Hid Kit or Bi/xenon headlights? HELP

[stuey]

Hey people i wana get some peoples opinions what would be all round better to have bearing in mind cost fitting, the look and increase in light, Bi/xenon headlights or a HID kit for the dipped and main beams plus LED sidelights, peoples opinions would be highly appreciated

 

[whitenemesis]

Firstly HID kits are illegal....

Then I'm assuming you have a W203:-

OEM bi-xenons are expensive from MB ~£900 each! You may be lucky and find some on ebay (check they are for RHD!) prices vary £300 - £1000 the pair. I see you have a coupe? These are very rare second hand.

You will also require (at the least, as you will not want to blind oncomming vehicles ) the auto-levelling system which requires sensors to the front and rear ARB plus the loom. ~£150 in parts.

The whole thing will require coding by STAR.

Even MB OEM light use halogens for the second main beam (you can't flash xenons)

LED sidelights will look really good as the standard ones look so yellow against the xenons. But you will need to have resistors in place or else the bulb failure message will come on.

Good luck

 

[television]

It is all as whitenemesis said to stay legal

 

[stuey]

thanks guys i had an identical set up on my mk 2 leon cupra looked absolutly brilliant and i had to get a kit called a piaa kit for the led sidelights but well worth the money i wondered why i had to keep adjusting the hid kit over the time i had it, it gives out one hell of a bright light though lol, thats quite an expensive set up for the bi xenons but well worth looking into if i can get the parts cheap over time, i might just stick to night breakers for now unless anyone can suggest a more powerful lamp?

 

[stuey]

just found this, is this the sort of thing id be looking for, not sure about the leveling sensor bit though he only mentions the auto leveling motors, take a look: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mercedes-Benz...14&_trkparms=72:1689|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

 

[whitenemesis]

That's the sort of thing BUT make sure they are for the coupe as saloon/estate lights will not fit the coupe.

I don't beleive they are genuine MB units but as long as they are E marked they should be ok.

The xenons come complete with the levelling motors as they are part of the light unit but you will need the sensors and loom to make them work!

 

[stuey]

brilliant i will wait a while anyway i think but now i no what im looking for thats brilliant. thanks for the help

 

[Cole@MBS]

Advert says 2000-2004, yours is a 2005 isnt it Stuey, lot of dosh if wrong!

 

[stuey]

yea i spotted that when i found it dont worry no guna get em lol jus wanted to show whitenemesis to make sure i had the right idea now i no what im looking for i can set out finding the proper ones, gotta sort out the coding first and maybe those door seals then look at them

 

[Rappey69]

Euro merc has headlight units too, sometimes used ones but personally i think the cost just to have a whiter colour is way over the top, the halogens with a blue coating give a much whiter light than a stock halogen but since headlights have a cut off point you cant really see that much more with xenons.

 

[whitenemesis]

Euro merc has headlight units too, sometimes used ones but personally i think the cost just to have a whiter colour is way over the top, the halogens with a blue coating give a much whiter light than a stock halogen but since headlights have a cut off point you cant really see that much more with xenons.

Sorry Rappey69 but I must disagree with you. Adding a blue tint to the halogens not only changes the colour but reduces the output.

Xenon lights are much brighter than any halogen. They have a much sharper beam pattern and do throw light further down the road. The whiter light is also less tiring. They really are much, much better than halogens

 

[Rappey69]

I have xenons in my car so am saying how i see it.
The xenons do light up road signs a lot more but still do not add that much extra light ahead on an unlit road. i think the xenons in a c-class are around 3600 lumens.
I have a pair of 30w 50mm hid,s (reflector) for off roading and one of these blows away a car xenon in terms of the area it lights up (5600 lumens). Granted these are not conforming to beam patterns for a road vehicle.
i have no idea what a standard 55w halogen gives out.
I also understand what you are saying about the blue tint but again,had a pair of 30w halogens which off road in the dark lit up ok, changed the bulbs for piaa equivalent,30w with blue tint, the light was so much more white but also illuminated a lot more !!!
Many manufacturers selling blue tint bulbs claim up to a 50% brighter output...

 

[whitenemesis]

Thats fair enough Rappey69

The increase in halogen output is despite the blue tint not because of it. 50% is not much compared to the 300% xenons give?

 

[Rappey69]

Comparing the 30w halogen and 30w hids that i use off road, there is no question that one hid illuminates twice as much as two halogens, the whiter light defining objects more clearly, but the main difference i see is shadows, the hids seem to have the same effect as a flourescent light, in that they do not cats shadows and somehow appear to illuminate the ground behind the dip in front of me whereas the halogens leave me guessing as to what is over the other side of "that mound"

Oh yeah, the topic "bi xenon" or xenon? If you do feel that you have to buy new lights then would go the cheaper option of just xenon on dip as full beam with xenon dip and halogen full beam is bright enough not to warrant needing xenon full beam too.

 

[100%Bitch]

Firstly HID kits are illegal....

Then I'm assuming you have a W203:-

OEM bi-xenons are expensive from MB ~£900 each! You may be lucky and find some on ebay (check they are for RHD!) prices vary £300 - £1000 the pair. I see you have a coupe? These are very rare second hand.

You will also require (at the least, as you will not want to blind oncomming vehicles ) the auto-levelling system which requires sensors to the front and rear ARB plus the loom. ~£150 in parts.

The whole thing will require coding by STAR.

Even MB OEM light use halogens for the second main beam (you can't flash xenons)

LED sidelights will look really good as the standard ones look so yellow against the xenons. But you will need to have resistors in place or else the bulb failure message will come on.

Good luck

You need to have headlamp wash too.

 

[whitenemesis]

You need to have headlamp wash too.

Only on factory fitted lights, to comply with 'type approval'. This doesn't apply to retrofits

 

[cleverdicky]

If I may ask, what do they do about cooling these lamps?
HID's chuck out a lot of heat and I know from other applications when these bulbs go, they can go.
Also as in the fleabay ad, it mentions colour temp as being 8k, but doesnt mention wavelength or power intensity.
Basically I bet these are belting out UV like no tomorrow.

 

[whitenemesis]

Just like florescent lights, run cooler than halogens. They fail gracefully i.e. flicker and die. MB OEM units are all plastic, so no heat worries and low UV

 

[cleverdicky]

Cool, I always thought of em as arc lamps, not florescents.

 

[television]

florescent Lamps have heaters and contain other things like a mercury vapor, and need 240 to strike the heater cathodes. Xenon are cold cathode, just sheer high voltage to strike around 25-33k volts but no heat as there are no heaters