davethemus
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was thinking of upgrading my lights to hid, has anyone had any experience, good or bad, or any recommendations? 
xenon hid conversions, are they worth it?
- Thread starter davethemus
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Well, the proper replacement OEM HID headlamps are quite expensive from memory (£500-600?), unless you can find some secondhand ones.
If you're talking about the 'HID kits' that you find on eBay etc, it's probably worth a forum search as there were some lengthy threads on them..
Will
If you're talking about the 'HID kits' that you find on eBay etc, it's probably worth a forum search as there were some lengthy threads on them..
Will
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davethemus
Active Member
think i'll bide my time and wait for a second hand set to surface, the conversion kits seem a bad-head.
horsesuitedfool
Active Member
Each to their own i think......You could wait for some projector headlamps and do it OEM but its costly.....Or use a kit but you need a decent one, dont spend less than £100 and you will have a decent one, people will flame you on here for them being too bright and illegal etc etc but i dont think they blind me any more than every other car with halogens that are out of adjustment coming the other way!!
Dieselman
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Bingo..:bannana:
My mate has done a conversion to his 51 plate CLK using a Bosch aftermarket kit. The results were impressive in terms of how bright the lights are and the illumination they provide - much brighter than my std OEM HID lights.
However, fitting HID to normal light systems seems to result in massive side scatter and glare from the lights that for oncoming drivers is not very nice. On mine unless your are directly looking into the 'beam' there is no dazzle which is what is intended by MB.
However, fitting HID to normal light systems seems to result in massive side scatter and glare from the lights that for oncoming drivers is not very nice. On mine unless your are directly looking into the 'beam' there is no dazzle which is what is intended by MB.
horsesuitedfool
Active Member
I dont think Bosch make any aftermarket kits, as far as i know that is a chinese fake kit with Bosch name stolen and printed on the box!!
If you get an original set from Ebay or a breakers yard, you need the controllers as well. This is quite important as without them, the headlamps are useless, and the controllers are expensive if you buy them new.. (About £250 each from MB, £150 ish from a Bosch agent).
As for weather they are worth it, well if you do a lot of driving on dark roads, yes, its worth it. Otherwise, unless you get the original parts dirt cheap, this can become quite an expensive mod.....or to keep the costs down you go for a non original mod.
As for weather they are worth it, well if you do a lot of driving on dark roads, yes, its worth it. Otherwise, unless you get the original parts dirt cheap, this can become quite an expensive mod.....or to keep the costs down you go for a non original mod.
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Hi,
I believe the BOSCH kit that Shude is on about comes complete with controllers.
For info, I took the the part number which is mentioned to BOSCH and it is still a current number, though the description they have for the number is a bit vague.
I believe the BOSCH kit that Shude is on about comes complete with controllers.
For info, I took the the part number which is mentioned to BOSCH and it is still a current number, though the description they have for the number is a bit vague.
The BOSCH kit contains headlamps, ballasts/control units and all bulbs. Does not include any levelling parts except standard vacuum levelling and does not contain headlamp wash/wipe.
darrellr
Active Member
Is this just the 'ballast'? Or something more? I assume you could use 'generic' ballast units if that's all they are.
It depends on what type of an installation you want. If you want to use an original set of Xenon W202 headlamps, it is an easier install to use the original type of controller / ballast....you cannot use the generic ballast / controller as on the w202 the igniter and the ballast / controller are separate units. (In the original units the igniter sits inside the headlamp). That way its a simple matter of bolting in the headlamps and ballast / controller units, switch them on, get them lined up and away you go. The only mod you will need is to remove the auto levelling unit on the back of the headlamp and replace it with the vacuum unit. ( Unless you want to go all the way and fit the sensors, wiring etc)
Also note that the original Xenon w202 headlamps have different reflectors inside and the pattern on the glass is also different from the standard headlamps.
It entirely depends on how far you want to go with it.
You can get an aftermarket kit for about £120 pounds and use your existing headlamp casing, but you have to make some mods to get the wiring out of the casing and to the ballast.
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davethemus
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thanks for the input guys.
We (and everyone else) got blinded by a T plate W210 with aftermarket HIDs on the way back to the Eurotunnel last month. Truly awful. I assume that had an MOT!
Dieselman
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Just removing the additional loom can make a noticeable difference to the standard halogen lights, in fact I'm sure it's at least 50% of the problem of low output as they are much whiter and brighter after-wards.
The output light isn't linear to voltage, it drops off really quickly when the voltage reduces.
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/electronics/70253-free-power-headlamp.html
Ted
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It's proportional to the square. Half the voltage = 1/4 the power.
So as DM says, a small voltage drop makes a big difference in the light output.
So as DM says, a small voltage drop makes a big difference in the light output.
Or to put it another way ... if the voltage at the bulb with the engine running was 12V rather than 13V, power would be down by 15%.
fustronghid
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dsp HID kits
was thinking of upgrading my lights to hid, has anyone had any experience, good or bad, or any recommendations?
HID DSP Kits can go under water and good performance with waterproof; and such DSP ballast technique has proved work well on BMW, AUDI to avoid flashing on the car with warning light on dashboard. The DSP Ballast having good function to eliminate EMI Problem.[FONT=宋][/FONT]
