SL (R129) Xenon headlamps

[KMA880]

Hi guys,

I want to upgrade my standard headlights with OEM Xenons. A gentleman on Ebay is selling a set of lights for a ridiculous £900 (am hoping to haggle him down to a lot lot less).

What i want to know is , is the installation a simple 'plug and play' as i have been told most factory installed Xenons on the R129's also have an additional front and rear self levelling system built in under both bumpers. if this is the case is there an alternative solution for installing xenons.

Any suggestions appreciated.....

Kash

 

[Raj_Suri_2012]

Hey Kashif,
Looking for the same headlights problem is i cant find a pair anywhere..... any suggestions on where to look?? And did to manage to fit yours?

 

[KMA880]

Hi Raj

As yet i have had no luck, seen a few Euro spec versions on Ebay, but they were priced at around £1000. Very unrealistic.

I have resorted to my next option which is to find a cheap runaround R129 which already has xenons installed and simply swap them with my standards.

The only problem i have now is that after speaking with a Merc dealer, they suggested it will require a bit of work as there is a self leveling system attached to the front and rear bumpers that links into the xenons.
This requires quite a bit of work and is not as simple as it sounds.

Anyone on the forums know about this and are there instructions for setting this up...? (May post a seperate post on this). Let me know how it goes your end.


Kash

 

[Sp!ke]

I really wouldnt bother - dont wast your time and money.

I have xenons on my R129 and frankly there's little real world difference between them and normal headlights.

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
The system that is required with Xenons is the Auto-levelling system for the headlights, together with headlamp Wash/Wipe system is the legal requirement on the 129.
I have installed everything legally required on my C43 the leveling system is the most involved, it has a suspension atitude sensor on the front and rear, which feed an ECU and this in turn controls the electric levelling motors, once the system is installed it will need to be plugged into Star diagnostics to calibrated the system. If you have a donor car to remove everything from and patience it should not be to hard to do but be prepared to almost strip the interior out to run the loom.

 

[renault12ts]

As above...without self leveling and washers the car will not pass an MOT.

 

[NW_Merc]

Obviously the 129 and w202 systems are different in principle, but Shude fitted them to his car without the self levelling and his car (before it was written off) passed the MOT with no problems.

 

[BTB 500]

Shude fitted them to his car without the self levelling and his car (before it was written off) passed the MOT with no problems.

The MOT requirements just changed though (1st January).

I'd have no problem putting Xenons in my R129 as it has adaptive damping ... so no levelling required on the lights And headlight washers are standard fit.

But IMO the normal headlamps are OK with better bulbs (Philips X-Treme in mine).

 

[NW_Merc]

The MOT requirements just changed though (1st January).

I'd have no problem putting Xenons in my R129 as it has adaptive damping ... so no levelling required on the lights And headlight washers are standard fit.

But IMO the normal headlamps are OK with better bulbs (Philips X-Treme in mine).

Aah, so you cant retrofit them as you could? Darnit, oh well stops me spending alot on xenons for my older car. WHat are the Philips X-Treme like in terms of longevity?

 

[KMA880]

Ahh well...

Thanks all for the advice and tips... the look of the xenons with the clear lenses compared to the non xenon lights appealed to me more from an aesthetic perspective.

The question is, is it worth the time, cost and hassle...? Am thinking maybe not at this moment in time...

 

[BTB 500]

WHat are the Philips X-Treme like in terms of longevity?

I put eight of them in our vehicles over four years ago (December 2007), and only one of them has blown so far. So no complaints from me!

 

[tonywashere]

I've just put some Osram night busters on and it makes quite a difference.

 

[Shude]

Obviously the 129 and w202 systems are different in principle, but Shude fitted them to his car without the self levelling and his car (before it was written off) passed the MOT with no problems.

The lamps I fitted to my 202 were designed for the Japanese market, were standard OEM lamps but instead of the electric self-levelling system were fitted with vacuum operated levelling like normal lamps. This is straight out of the box from Bosch, no mods required, plug-and-play with no loss of functionality.

There is every possibility that those lamps would now fail an MOT with no way to "downgrade" except full headlamp replacement for every MOT.

If I was doing this mod now, I would either do the whole thing (levelling, wash/wipe) or use a generic retrofit HID kit, swapping the xenons out for stock lamps (5 mins job) for every inspection.

 

[Frenchy]

Hello,

It's my DIY in French, but maybe helpfull for some members

Connexion

Regards,
Frenchy.

 

[Frenchy]

And here a second one about headlights washers

Connexion

Regards,
Frenchy.

 

[NW_Merc]

Hello,

It's my DIY in French, but maybe helpfull for some members

Connexion

Regards,
Frenchy.

Aaah a blast from the past, good to hear from you stranger

 

[lars-mad]

The lamps I fitted to my 202 were designed for the Japanese market, were standard OEM lamps but instead of the electric self-levelling system were fitted with vacuum operated levelling like normal lamps. This is straight out of the box from Bosch, no mods required, plug-and-play with no loss of functionality.

There is every possibility that those lamps would now fail an MOT with no way to "downgrade" except full headlamp replacement for every MOT.

If I was doing this mod now, I would either do the whole thing (levelling, wash/wipe) or use a generic retrofit HID kit, swapping the xenons out for stock lamps (5 mins job) for every inspection.

do you have part number for the japanese lamps? and are they for lhd or rhd ?