380sl euro headlamp question

[jaybird840]

Hi all,
My '82 380sl has euro headlamps (afterthought by previous owner, I'm guessing). Anyway, I have a couple of questions. First, I've read about companies that produce replacement euro headlamps for some of the later MB's that are not as expensive as Bosch. Does anyone make them for the 107 euro version? I ask because my reflectors are rusted, and the silver is completely gone in a few spots. They are a nice yellowish brown, as opposed to the silver they're supposed to be. Next, how do you remove the bulbs? One of my high beams is out, and I dissasembled the lamp. Do the bulbs pull straight out the front of the socket? I couldn't identify any retaining clip, etc., but I tugged on the bulb without it budging. I was afraid to start cranking on it for fear of breaking it. Thanks for your input!

--Jay

[c107]

There are several places which sell new Bosch light assemblies, usually around $500/pair, such as capitolwest.com or adsitco.com.

I bought a pair from adsitco.com and they were Bosch, made in the Czech Republic. They look quite sharp, although for some reason the light bulbs on the amber sections are extra bright, almost as if it were selected as a turn signal but stuck on.

The bulbs in the "turn signal" section have a single filament (like an 1156 bulb) and not an 1157 double-filament bulb. That's a project for when it's warmer as it again just went below 10 degrees F in NY.

I've seen other companies offer headlight sets for later model Benzes, but I haven't found any place that offers anything other than Bosches for the 107.

To get the H4 bulb out, you need to work from the back, push down a bit on the center ring and turn (counter-clockwise??), just like a prescription bottle. The spring-loaded assembly will pop out once loosened from the tabs. Then it just unplugs from the socket.

Steve

[RickM]

Thanks to Steve I was able to save quite a bit on my Euro light.

Here's my experience: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=101254&highlight=euro

My reflector bowls are shot, too. I was thinking of having them re-chromed. Anyone know if this is possible?

Rich Mayer
82 500 SL

[jaybird840]

Hi all,
I've been able to locate a source that does resilvering. Steve's Auto Restorations @ 503-665-2222. She quoted $75/pair for glass reflectors. I have no experience with them yet, so caveat emptor. I found them on another antique car website. I am holding off on mine until I can raise some more cash.... If anybody gets theirs done, let me know how they turn out.

Best!
--Jay

Excellent. Good find, Jay.

I will proceed with this resilvering. If I can find a local place to do it, fine. Otherwise, I'll try this resource. I'll keep the posted.

Rich Mayer
82 500 SL

[Strife]

I'm sending mine to get done at Steve's Restorations - I will keep people informed. BTW, buying a "used" set of Euros and then adding up all of the parts, seals, etc, you would be better off buying a new set. Trust me on this.

[Strife]

I need some gaskets for my Euro headlights, and they seem to be unobtainable here - specifically, the seal for the side markers and for the headlights themselves. Does anyone know where to get them?

Failing this, I'm looking at ordering them (among some other things) from Germany and the shipping is very, very expensive. Because these failures are prime causes of (even more expensive) reflector rust, is anyone else interested in getting some seals?

[ljmauricio]

Strife, try K & K Mfg. for the seals. www.kkmfg.com. I have a euro car, and haven't stumped them yet. 800-876-4286, ask for Cheryl.

[Strife]

Originally Posted by jaybird840

Hi all,
I've been able to locate a source that does resilvering. Steve's Auto Restorations @ 503-665-2222. She quoted $75/pair for glass reflectors. I have no experience with them yet, so caveat emptor. I found them on another antique car website. I am holding off on mine until I can raise some more cash.... --Jay

...and you will need one hell of a of lot of it, because I just got quoted $320, yes, $320, from them after I sent them in. The only other choice I see is ordering from Europe, which would probably be that much if not more with the shipping. I'm probably going to go with the restoration but I'm going to make clear that they had better be BETTER than new at that price. And you can bet that I'm going to make sure the interior of these lights is going to be drier than the Atacama desert, between the new seals and additional RTV i'm going to use.

I deeply regret buying these used. BTW, MBUSA is NO (0) HELP in this area Don't even bother calling.

My bargain eBay Euro headlights will wind up costing me more than new ones from Adsitco. Let this be a cautionary tale to others.

I will never be able to sit on a bicycle again.

Strife,

Hold on, hold on. I took my 1 dull bowl this morning to Standard Plating in Cleveland, Ohio where Jim told me the following:

1. It is not chrome plated. It is actually either paint or powder coated.
2. He could remove the existing coating and chrome-plate the bare metal.
3. It would cost $30 and be ready in 1-2 days.

Granted, this is only 1 of the 2 bowls and I did all the removing and disassembling, but this is a hell of a lot cheaper than what you are talking about. Am I missing something here or are you getting shafted?

Rich Mayer
82 500 SL

[Strife]

Originally Posted by diqmayer

Strife,

Hold on, hold on. I took my 1 dull bowl this morning to Standard Plating in Cleveland, Ohio where Jim told me the following:

1. It is not chrome plated. It is actually either paint or powder coated.
2. He could remove the existing coating and chrome-plate the bare metal.
3. It would cost $30 and be ready in 1-2 days.

Granted, this is only 1 of the 2 bowls and I did all the removing and disassembling, but this is a hell of a lot cheaper than what you are talking about. Am I missing something here or are you getting shafted?

Rich Mayer
82 500 SL

Before reading the bottom response, a question to all readers who have Euro headlights in very good, unrestored, unmolested condition - are the reflectors shiny like a mirror, or dull like silver paint? Maybe they AREN'T supposed to be mirror shiny!


1. Mine are probably in MUCH worse shape than yours.
Because the seals were shot when I bought them, the
bottoms are fairly seriously rusted, to the point
where large flakes and chunks are coming off of the
steel. If there was any other way I could obtain these
in the US, I would definitely toss these and not
pursue the repair of them.

2. Some previous owner (i.e., clown) actually painted
them with aluminum paint, which might actually have
worked for some time, except that they didn't bother
removing the rust, and they used a brush(!). This is
now also popping off from the rust. I'ts possible that
the previous owner of your car painted them and did a
much better job!

3. The process for these as described to me is:
cleaning (paint removal), rust removal, several
platings of copper and nickel inbetween buffings to
get past the missing steel, and then a final plating
of silver, buffing, and then an antioxidizing finish
(which I'm guessing is similar to telescope mirror
making - basically, silicon oxide-quartz-flash
vaporized in a vacuum and deposited on the silver).

Given these facts, and also that I have heard that
"normal" chrome plating peels of on reflector bowls
after a few years probably because of the extreme
temperature shocks involved, I'm probably going to
stick with this. Steve's told me that they have never
had one of these come back. And I don't want to EVER
do this again!! This is why I'm buying new glass
seals, etc.

I've also read that these can be done with "flash
metallizing", which is sort of what I described above
for the silicon overcoat, except with fairly large
amounts of shiny metal (chrome, etc) instead of
quartz. The infamous "chrome" seat mechanism covers on
the 107 SL are done this way. With a reflector in
perfect shape this might work, but mine are not good.

[GermanMarque]

Before reading the bottom response, a question to all readers who have Euro headlights in very good, unrestored, unmolested condition - are the reflectors shiny like a mirror, or dull like silver paint? Maybe they AREN'T supposed to be mirror shiny!

Just eyeballed my 280sl euro headlamps. Would have to go mirror shiny, no dull reflectors here and they are original un-stuffed with. Good luck with the resto!

[RickM]

Mirror finish.....you can get an idea from the link I posted.

Strife,

I feel your pain, and I agree that yours were somewhat worse off than mine to start with. Mine were structurally fine but had discolored (dischromed?) due to a break in the seal after a fender bender. I got my reflector bowl back and it is perfectly shiny like a mirror. I reassembled the light and re-installed today. I think it will be great provided that the plating survives the weather cycle in Ohio.

Good luck. I also had a moron previous owner who either never fixed anything or used a band aid approach. It's been very educational undoing all of his/her blunders and making things work again one by one.

Rich Mayer
82 500 SL