W210 Rear lamp upgrade?

[Lil' Aty]

Does any1 know if w210 (E class)upgraded lights for example of a 2000 model fit on to a 98 model i think these smarten the rear of the older W210s have seen a few cars on the net with the lights in but what exactly needs to be changed.. not sure ?????

 

[Shude]

The facelift rear lamps are indeed a nice update! All you really need is the lenses, 2 per side. If your car is REALLY old I think there are one or two wires that need swapping. The bootlid changed shape behind the lenses in 2001 and so the new lenses won't be a perfect fit, you need to shave a little bit of plastic off them (or buy a facelift bootlid ). A member called Steve_bcs has tried this and he also found that the inner lenses on the bootlid bulged slightly at one side.

Also remember that there are two types of facelift tail lamp, one is red with transparent white, one is red with smoked.

 

[mrfiepro]

I have upgraded my 1998 W210 with the facelift rear lights. The outer lights mounted in the rear wings are a straight replacement. The lights mounted in the boot lid need a small amount of the inner plastic shaving away.

It took me about 20 mins per side with a trusty Dremel, the end result is that they fit perfectly. All the electrical connections are correct. I used the smoked ones as I felt they looked much better.

I hope this help, I think there are some pics in my gallery.

 

[mapleleaf]

As Shude said, I did mine but never got round to shaving the boot lid lights to fit perfectly . The wiring needed no adjustment . hardest part was removing & relacing the boot lid lining . I've since sold the car . the mod looked really good though - well worth doing .

 

[Shude]

The wiring needed no adjustment.

I think it is the very early W210 that has a wiring issue, maybe 1995-1998 or something before the EIS with IR on the door handles and new style key etc. I only know this because someone from the parts dept told me, so it's not guaranteed or anything

 

[Lil' Aty]

Stil not quite sure i hav a 97R classic ( so would i buy upgraded classic lights or could i go for the smoked avantgarde ones). Would appreciate if you could advise me on what year and model facelift lights to go for i wanted the smoked ones ??.

I have upgraded bmw lights in the past i remember they didnt work properly because of the car having a computer in it obviously had different wires for computer to work going to the light.

So what you guys are sayin is plug the car wiring harness in to the faclift lights shave the ones in the bootlid where required and am away....

Any of you guys know where i could pick a set of cheap face lift lights up from ???????

Thanx for all the help

 

[Dave K]

Strangely, I have some facelift rear lamps available which are already modded for the pre-facelift model. PM me and make me an offer.

 

[Lil' Aty]

Definetly interested Dave i have sent you a private message get back on it

 

[Shude]

Stil not quite sure i hav a 97R classic ( so would i buy upgraded classic lights or could i go for the smoked avantgarde ones). Would appreciate if you could advise me on what year and model facelift lights to go for i wanted the smoked ones ??.

This is the beauty of a post-production respecification of a car, you can decide which tail lamps you want . The black and red ones look great on a black car
I can't remember which way around they are but I think only the avantgarde had the black and red lamps.

So what you guys are sayin is plug the car wiring harness in to the faclift lights shave the ones in the bootlid where required and am away....

Yes, electrically they should be a straight swap, the inner lamps may require minor work to physically fit into the bootlid, but the outer lamps will fit without problem.

Any of you guys know where i could pick a set of cheap face lift lights up from ???????

I looked into buying a pre-facelift W210 about a year ago and I priced up some of the mods I wanted to do. The facelift tail lamps are under £100 brand new from the stealership, that is where I would get them from as they'll be free from faded plastic and will be in perfect, undamaged condition.

EDIT: in addition, the only other mods I think you should do to your car are

1. get the side mouldings and the bumper impact pieces painted to match the rest of your car's bodywork, AFAIK none of the facelift cars came in two-toned colours and it is one of the few remaining things that date your car a little. Will probably cost about £100 for the job.

2. Get the avantgarde grill if you don't have it, it's only about £80 from the stealership and it'll really smarten the front end of your car up!

 

[Lil' Aty]

You have been a great help Shude mate thanks a lot.

I had 17" AMG replica wheels on the car last year it looked nice but could have looked better the grey door mouldings believe it or not looked quite nice with the AMG wheels gave the car a slightly sporty look ( they were eventually kerbed bad and sold).

I have ordered 18" original AMG wheels should be gettin them next week, lowered 35mm on Eibach springs ,upgrading the rear lights, avantagarde or de chromed grill (got both wil check which one looks better) and also gettin a private plate on.

i might consider gettin the smoked headlamps i think i seen them in Europarts and like you said about the mouldings i might also get them painted will check how they look first.

Do you think the 35mm lowering will get rid of the arch gap wanted to go down a bit lower but eibach dont go lower than 35mm and i have been advised on gettin eibach from quite a few people What do you think ?

 

[mb210t]

I`ve got a 97 w210 T-model Avantgarde, have seen a few cars on the net with the facelift rear lamps. Can I replace the old ones with the 2000 smoked Avantgarde ones? Do some parts needs to be costumized?

 

[Dieselman]

I`ve got a 97 w210 T-model Avantgarde, have seen a few cars on the net with the facelift rear lamps. Can I replace the old ones with the 2000 smoked Avantgarde ones? Do some parts needs to be costumized?

T models should be a straight swap for the lights.

 

[jimti]

LED rear lights

anyone know if these would affect the blown bulb sensor
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LED-REAR-LAMP...568917111QQcategoryZ10398QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I won't be bidding on these, but like the idea and may have a punt when prices come down a bit

 

[Shude]

anyone know if these would affect the blown bulb sensor

Tried asking the seller?

Unless they have added "load compensators" to the circuit then it will probably affect the blown bulb sensor. Make sure they are marked up as fit for UK road use, if they're not then you could end up in trouble.

 

[jimti]

Tried asking the seller?

I have, but he wants to sell them and probably knows little about what he is selling so I thought I would ask :bannana: "the Experts" :bannana: I'm more likely to get an honest answer here

Make sure they are marked up as fit for UK road use, if they're not then you could end up in trouble.

I didn't even think about that

 

[Shude]

I didn't even think about that

I only mention it because we're talking about fairly important parts of the car here, if your brake lamps fail and someone drives into the back of you while you're braking then knowing they were driving too close or otherwise at fault is little comfort if you or your family are injured or killed in an incident.

Hardly any of the retrofit LED lamps are certified for UK road use and if you check the small print a lot of the "lexus-style" lamps (I see lexus have killed them off on their own cars! ) aren't road legal either but people still use them. Style beats safety maybe.