SL 500 Headlights

[Flying Scot]

Hi folks what are the options to upgrade the headlights on a 1995 SL 500 100W bulbs ( i know naughty) or what ?

thanks in anticipation

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi
You can buy H.I.D. conversion kits which comprises off special ballast resistor which plug into the headlight wiring then from the new ballast box you get a new lamp and lamp holder to the headlamp. You can achieve good results from these kits and a neat installation but be careful as there seems to be a great difference in prices i,ve seen them from £40-£200.
If your SL has a twin filiment lamp then this "can" be more expensive.
Go on e-bay search for H.I.D. light conversion and view some see what you think. They burn less electrical power too approx 35% less.
I,ve been seriously thinking about getting some xenon headlights for my car but cos i,ve not got headlamp wash/wipe or any sort of levelling system they would fail the MOT. So HIDs were my next stop.
Let me know what you think?

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
Dunno how long you,ve had 100w lamps in your car but i would be careful you could burn out your headlamp relay contacts or melt the wiring loom
If your car has electronic control units for the headlamps you could B***er these up if there used long term. By putting 100w lamps in there you have effectively "doubled" the current through the headlamp wiring.
I don,t mean to be negative but i thought i should tell you.

 

[nickh]

goto http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/

assuming your care takes normal h4/h7 fittments

look at the Philips X-Treme Power H7 / h4 they apparantly give upto 80% more light than normal and fit into normal fittings and are road legal.

i already have 50% more with osram silverstar on h7 and i can vouch they are much brighter than normal.

FYI- you cant beat getting the lights adjusted properly so they shine in the right place.

N

 

[Flying Scot]

Hi,
Dunno how long you,ve had 100w lamps in your car but i would be careful you could burn out your headlamp relay contacts or melt the wiring loom
If your car has electronic control units for the headlamps you could B***er these up if there used long term. By putting 100w lamps in there you have effectively "doubled" the current through the headlamp wiring.
I don,t mean to be negative but i thought i should tell you.

i dont have them in the SL but they are in my Volvo heard all these horror stories and they have been in there for five years now without any issues - i am a multidisciplined engineer with lectronics and electrics as two of my disciplines so i understand the issues i was looking for feedback as to what is a good workable solution ONE of the attractions of rebodying to a R230 look would have been the much better lights but before i did that i would want to change the car for a 5 speed SL 500 so all in all £25K for better lights seems a wee bit expensive - i was looking for a cheap and cheerful solution as i dont really drive the SL a lot at night probably because the lights are S***e

 

[Flying Scot]

goto http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/

assuming your care takes normal h4/h7 fittments

look at the Philips X-Treme Power H7 / h4 they apparantly give upto 80% more light than normal and fit into normal fittings and are road legal.

i already have 50% more with osram silverstar on h7 and i can vouch they are much brighter than normal.

FYI- you cant beat getting the lights adjusted properly so they shine in the right place.

N

WOW thanks just what i was looking for BUT Due to overwhelming demand of Xtreme Power, Philips Automotive Lighting are temporarily out of stock . sob sob sob

 

[stats007]

Why don't you just upgrade to the Xenons as were standard fitment on '99 model year 500s onwards?

 

[television]

Why don't you just upgrade to the Xenons as were standard fitment on '99 model year 500s onwards?

I had them,they are worth it. They are on Ebay uk, USA and DE from time to time.

Malcolm

 

[Flying Scot]

Why don't you just upgrade to the Xenons as were standard fitment on '99 model year 500s onwards?

are they just plug and play a whole new headlamp unit or what?

 

[turnipsock]

The wire on most cars is 1mm and rated to 10 amps. You can use 100W bulbs without any problem. The horror stories are probably from people that have fitted 130W bulbs.

I did try putting in a wiring kit that hooks into your existing lighting and powers 130W bulbs but it causes the faulty bulb warning light to come on.

'100W' is the power consumed by the bulb and doesn't relate to the amount of light produced.

I went to Hellfrauds to get a a better H7 bulb for my company vectra and they were £19 each so I dithered about buying two or just getting one to see if they were any better. I went for two and when I got to the counter the woman rang up £19 and me being an honest sort of chap questioned this and she said that it's two for the price of one at the moment...that's ten minutes pondering I won't get back.

For H4 the PIAA 80W/80W are the way to go.

 

[bigasotonuk]

Does,nt European law states that xenons need to be automatically self levelling and be fitted with headlamp wash this what i believe because it was the reason i decided not to fit them on my W202.
The Xenon lights on e-bay from America i e-mailed them asking wether they were suitable for RHD as well as LHD all they replied is that the set met European spec but as the rest of europe to come to think of 95% of the world are left hand drive i decided that they were being cagey and careful with their wording of the reply what do others think? was i right in not buying?
Has any one actually bought them?

 

[stats007]

are they just plug and play a whole new headlamp unit or what?

Complete units - as mentioned they need to be self levelling so there's no 'cheap' solution to this. Kits appear from time to time on eBay as Malcolm mentions - normally go for £600ish if new.

 

[television]

These units fit LHD an RHD as there is a lever inside to switch them (this is the case on all that i have seen)

Malcolm

 

[nickh]

anyhoo - they are back in stock - should be recieving them in the next day or so.

i'll let you know how they work - if the osram 50% are anything to go by then they will do a great job.

autoexpress.co.uk have some reviews of h4/h7 bulbs.. look in your owners manual it will say what type your car takes..

 

[nickh]

Yep that's a definate thumbs up.

Much brighter all round, plus they are much whiter - make other cars lights look yellowish (apart from xenons, hid's etc) , so if they are much better than my 50% brighter old ones then they must be amazing if you only had normal ones fitted.

 

[izzi613]

nickh

Where did you get them?

everywhere I look they're out of stock!

Cheers