I have a cracked driver's headlight and would like to replace it. The cost from the dealer is close to $400 but I have read where the 'headlight door' can sometimes be replaced instead of the whole headlight assembly. I've checked 'Fastlane' and the whole light is offered but does my 1994 E320 wagon have a replaceable headlight door? Also - It has a wiper but is the wiper part of the door and/or headlight? I'm a brand new member but I have been following this great site for almost two years!

Thanks,
dtf
1994 E320 Wagon

DTF,

I changed the headlight doors myself on a bit older E-class, I believe that they updated the lights in 94 so I am unsure if the headlight door and the headlight itself is still seperate on your particular year. If they are, then the swap is relatively easy and the wiper is not part of the door. The Wiper arm flips down and can be removed if needed by loosening a nut that you will see when you flip the wiper arm down. As far as $400 bucks goes, you can buy a set of euro spec lights for around that amount. Just my 2 cents

Jason M.

FastLane here has the rt side lens 1248205266 but not the left 1248205166 maybe Bill could locate the other side for you. Ask Bill in parts shop fourm and I'm sure he will respond

Dr.P,
Are those Euro lens part #'s ?

Thanks

Yes the numbers are for European and the US dealers do not recognize those numbers, but they are the lenses that fit the 124 headlights 94-95 US also, I use to sell them all the time, if Bill can not get them I guess you could always call Bekkers, I know that they still have them.

Thanks,
I too have found that the 94/94 124 Euro lens can be
used . This make the Euro conversion easy and short money as the US version already has the H2[9003] and fog set-up.
I have found that the beam pattern on the US is kind of
a Euro copy, but not as defined a cut off. That is the lens design.
The Parts Shop price is the best I have seen, but if they don't have them, Capital lighting does for a few more $$$'s.
To the original poster-- If you are going to change out the damaged lens, might as well do both with the Euro's.
I have noticed 94/95 US lens for sale on ebay, but that is because the owners have found out about this convenient change and are buying the Euros as a replacement.
Supposedly, E code is not DOT legal, but I would not worry too much as you are improving your lighting.
Arthur

Don't even think about anything but European ("E Code") lights. They are so much better, safer, and sometimes cheaper that the US-spec lights. I recently had an accident on my 16V. The quote to replace the RH light with US -spec was $276; Bekkers furnished an E-code replacement for $215.

Either bekker.com or danielsternlighting.com can sell you the parts.

Charley Cleaver
1986 190E 2.3-16 (E Code lights)
1994 E420+ (E500 suspension/E-Code lights)

Does anyone have a picture of E code lights for a 1994 E320 that they want to share?

The Euro lights looks pretty much the same, shape-wise, but are glass instead of plastic. As such they do not craze as easily and look like diamonds instead of jewelry "paste".

The E320 US lens are also glass.
The dfference with Euro's is the focal
specs. [ beam pattern]

Hello guys,

I'm lookin' at close-up pictures of the headlights on an Euro '94+ W124 vs. a NA '94+ W124 in a magazine. The lenses between the two cars appear to be the same, in terms of the etching on the glass. I was under the impression that the difference in beam pattern between the Euro vs. NA for '94+ W124 was due to the difference in the actual reflector assembly that is used. Furthermore, I am lookin' at the Bekkers Catalogue, and they make no differentiation between the Euro vs. NA replacement headlight lenses for '94+ W124. I called into the lighting department at Bekkers, and the man on the other end confirmed that Euro and NA lenses are the same for '94+ W124's...and that the difference is in the reflector. This makes sense to me, since the reflectors are actually what is directing the light into the concentrated beam pattern characteristic of Euro lights, and disperses it randomly in terms of NA lights. The actual lense would do very little in terms of actually directing the beam. I think this is confirmed by how the actual aiming mechanism works in a headlight. When you adjust the X and Y rotation when aiming your lights, you are actually moving the ENTIRE reflector + bulb while the headlight assembly, including the lense, remains fixed. This can be seen by the fact that the beam PATTERN does not change because the bulb's position relative to the reflector does not shift during the adjustment, but the POSITION of the beam changes as you adjust the X and Y positions. From an engineering perspective, it wouldn't be logical to use the lenseas a critical piece in this situation for creating the beam pattern since the position of the bulb (light source) relative to the lense will always shift during aiming...so the reflector is the key to creating the beam pattern. I think this is best written up on this website:

http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi/headlight-aiming.htm

Furthermore, if I am wrong, and *IF* directing the light is a combination of BOTH the reflector and the lense, and assuming that the Euro lenses ARE different, if he were to pair up his original NA spec '94+ W124 reflector with a new Euro spec '94+ W124 lense, I question as to how effective this combination would be, since the reflector + lense were never meant to be used with each other. Maybe somebody can call in just to double check? Furthermore, I see the part # listed for the Euro version of the '94+ W124 headlight lense...does anybody have the part # for the NA version of the '94+ W124 headlight lense, so that there is no confusion if two versions of the lense does actually exist? If they do have two seperate part #'s, does anybody have the means to do a visual comparison between the two lenses just to see if they are different, because I don't see any difference...also, doesn't the Euro and the NA spec headlights use dual filament H4/HB2/9003 bulbs for high and low beam, and H3 for the foglights? I think there was a typo in a previous post...

__________________
1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

This getting way too technical! Check out http://www.DanielSternLighting.com for a scholarly series of treatises on this subject.

I can tell you that there is NO similarity between the lenses on my old NA headlights and the new E500 E-codes: glass vs. plastic. For sure.

__________________
Charles Cleaver
1975 350SE + 1992 300CE-24 SportLine 5-speed + 2002 SLK320 6-speed + 1974 W114 280
1986 190E 2.3-16 (Decomm rear self-leveling suspension; Euro-code headlamps) sold
2004 Audi S4 6-spd - sold
1969 (2) and 1980 Porsche 911T, S, and SC - alas gone
1987 300SDL - Graf Spee; Euro-code headlamps; 16-inch 8-hole wheels - sold
1994 E420+(E500 suspension/E-code headlamps/PAD chip) sold
1968 250SE 4-speed (NICE car) - long gone
1962 220S 4-speed/column mount - long gone

Gentlemen, I just ran across this thread while looking for a Euro lens replacement for the "new" 1994 E320 I just purchased for my wife. The one on the right headlight is cracked.
While the primary mechanism for aiming the headlights is as Duck Muck describes, the actual lens "design" does have an effect on the beam pattern. The lens optics can "shape" the beam in width and height, while the reflector governs where the beam center is aimed. My suspicion is that the Euro and NA lens optics are different, so each lens "design" produces two separate and distinct beam patterns. Fresnel lenses do exactly that, so I am assuming these designs use that concept to achieve the desired beam shape.
My $.02.

__________________
1997 S600 Coupe
2002 Lexus SC430
2004 Lexus RX330 (wife's car)
Owned:
1993 500 SEL
1994 E320 (wife's car)
1987 300 SDL
1978 450 SEL
1980 300 TD (wife's car)
1969 280 SL

the euro light bulb is completely exposed.

the dot [94-95] ones have a shield in front of them.

this may or may not make a difference.

i don't believe the dot lenses [only] can be changed, another advantage to euros.

peter

__________________
*92 400e 124.034, SOLD

*92 300e 124.030, SOLD

Do you carry "comprehensive" auto insurance? I had a similar problem and my insurance company treated it just like a broken windshield. I paid $100 for my deductible and the $400+ repair was all taken care of.

In my case, a large rock smashed the headlight and corner light.

__________________
D.H.

04 ML500
02 E430

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.