After a long pursuit, I finally got a set of Euro headlights for my 280E. They look so much better than the Federal rounds the car came with.

But of couse, nothing goes as easily as it might. Federal round units use a four-prong plug, while the Euro's are looking for a five-prong plug. I thought I have seen adapters on eBay, but today I can't find any listed, of course... I also checked most of the usual on-line parts sources, but no luck.

Has anyone made this conversion? Anyone know of a source for an adapter, if there is one? Anyone have a good work-around if no adapter is available.

The lights came with the harness plugs and 2"-3" of clustered wires. I'm leaving a complicated splicing job to my last resort.

All dressed up and nowhere to go (without getting those lights hooked up).

I'll post pix as soon as I can. As always, all suggestions will be appreciated.
Alex

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'78 W123 280E, 58,000 mi!
'97 Mazda Miata
'94 Isuzu Trooper, 4WD
'03 MB C240 4-matic Wgn - Wife's
From the Archives:
'73 2002
'68 TR-250
'67 Austin Cooper "S"
'59 Austin Seven (Mini)
various p'up trucks

i think i might have a set, let me know if you want them, i will look for them after i hear from you.

you can use taillight plug sockets from 116's (with 6 spots) to adapt to the
Euros. I am trying to find my diagram for the pins and will write back when I find it.

Does anyone know what the extra lead is for on the Euro Lights vs. the Federal Lights? The Federal lights have right & left overnight parking, main beams(H & L) and fogs. Do the Euros have an additional feature? Is it possible that they have a "running light" setting in the main units where the Federals use the amber side lamp in addition to the turn signal?

Alex

__________________
'78 W123 280E, 58,000 mi!
'97 Mazda Miata
'94 Isuzu Trooper, 4WD
'03 MB C240 4-matic Wgn - Wife's
From the Archives:
'73 2002
'68 TR-250
'67 Austin Cooper "S"
'59 Austin Seven (Mini)
various p'up trucks

In the case of my Fintail-Euro conversion, the extra circuit was for the built-in fog lamp, which wasn't possible with the original stacked USA sealed beams.
In the case of your W123, could the extra circuit be for the headlamp wipers?

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW

Its for "city lights"

To make the switch from the 4-prong US light harness to the 5-prong Euro lights, you need to have a 5-prong recepticle. It is also helpful to have a wiring diagram, such as the ones in the Haynes Manual. The female recepticles, both 4 and 5-prong, have clip-on tops. Pop the top of the 4-prong, keep in the wires in their respective positions. Pop the top of the empty 5-prong recepticle and drop the wires and their soldered "shoes" into the corresponding holes of the 5-prong plug. The wiring diagram shows the color of wire to the corresponsing function, i.e. high-beam, low-beam, fog light, etc. On the Bosch headlight housing, there is a numbered schmatic diagram molded into the case next to the male "pins" showing the prongs and their assigned use. The key to decifering the numbers to the light function is on the wiring diagram in the Haynes Manual. On the 5-prong recepticle, one socket/hole will not be used. This was assigned for "City Lights" where the US version harness is not wire with that lead.

I think I've managed not to describe this terribly well. If you have questions, let me know.

Alex

__________________
'78 W123 280E, 58,000 mi!
'97 Mazda Miata
'94 Isuzu Trooper, 4WD
'03 MB C240 4-matic Wgn - Wife's
From the Archives:
'73 2002
'68 TR-250
'67 Austin Cooper "S"
'59 Austin Seven (Mini)
various p'up trucks

Just put the Euro's in my SD and ran into the same problem with the connectors . The part #'s are on the DIY tab about $2.xx each. On that tab it shows the wiring of the Euro connectors - that is what I was going to use to swap out the pins. Am I wrong in using this for my schematic?

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Bump for previous thread:

Will the picture allow the proper wiring of the euro plugs? This appears to be straightforward....but maybe that's what scares me.

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)