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brighter headlights?

4K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  compu_85 
#1 ·
I have a 1985 500sec directly from Germany, Ive had since the early 1990s. I recently upgraded and got a newer MB but after switching back to my old MB I noticed how yellow and dim the headlights are, I want to put a brighter headlight into the old car but not change the bulb size I also want to leave it as close to stock as possible without rewiring and cheap as possible, here are a few photos of the stock bulb and car.
 
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#3 ·
I am a bit confused. 500SEC direct from Germany but the car has US market headlights? I thought the US headlights had "sealed beam" self contained lights? Could be wrong as I haven't had a US headlight ever go out on me.
 
#5 ·
The W123, with round lights, had sealed beams. Hella had a conversion to H4 for those. Sylvania/OSRAM has a ZEVO LED 7 inch round, and JW Speaker has conversions as well. These I thought are 9004s, no?

(For some reason they removed the ZEVO for the W123 in the application guide, even though the lamp is H6024.)

Sent from my MT2L03 using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
Yeah the brighter bulb works, it's all I've done so far. That and changed the reflectors to great condition. That made a huge difference as one of mine was dulled due to previous moisture in the lamp.
Of course the extra draw does cause a little extra heat in the column switch etc. A concern for some. Doing the relay thing negates that, and of course saves your original wiring from stress.
 
#9 ·
#11 ·
I'm going to vote against the grain and suggest getting rid of inefficient, yellow halogens. There are a lot of cheap HID and only slightly more expensive LED options to replace those 9004s available on ePay.

I replaced the dingy, dim, ugly US DOT sealed beams in my 300SD with European headlights and upgraded them to HID while I was at it. Couldn't be happier with the result. They don't look too out of place with the Euro lights, and the illumination is vastly improved.

It was a strictly plug-and-play install, with the hardest part being identifying a suitable location to mount the ballasts. I went with 5000K bulbs for a contemporary factory look (vs. the boy racer blue/purplish bling of 6K and up).
 
#12 ·
Trying to brighten a 9004 fixture is like trying to get your turd to a mirror finish. You can improve it, but at the end of the day it's still going to have bad optics. The H4 fixtures are much better.

With quality lamps I'm happy with the factorty H4 setup on my SDL. They are brighter than the LED headlights on a friends Nissan leaf, and almost equal to the factory Xenons on our Touareg.

-J
 
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#13 ·
Ooooh I hadn't clicked to the US spec lamps thing. Have to agree on the H4 being more worthwhile.

Although I've never found mine to be amazing. They are fine rather than awesome. Funnily enough I read old European magazines about these cars & headlamps not being equal to the car was a bit of a complaint it seems.

So I shudder to think how bad the US ones are.
 
#14 ·
It's a 45w halogen instead of 55w, with a not that great beam pattern, and generally bad optics. Here's a picture of the output from some sealed beam lights, which is what the 9004 DOT lights try to reproduce:



The fog lights end up being brighter than the DOT headlights (at least in my experience).

-J
 
#16 ·
Oddly, the euro headlights I am finding online are overly reasonably priced. A pair for under $300, or $140 or less for a single unit. Not sure of the grade or quality, but better than the round things
 
#18 · (Edited)
Oddly, the euro headlights I am finding online are overly reasonably priced.
Used Bosch are better than Depo I would say
Here's a pic of the Depos with clear sides and HIDs installed. Fogs are clear with amber bulbs. The biggest problem I've had with Depos on other vehicles is that the glass is weaker and cracks more easily. As a remedy, I installed a set of WeatherTech film-type lens protectors, which I've had good luck with previously.

Otherwise, the fitment of these is good and the light output and dispersion far exceeds the clunky sealed beams. Less than $300 all in for the lights, HIDs + ballasts, and the lens protectors. I've put about 5K miles of all weather and plenty of nighttime driving on this setup with no regrets.
 

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#17 ·
Used Bosch are better than Depo I would say, but the reflectors need to be sound. The lens seals are only about £8 each if that needs doing. MB don't sell the reflectors separately but do sell the lenses and the rubber seals.
Other than that they only want to sell you the whole lamp unit these days apparently.
 
#19 ·
My experience with Depo lights has been OK. Not as good as the Bosch euro lights, but better than the DOT lights.

I had Depo lights on my 91 Jetta and 88 Audi. I did spring for used OE Bosch lights for my SDL though.

-J
 
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