W210 headlight purchase source - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dieseldiehard · #16 10-19-2018, 08:06 PM

I examined the headlights in my '99 with the thick horrible discolored plastic film someone put on them.
It was surprisingly easy to remove the headlight assemblies. three screws and some wrangling and they were out. Pulled over a folding chair to sit in while doing the work

The wiring was fine, I saw what looked like one wire with some tape someone applied.
The lenses popped off after gently prying the tabs all the way around. Learned to use another stubby flat screwdriver to hold tabs out to prevent them from snapping back under the locking tab while going to the next tab.

There is one thin post that has been melted on the end, I guess its for alignment or a security indicator maybe and it has to be whittled off using a blade to allow pulling the lens off.

Thanks to Sixto's advise, I learned that the lenses came in two styles -for Halogens and HID. The HID lens doesn't use a diffuser inside and its front has thin lines running vertically.
My lenses were obviously from a halogen headlight but I don't want to buy the aftermarket lens I saw on ebay - from Taiwan it would take weeks to get here and I'm not sure I would like them. MB doesn't sell them either, despite their ability to be replaced with a little work. Plus, at the shop rate around here it would be $250 to $300 in labor to change the lens.

Anyhow I learned that this is a issue that many 210 owners will someday face if they haven't already. Whether to repair or replace with new is a decision they will need to make. My experience was a used headlight is a real gamble! I had to remove the lenses to salvage the ones I bought but it worked out OK.
DDH

dieseldiehard · #17 10-20-2018, 08:54 PM

after all that work I am rewarded by nicer looking, better performing headlghts.