So you are getting the early style 500E Hella Euro lights from NIKO. I have seen him selling stuff on ebay, but I have never tried him.

Currently, I am working on a group buy for 500E euro lights through puma. They currently have two sets in stock and a few more on the way. I have to get together five sets of lights.

Also on December 23rd, I have a set of Hella 500E euro lights coming in from Berlin, they should be here by the first week of the new year. If you still haven't gotten yours, then let me know I can help you out.

I hope you plan on doing the vacuum adjust with the Euro lights because that would make it really easy to (self-(yourself)-level them).

So I read through your entire thread. Can you explain this H4 conversion? Do you Take real xenon bulbs, balasts, etc, and you put an adapter into the H4 reflector to accomplish this right?

I think I would put xenons in the driving light as well, and Hella makes a really nice small HID xenon auxiliary light. They are almost 600 bucks though =).

If you need any help on getting euro parts let me know if Niko can't delivery.

Regards,

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Current Stable:
1994 S500 v140, 210k miles, white with grey.

Former Mercedes in the Stable:
1983 300CD Turbo diesel 515k mi sold (rumor has it, that it has 750k miles on it now)
1984 300CD Turbo Diesel 150 k mi sold
1982 300D Turbo Diesel 225 sold
1987 300D Turbo Diesel 255k mi sold
1988 300 CE AMG Hammer 15k mi sold
1986 "300E" Amg Hammer 88k mi sold (it was really a 200, not even an E (124.020)
1992 500E 156k mi sold
etc.

I just chose to write to Niko at first to get a quote for the 300E Depo lights and the clear corners and the smoked and red tails. Then I inquired into 500E lights. At first he said they didn't exist, but he checked and said he could get them.

He's a good communicator, and his prices were pretty good compared to PUMA, and he was selling me the corners, tails and 500E lights all at once. The only issue is the shipping time from Germany. But this package all together costs so much I'm willing wait longer to save a few bucks.

Yes I am doing the HID install the way you said.
On Ebay I bought a set containing, Hella ballasts and Osram 4100k D2S bulbs. I bought Caspers Electronics H4 adapters/glare shields. I will be putting these in the 500E H4 headlights. The input to the ballasts are 9006 pigtails, all I need to do is connect that to an H4 harness. So plug the H4 power into the new harness, that runs into the ballasts and out throught the bulb which is fitted into the reflector with the Caspers Electronics H4 adapter/shield.
Of course I hope its this easy to actually do. I just have the parts now. Need to figure out a good spot for the ballasts.

By the way for those who care, the Caspers shields were cut for Phillips bulbs, not Osram. My osram bulbs have an extra plastic ring around the edge that didn't let it fit into the caspers adapters. I had to Dremel them off. Now it fits perfectly. Don't worry its not a major piece it doesn't effect anything. But if you are goign to use Caspers shields and don't want the extra trouble buy Phillips bulbs.

The vacuum levelers are not on my to do list as of now. I've spent way too much money on these lights already. If it looks like I need them after having them without for awhile I'll put it on the to do list.
Same goes for the Euro wipers. Its too expensive to just put on as an accessory. Seriously two small motors and wiper arms costing hundreds? It's nice to have and looks more authentic, but I'll do without it until I can get it cheap.

While HID driving lights would be nice, that's a waste of money, I don't use them enough to justify the additional cost. I'm using PIAA 85 watt Xtreme White H3. BEfore half the board chimes in and says things like "Sylvania Silverstars are brighter than baseball stadium floodlights or everything but Silverstars are cheap Korean made blue coated bulbs", I've made up my mind. I've used many different halogen bulbs. ANd to be honest, in the 9004 and 9007 size I don't think any halogen bulb is great. They all suck. H4's and probably H7's are the real test. I've been to Asia a number of times on a semi-regular basis and tried many different brands of bulbs. The major market brands in Japan, like PIAA, Gigalux, Raybrig, Polarg, Bellof, Catz are all very bright. Some brighter than others, but all the bashing of foreign bulbs comes from the people who buy the $20 junk Korean made bulbs from Ebay. Even the US market PIAA bulbs aren't as good as the Japanese market ones. They always seemed to be powered down in brightness. Most of the higher model lines of the brands I listed above are brighter than Silverstars. However there are a few that are specifially colored for show cars, like bulbs that are dark blue in color, advertised as "ocean blue". BUt those are exceptions. True they aren't easily accessible to Americans. But they are bright. I currently use PIAA Xtreme Force H4 bulbs in my E30 with Catz ballasts/boosters, and my lights are way brighter than any Silverstar. I know to some people that's heresy, but until you have compared the better Japanese market brands and models with Silverstars, stop bashing it. Upgrading to euro reflectors make alot of difference. That plus better bulbs is the way to go.

Thanks for the offer for Euro parts. I didn't see any group buy offers when I first started pricing these items. ANd I saw one thread where no one responded to one guy asking about a group buy for 500E headlights. So I just went ahead and priced it myself. If I do additional projects in the future I'll let you know.

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1991 W124 300e 4-MATIC

dko3tgk,

Currious, where did you get your catz ballasts??


For the H-3's , just got the Narva/philips 130 watt bulbs. Do you think the PIAA 85 watt bulbs are really much brighter than the 130 watt bulbs?
Never seen an HID conversion... I'd like to drive or ride in a converted W124 before dropping $$$$. The improvement to even 55/60 H-4's and Euro in my W123 was simply amazing.

Did you get it all relayed up?
Can someone explain which ones are the "clear with strip" turnsignal lenses. Are they the Euro bosch or Hella's?


Michael

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Michael McGuire
83 300d
01 vw A4 TDI
66 Chevy Corsa
68 GMC V6 w/oD
86 300E

The Catz Zeta kit that I use for my halogens in my E30 I bought off Ebay last year. I think they are pretty rare now. The reason is that Catz was shifting their US focus to the HID kits, and phasing out the halogen realted stuff. But when after market HID kits became illegal, I think they withdrew alot from the US market, maybe only fog lights now. I have a pair of the H4 inline ballasts that are plug and play, not necessary to go throught the fuse box, like on the newer models. It pops up on Ebay once in blue moon but less so these days.

No I wouldn't say that the PIAA Xtreme White 85 watts in H3 are brighter than the Narva 130 watt bulbs. I felt more comfortable with 85 than with going higher. And I have had really good experience with PIAA's Xtreme White product line.

No I didn't relay up the W124 HID setup
I just mounted the ballasts to the back of the headlight units and after changing the wiring harness to the Euro one, just plugged the HID into the headlight harness. I may steal the one out of my E30 to put into the W124 for the HID, but I'm in no rush right now.

I'll put a few pictures of how the HID conversion looks when I get off my lazy butt and download the pics off the digital camera memory card.

__________________
1991 W124 300e 4-MATIC

If you install HID in the H4 sockets of a Mercedes euro light, the beam pattern will not be optimal for HID, as the lenses are designed with particular cutoffs for halogen bulbs. It's a better idea to put HID's in the driving lights of 500E euro lights because the lenses are clear and won't give you a funky beam pattern.

Not to throw water on anybodies parade, but I find HID lamps to be plain blinding on other cars -- the near UV and blue is so intense I cannot keep my eyes open. Doesn't matter if they are factory or retrofit. I don't know if my cornea's fluoresce or what, but all UV light does me in. White fog everywhere. Probably incipient cataracts, but the result is the same. To me, those HIDs are PAINFULLY to bright. I'm not alone, either.

On top of the glare, they wipe out everyone elses night vision. YOU can see just fine, but the poor bastard in the other lane will run off the road after being blinded. You will also have no night vision, so will not see anything outside of the beam, even in moonlight. It was discovered during WWII that blue light cancels night vision adaptation. That's why many european cars have fairly dim low wattage dash lights -- BMW used to be orange. Too much blue and the night vision goes bye-bye for at least 20 min. Warships at night use only red light inside so that the deck officers keep their night vision.

I personally would like to see all HID lamps filtered to reduce the near UV and far blue light for saftey purposes (not the driver's -- all the rest of the cars on the road!).

The US DOT regulations are what they are for just this reason -- not only does a driver need to see, but oncoming driver's need to as well! DOT errs a bit too much toward low glare (mostly because the regulations date from 1950 or 1951), but they aren't crazy!

That said, I hit a deer last week and a set of DEPO Euros isn't much more than a used DOT headlight assembly. Guess what I'm buying!

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Hmm, I think you should buy another set of OEM DOT headlights and retrofit an HID capsule within!

Not a chance!

The problem with the DOT headlights is the reflector design, compounded by the fog that collects on the insides of the lenses.

I just stopped and put the reflector/lens assembly off my brother's W126 on tonight -- I'd put a bulb in, and guess what, it rained. Pop, another $8 down the drain....

The W126 lens fits right in after I moved a clip. Aim is, well, somewhat off (no high beams, points right at the other side of the road!), but my oh my, there's LIGHT out there! Looks pretty strange, but at least I have a headlamp on that side now!

The W124 DOT lens design has got to be a low point for MB -- its terrible!

HID won't help much, either -- plenty of light comes out with no lens on there, just in a concentrated beam with next to no spread (and a big dark spot, too!) -- has to the be lens.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

How about some pics of this wonderful project of yours. Are they ready yet?

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1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz