Hello, I have a question for poeple who know about this much better than me.
My ML320 (2000) headlight assembly looks like this from the back: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/att...ht-assemblies-left-right-right-right-back.jpg. So that's was normal for this vehicle in 2000. Light is yellowish, which is also normal for this year. Now I have a chance to get bright headlights, but it's from the 2003 or 2004 model of ML. Screws seem to fit, but it looks different from the back (like in a picture on the bottom). Are they compatible? Can new assembly be put on without any special interventions? Low and high beam bulbs are separated in two different boxes with the black caps and there seem to be two different connectors.
The later model headlight assembly you have there are HIDs so to make them work you may need to get pigtails or get the original plug and adapt the wiring to fit. Are they original MB or aftermarket.
I found this picture on the Internet just to show the difference - two boxes for high and low beam bulbs insted of one, like in the first model. It's not a picture of exact assembly which is offered to me.
That one offered to me is an original (and regular) MB headlight assembly from some newer model of ML. One friend told me it should be OK, but I thought it would be a good idea to check it among ML experts.
If you are going from Halogen bulb fixture to a Xenon HID fixture you will also need to get the AAM programmed to work with the Xenon bulbs.
The wiring may also have to be moved around in the plug for the new headlight fixture.
[EDIT] The bulb type/size is molded into the top of the light fixture just above each headlight bulb. On the ML's it is molded into the rim of the clear lens cover.
You can't just throw in a HID projector unit to replace a halogen reflector headlamp.
For the HID to be legal, the car must be equipped with both an automatic headlamp leveling system and headlamp washers. Usually on a modern Merc, you need som computer reprogramming as well.
That said, there was a change in 2001/08, known as phase 1 and phase 2, where there is some differences in the headlap system. The phase 2 cars came with halogen projectors as standard and had HID as an option. Check that the headlamps you have are for HID, and not halogen. Units designed for halogen must have halogen bulbs, and hid units must have hid bulbs. This can be found in the letter codes on the glass.
I don't know all the differences between phase 1 and 2, and if there are some other limitations that'll prevent you from using phase 2 units on a phase 1 car.
I'm getting third party (halogen) projectors tomorrow for my phase 1 car, but these are made for phase 1 cars. I'm not messing around, tryin for xenons in a car that doesn't have all the neccessary bits and bobs for xenons to work properly. Improper xenon installations are dangerous in traffic.
Oh, btw - one way to get bright headligts is to install fat wires from the battery to the headlamps, and tie this in with a relay controlled by the original wiring.
Johan-Kr
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