After market Xenon Headlights

[colin 320cls]

Thinking of fitting above to my 320CLS as lights poor.

Anyone fitted these on the 320cls/// feedback most appreciated

 

[MWCLS]

Didn't all UK CLS 219 come with Bi Xenon?

 

[hotrodder]

Read this sticky thread from the top of this forum http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/electronics/167834-why-you-shouldnt-fit-aftermarket-hid-kits.html specifically the Daniel Stern link along with other articles on that site about blue tinted bulbs, superwhite etc as between posts on forums and marketing BS much of the stuff on the internet about headlights is utter nonsense

Sooner or later someone will probably claim that with projector headlights HID kits are fine and won't piss of every other road user or fail an MOT* provided they around 4600K and not silly blue (8000K etc) versions. Aside from (sometimes) the MOT they're ignorant and wrong... Projector headlights are NOT automatically compatible with HIDs just like gas discharge bulbs DO exist for reflector headlights that were designed for them. This is why gas discharge bulbs exist in many flavours like D1R (reflector) or D1S (projector) etc while halogen bulbs are H4, H7 etc. The 'proper' manufacturers understand optics and so made sure that each of the different flavour bulbs aren't interchangable to prevent someone from plugging an H7 bulb into an H4 headlight etc.
Unfortunatly some dozy ignorant **** that was sick the day stuff was taught at school thought they'd make gas discharge bulbs with H4, H7 etc bases and the stupid, cretinous headlight wars got even worse... when the supermarket assault vehicle driving towards you blinds you, having brighter headlights yourself will not magically restore your vision, it just means there's two blind idiots driving towards each other

Projector/polyellipsoidal headlamps still have reflectors in them and while the beam cut off is done with a physical shield (instead of optics) projector headlamps designed for HID bulbs are totally different from those designed for a halogen bulb. The light source is totally different, the way it produces light is different as is the focal length and probably a whole bunch of other subtleties too. They're type approved to a totally different standard** and the stuff about beam levelling and headlight washing systems isn't about HIDs in general, it's to do with how stupidly blinding they usually are i.e. if they produce more than 2000 lumens (or whatever the number is) it was known that they'd melt retinas at the best of times and thus are downright dangerous if the aim is off or they're covered in crud which then scatters the light more making things even worse for other road users

If you have H4 or H7 headlights then "upgraded" bulbs like Phillips extreme vision or Osram Nightbreakers will make them appear 'better'. At least provided there isn't something else going on like dirty/corroded leccy connections causing a voltage drop. The way they appear to improve things is explained in the 'blue' section of the Daniel Stern site... basically the filament is run hotter to produce more light (lumens etc, NOT wattage) and some of the wavelengths produced are filtered out to make the light appear 'whiter'. Because of the way human eyes work this makes them appear 'better'. On a dry, clear night they can be. On a wet/murky, foggy night on the other hand any 'whiter' light source won't help actually pick out details... this is why yellow tinted glasses/goggles are used for some (especially) winter sports, the French were onto something with their selective yellow headlamps and old fashioned sodium street lights are better than stupidly bright white ones; waaaaaaaay better contrast in poor conditions and less glare


* The MOT is very different to Construction & Use Regulations
** http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp29/wp29regs/r037r5e.pdf covers filament bulbs while http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp29/wp29regs/R098r3e.pdf is for gas discharge / HID lights

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Upgrade to nightbreakers less headache! If not upgrade the projectors foremost, buy the correct lense etc. Buy OEM xenon units and change the projectors if you want to avoid the coding issues, there's a number of companies that fit the correct projectors within the housings