W211 Indicator/Sidelight bulb options

[Will]

Hi Gang,

Having just bought a W211 (2004 S211) one of the first things I noticed is the 'fried egg' look on the front indicators. A few years back I replaced these on my '01 CLK with some Philips 'Silver Vision' bulbs that were a great and inexpensive improvement

A quick search online brings up several options and it seems as though there's quite a few LED options nowadays too.

My questions are:

Are LED lamps/bulbs any better than high-quality regular fitment replacements?
Will the indicator bulbs bring on a bulb failure warning on my car?
Are there any good quality makes/suppliers that can be recommended?

Failing that, at around £10/delivered (PY21W?) the Philips Silver Vision seem like a sensible/safe upgrade. They were fine in the CLK too. Any other decent recommendations for bulbs of this type?

Finally - the filament bulb sidelights again look a bit out of place next to the Bi-Xenons. Any good recommendations for these would be appreciated. I think I used an upgraded bulb on these but it still wasn't 100% IIRC - but I guess an inexpensive/high quality replacement would be better than nothing.

Finally - any other worthwhile recommendations? Many newer cars have improved bulbs/lighting nowadays. I'm not looking for anything 'obvious', but don't mind spending £10/20 here or there for a worthwhile high-quality upgrade

TIA,

Will

 

[BIG_G_1979]

Hi will I too have just purchased a w211 and have just bought myself osram chrome py21w bulbs and look fantastic, really freshens the front of car up, I wanted tonreplace the rears but these arw leds type bulbs to which I can only find amber replacements so will have to stay oem I have attached a pic of rears for info no pics of fronts yet.

 

[Alps]

Hi Gang,

Having just bought a W211 (2004 S211) one of the first things I noticed is the 'fried egg' look on the front indicators. A few years back I replaced these on my '01 CLK with some Philips 'Silver Vision' bulbs that were a great and inexpensive improvement

A quick search online brings up several options and it seems as though there's quite a few LED options nowadays too.

My questions are:

Are LED lamps/bulbs any better than high-quality regular fitment replacements?
Will the indicator bulbs bring on a bulb failure warning on my car?
Are there any good quality makes/suppliers that can be recommended?

Failing that, at around £10/delivered (PY21W?) the Philips Silver Vision seem like a sensible/safe upgrade. They were fine in the CLK too. Any other decent recommendations for bulbs of this type?

Finally - the filament bulb sidelights again look a bit out of place next to the Bi-Xenons. Any good recommendations for these would be appreciated. I think I used an upgraded bulb on these but it still wasn't 100% IIRC - but I guess an inexpensive/high quality replacement would be better than nothing.

Finally - any other worthwhile recommendations? Many newer cars have improved bulbs/lighting nowadays. I'm not looking for anything 'obvious', but don't mind spending £10/20 here or there for a worthwhile high-quality upgrade

TIA,

Will

hey will,

Phillips silver vision are prob the best\cheapest option for the indicators. MB do an equivalent which are osram i believe which are similar priced.

have not found an indicator bulb that will not produce an error.

Sidelights there are many variations on ebay or you can get a set off killerhertz

Hi will I too have just purchased a w211 and have just bought myself osram chrome py21w bulbs and look fantastic, really freshens the front of car up, I wanted tonreplace the rears but these arw leds type bulbs to which I can only find amber replacements so will have to stay oem I have attached a pic of rears for info no pics of fronts yet.

View attachment 47302



View attachment 47303

Afraid the rear bulbs are soldered onto the circuit board, silly design

 

[Major774]

Yup... When 1 bulb goes, you have to replace the whole board. But they do last a long time.

 

[Will]

Okay - have ordered some Philips bulbs for the indicators (Silver Vision) and a set of W5W LEDs for the sidelights for now.

If they're no good, what's the best 'upgrade' type bulbs for the sidelights? PIAA used to be popular on here years back (literally 10+ years ago!) but they don't seem to do that type any more (Platinum White)

Just want something to match the main headlight a fraction better, not looking for anything obvious/brighter/bluey tinted etc.

Lastly - realised last night that as the foglights come on with the sidelights when locking/unlocking etc they are going to stand out like a sore thumb if the sidelights are whiter. Any worthwhile upgrades here?

TIA guys

 

[ChrisA]

I purchased LED's off Killerhertz for sidelights and foglights. Much clearer now and foglights act as DRL's......very impressed. You will need the small adapter to erase any canbus errors the car may throw at you, cost only a couple of quid each so imho well worth it.
Send Killerhertz a PM

 

[Will]

I purchased LED's off Killerhertz for sidelights and foglights. Much clearer now and foglights act as DRL's......very impressed. You will need the small adapter to erase any canbus errors the car may throw at you, cost only a couple of quid each so imho well worth it.
Send Killerhertz a PM

I did PM KH, but he's not doing the LEDs any more

So I bought these on eBay:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=361090262342

They look the closest I could find to the ones he used to sell?

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/clas...hite-led-sidelights-numberplate-festoons.html

For what they cost they're worth a try I guess

Chris - what are the foglights like? Any pics/details of the bulbs or adaptors? Any issues reliability/flickering/error wise etc?

Cheers,

Will

 

[wseed]

Will, how did you get on with the LEDs from ebay? I've recently bought some from china and they looked to need more power than my W204 parking lights supplied as they just flashed on and off.

 

[Will]

Hi Wseed,

I fitted the new bulbs the other day. They work fine and fit as they should, no error messages etc but I'm not happy with the colour of them.

They are generally quite white but with a hint of blue, which is not what I want. Look a bit 'aftermarket' for my liking so I'm going to fit some upgraded Philips W5W bulbs instead and see how they look.

As a guess, I'd say they are around 6000k, I'm after something nearer 5000k or lower.

The silver vision indicator bulbs are spot on though

 

[Will]

Some pics to show what I mean:

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Oh no!

What colour temp was it meant to be?

 

[lexman8]

I've recently bought some from china and they looked to need more power than my W204 parking lights supplied as they just flashed on and off.

The on/off flashing is because they are not (fully) CANBUS compatible. The problem arises because LEDs require less power, not more.

What happens is that the lighting ECU detects a low current (power) draw from the LED and assumes the 'bulb' is faulty or blown. The ECU then turns off the power to that bulb but keeps sending a test voltage to it to see if a correctly working replacement bulb has been fitted. That's what causes the flashing.

So, to be completely accurate, it's not the CANBUS that produces the problem but the lighting ECU. The CANBUS only gets involved when the lighting ECU sends a 'faulty bulb' message to the dash display.

 

[Will]

Have now swapped them for some Phillips 'White Vision' W5Ws. They're slightly better than the originals but not 100%. Supposed to be 4300K but I'm not sure.

I think I want around 5000K LEDs to be honest





Hard to tell from the photos/camera/lighting I guess.

In reality it's a good improvement for around £6, but not perfect

The foglights used to be whiter than the sidelights, and now the sidelights are whiter than the fogs - so I can tell the difference

 

[Will]

Sort of before and after showing the small change:




Might be easier to show when it's darker!

 

[BIG_G_1979]

can you not retro fit the leds that came in my eclass from factory?

 

[Alps]

they do sell the facelift LED`s separately now £40 each though!

Will - my sidelights are same blue a yours, let you know when i find a decent set... may well have spent the £40 by then lol!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

they do sell the facelift LED`s separately now £40 each though!

Will - my sidelights are same blue a yours, let you know when i find a decent set... may well have spent the £40 by then lol!

Should have bought a set off me when I was selling them

 

[Alps]

Should have bought a set off me when I was selling them

lol, prob should have Karl

 

[wseed]

Thanks for the replies, looks like I might be going with a new set of regular lamps.