as many of my old BMW's use them .

Osram (brand) still makes them in varying wattages so you don't fry your old 190W generator...

I used my spare Euro reflectors as a pattern to fabricate small ring adapters so I could drop in H4 headlamp bulbs, commonly availible at local autoparts stores.

I would like to find a source for the amber bayonet foglamp bulbs as the yellow tint looks better in the lower part of my Euro headlamps. Or I may have to try and tint my clear ones.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Two last tidbits...

- A new set of reflectors, three per light, are 100$ from the dealers. If you can find a bosch supplier overseas that will sell them, see if they're cheaper.

- To tell LHD from RHD, look at the glass. There is a "V" shaped set of facits in the glass. The wide part of the "V" points to the driver's side.

-CTH

Wow , that's cheap ! and good OEM parts too .
I was going to mention that instead of re-silvering the rusty reflectors , I've had very good luck with having them _chromed_ but for $100.00 / set why bother....

this was definaetly the case with volvos. i concur that it is very likely with the benz too.

on my dad's volvo they threw the light toward the center of the road instead of toward the berm. i would NOT buy euro lights from a right hand drive country.

this includes england, ireland, australia, new zealand, japan, hong kong and perhaps south africa (not sure about sa).

good point... which i had not thought of.

tom w

<<A friend that often travels to Germany got me replacements for my headlamp bulbs - now made as an H4 lamp in an OE Bilux base, >>

Get them right here in for short $$$

H4s with P45t oem base
Best , short $$ up-grade you can do is get rid of the bilux for Halogens and they are a drop-in mod....

CandlePower
1-800-368-2700

Rockville, MD

Are these not the bulbs euro cars use? I always thought thats what they were for...

http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/sophio/quote.jsp?clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&cookieid=20T1FD9K02130XTX8D&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&partner=mercedesshop&year=1972&product=Y4000-14062&application=000033308

Those are oem bi-lux ...not much good for lighting, but the base is a p45t and you can now get H4s with that base for a drop-in modification,
Night and Day comparison..the Euros of that day had the optics down pat, but the lamp technology was junk until Halogens arrived,,so H4 bring the early Euros right up to modern day lighting for a couple of bucks with no other mods needed [ re: , wiring, reflectors, relays , etc]
...plus you can get rid of the heat caps , as the halogens have the heat reflectors built into the lamp..............

before these were available, we used to take the bases off the bi-lux and mount H4s to that base so we could get the halogens to mount in the stock socket...then someone finally got hip and started making them...
If you look at both connectors , you will see they are the same ...it is just the mount that is different , so they plug right in...........